Laughter Is Medicine?

My apologies for not having a post on Friday. I scheduled it but I guess something happened. Of course, would you expect anything else in my life?!!

We went camping with friends for a few days. Such fun! We ate a lot, listened to the men tell the same fish stories we heard last year (the fish had definitely gotten larger :D), and sat around the campfire roasting marshmallows.

And we laughed. Uproarious laughter. At times, I thought I was going to lose my breath and have to be airlifted to the hospital. I probably laughed more in those few days than I have all the rest of the year!

Sometimes there's not a lot to laugh about in life. I have a friend suffering through chemo. Another friend suffers excruciating pain on a daily basis. Other friends are struggling just to hang on in these hard economic times. Some are dealing with difficult family or work situations. One of my family members has lost his job. Not laughing matters.

How can we laugh when so many things are weighing our spirits down, almost daring us to find anything to laugh about?

The Bible says laughter is like a medicine. Especially in difficult times we need the medicine of laughter. Laughter lifts our spirits. Laughter makes us forget, for a while, our difficult situations. Laughter lightens the load.

As I sat around the fire and laughed, I had only fleeting moments when my difficulties clouded my mind, sometimes not at all. Rest, sweet rest from your burdens. That's what laughter can be.
Take your medicine. Laugh!

Find a friend who makes you laugh and spend some time with her/him. Rent a movie that you've already seen and you know will make you laugh. Watch some of the old comedy re-runs on TV. Go to the library and find a humorous book to read.

God was right when he said laughter is like a medicine.

Thankful for the healing medicine of laughter, Gloria