Blessings in the Laughter

"Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand" - Mark Twain


A blessing can mean more than one thing and I feel a lot of times people are confused when they hear me say
​“Laugh and Be Blessed”. One meaning
(and the meaning I feel people think of typically when they hear it)
is the religious meaning having “God's favor and protection”.
 
While this sounds like a great thing to have and I hope that I find favor in the eyes of the creator, I use the term “blessing” with another definition; “A Beneficial thing for which one is grateful; Something that brings well-being”
 
“Something that brings well-being”
 
Man do I love to hear the sound of that. That is the blessing I think of when I use the term “Laugh and Be Blessed”.
 
Again, I am not saying that having Gods favor is a bad thing, I mean, WHY WOULD I SAY THAT! But I am in a place right now in my life where I am trying to get to know the creator of all things on a personal level, so it is hard for me to see him having favor on me when we do not even know each other. I listened to what other people said for years about who God was and how to talk to him. I got so lost in their view of God that I feel I lost sight of who he truly was.
 
I feel blessed in the little things of life. When I go out to feed my chickens and I find peace just watching them eat and walk around, I do not think it is because God stepped down and took over this situation.
 
The term “God's favor” or “by the grace of God” rubs me wrong for one simple reason, if something bad happens to someone else, but I am spared does it mean that God loves me more? That is how I take that phrase and it is something I am not comfortable with. Why me? Why would God choose me to have his favor but pass over someone else? As someone who has felt “passed over” many times I cannot stomach causing someone to feel that guilt or loneliness.
 
So, the blessing comes from the feeling we have in the moment, not from above, but inside. Something inside of us changes and releases that beneficial thing…that peace.
 
 
How can laughter bring us this blessing? What does laughter do to us that causes us this feeling?
 
Laughter is like a bonding agent that works to bring two or more things together to create unity. There is a reason why comedy clubs across the world have tables pushed so close together you can bump the stranger next to you if you are not careful, the laughter is contagious. When you sit in a darkened room and someone begins to laugh, you naturally feel compelled to join in the laughter. It is a unity that not many things can bring. Laughter and pain are the two things that can bring people close and I refuse to inflict pain, laughter it is.
 
Laughter is so much stronger than pain, it can fight pain! It has been proven that laughter (for reasons still unknown to man) releases endorphins that raise the pain threshold.
 
YOUR LAUGHTER CAN FIGHT OFF PAIN
 
I really am the kind of guy that laughs at a funeral, not because I am insensitive, but because I am incredibly sensitive. I hate to see people in pain and I hate to be in pain, so, if laughter can help us forget about that pain for even a few moments, I am all for it!
 
When I was a pre-teen my maternal grandfather died. He was a hero to my cousins and me and when he went we felt the pain. It was the first close death in my life and I didn’t understand how to process the pain. I looked around and could see the same pain on my families faces all around the funeral home. There was a small room in the back that had coffee and finger foods for the grieving family. I was in this room with my cousin who was a year younger than me. The pain and confusion were evident on his face so, I wanted to make him laugh. I handed him a paper cup full of fresh coffee and placed a small red stirrer in the cup. He looked down at the plastic sticking out of his cup not knowing what it was. “That is a coffee straw” I told him, “it will cool the coffee down when you drink threw it. Just suck the coffee really fast to cool the coffee and you can drink it right down.” Of course, being my little cousin, he believed me and burned his tongue as the coffee came through. We both started laughing instantly and the entire room joined in. It was a small blessing (even at his expense) in a time of sorrow. The laughter helped us come closer to closure.
Obviously in this story I inflicted pain and laughter but let’s not focus on that, we were cousins and he got me back many times.
 
So when I leave you with “Laugh and Be Blessed”, I mean just that, lets laugh together and share the blessing that is now.

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Author

Jake Ruble is a comedian and freelance writer who offers ghostwriting, copywriting and blogging services. He has been published in multiple formats and is currently available for hire.  For information on how to hire Jake please contact him at  JakeRuble.com