Joy and Laughter in the Bible

It is a common misconception that there are no references to humorous concepts or laughter in the Bible. Here are a few passages that indicate otherwise...

Proverbs 17:22

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Psalm 126:2

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

Job 8:21

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.

Ecclesiastes 3:4

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Psalm 2.4

He who sits in the heavens laughs

Proverbs 15:13

A glad heart makes a cheerful face

Psalm 32:11

...shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Genesis 21:6

And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”

Abraham, Sarah and the Angel, 1520

Jan Provost

Proverbs 14:13

Even in laughter the heart may ache

Genesis 17:17

Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

Ephesians 5:4

Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Psalm 16:11

...in your presence there is fullness of joy; 
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 4:7

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.

Psalm 37:13

But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.

Job 12:4

I am a laughingstock to my friends; 
I, who called to God and he answered me

Romans 12:9

Let love be genuine....hold fast to what is good.

Ecclesiastes 7:3

Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
Whoever channeled this bit of advice 
might want to "rethink" this theory, 
but I think I get it: 
compassion fills people with hope

Colossians 4:6

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

What an incredible speech from a seemingly unlikely source.
Goes to show how much heart goes into humor.

Zephaniah 3:17

...he will exult over you with loud singing
I cannot sing worth a bean, but I sure love it! 

Psalm 47:1

Clap your hands, all peoples! 
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

Psalm 43:4

I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

Amphion and the Naiads Playing the Lyre, 1817

Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun

Private Collection

James 5:13

Is anyone cheerful? 
Let him sing praise.

Philippians 4:4

Rejoice.

Luke 6:45

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

1 Kings 18:27

Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”

Irrespective of one's religious (or nonreligious) beliefs, joy and laughter in the Bible and other wisdom writings sit side by side with tales of agony, pain, and heartbreak. Be it God's world, or be it ours, laughter and joy are most certainly fruit in the garden of life. 

Nothing is Funny in Itself

People who are already inclined to laugh contribute a favorable condition to the social nature of humor. Starting from a cheerful mood, they allow humor to rise among them without impediment or judgment and they accompany it to the surface. Were it not for the personal guidance of humor, nothing humorous would be recognized. 

The guidance of humor is the special quality humor has. A comic or text is not inherently funny, it must be discovered as such to elicit amusement - otherwise it goes unheard - recognized, perhaps... but not enjoyed. 

This tells us how important is the role of the audience to the humorous event. Nothing is funny without an audience, which indicates that humor is a quality of our own making. A maleable aspect within ourselves to constitute a notion of humor... of incongruities and novelties. 

Humor embodies an epiphanic behavior, an almost forbidden behavior to that compensatory reaction we have to feelings and emotions that internal and external stimuli evoke within us. Clearly, humor is associated with novelty - what we find amusing. 

I'd like to bring attention to my blog's rating. Some individuals do not react positively to images of peace and tranquility one encounters when Googling the keywords "peace" and "tranquility".  In fact, positive words like - LAUGH - BE HAPPY - SMILE - can cause physical discomfort for some individuals when they come across them; the very opposite reaction occurs for others...reactions of contentment, felicity, and joy. 

But what happens to humor when it includes an element of discomfort? 

(I say this because while you might have read the caption, the moment you saw this lego you CRINGED in agony and from your gut to your heart you instantly recognized how much IT HURTS to step on one of these legos - if this has never happened to you, then you are an exception. You probably read the heading and then remembered trying to pry these suckers apart - if you didn't have that reaction, you're over a certain age and did not play with legos growing up - nuff said.)

Early on in my exploration of humor I identified my comfort levels, my own "Happy Place". This "Happy Place" is far-reaching. It extends into the deepest crevices of the human mind to the furthest reaches of space-time and the nature of existence. It lands on popular lullabies and hides in the best hide-n-seek spots around. It is a reaffirmation of warm, positive emotions that define my perception of humor... it is my own being that corrects and creates humor out of nothing. 

It is me laughing at this Zen comic and relating how I said "we create humor out of nothing" to the "nothingness" of Buddhism....hehehe. 

Humor's out there... inside everyone - unless you have a humor deficiency. In which case, I recommend reading about the concept of humor itself. Explore the descriptions and imaginings of philosophers and mathematicians, alike. Marvel over the works of Bergson, Freud, Raskin, Berger, Fry, and others. Let a guide help you find out what humor means to you. 

Exploring humor may not, at first, impress upon you the relevance of humor, but stick with it long enough and you begin thinking in terms of funny, not funny... enjoyable, not enjoyable. Every subject that comes up is seen from this new perspective. Then, when you turn that humorous perspective inward, you laugh and take delight with yourself. All the irony and incongruities tickle us in the heart and we react in our stomachs, which pushes up air, which then escapes through our mouths and sounds a little like laughter. 

Song Lyrics Graphic

Heuristic Humor

You play the tough, paternalistic regulator

and I’ll play the laissez-faire one named ‘Nacho Daddy’.

Heuristic humor studies is a "hands-on" or interactive approach to learning more about what makes people laugh. Understanding what makes people laugh involves specific expectations defined as conscious assimilation of one's fore-humor. To the humorous encounter with a novel, or unexplained phenomenon - be it a joke, a humorous event, or a funny question - we bring our experiences (our historical understanding of what's funny), which cannot be dismissed in the process of interpretation and understanding of what's funny. But that does not mean that we should allow things that aren't funny to be passed off as humorous simply because people laugh. These indefensible assumptions bias our understanding of what makes people laugh naturally. Heuristic humor studies mediates between fresh observation and comprehensive reflection.

From a humorously hermeneutical perspective, to explain a humorous experience, observations and analyses must be grounded in historical investigation. What I want to understand and express in this blog is how individuals define humor and how they set out to experience it. I form my observations about humor based on my reading of the major theories on the subject as well as a myriad of popular images, videos, songs, and literary works in circulation on the web. 

A simple image search for the word "funny" makes me consciously and painfully aware of how humor is often times used to mask the negative feelings associated with loss, which ultimately becomes humorous discourse for those who have experienced it.  However, I prefer to focus on the present, becoming more functional in what the world considers funny now without betraying my own sense of humor (and integrity supporting it). 

Such observations point to me a connection between humor and personal identity, vis-à-vis evolvement. In this respect, humor can either undermine or support our personal identity. To make sense of this humorous paradox, I resort to sociological and philosophical accounts, concentrating on the significant shifts, from an understanding of humor as a character flaw to an activity that promotes healing and emotional or behavioral adjustment. 

To define what is not humorous also requires an understanding of what counts as "normal" humor: the quality of being amusing or the ability to make people laugh.

But it is so much more. From a methodological standpoint, my interest in humor is to entertain myself whilst simultaneously generating defensible assumptions that will allow me to proceed with an analysis of humor that is convincing (or at least, humorously intriguing) and theoretically sound. My contribution lies in entertaining others along the way and in showing how existing views of humor can be amended and functionally integrated into a developing model that allows me to define humor in dynamic terms, as a process, rather than a core or a feature. 

It's not a bug; it's a feature.

Admittedly, my "soft" (Sophy "softly" laughing) modus operandi is more sympathetic to a relativist approach. This distinction polarizes my humor toward the positive expression of humor, often trying to define humor in accordance with an immutable personal trait. 

My sense of humor is embedded in social and cultural contexts with no hardened core independent of an interpretive process focused on the aforementioned goals (enjoying myself whilst simultaneously entertaining others). I strive to avoid the pitfalls of seriousness and negativity, refusing to participate in the downing of self by associating my humor with negative traits or features. 

This blog is an evolving interpretation of my own journey into humor... and how humor helps me grapple with solitude in the hearts of so many. Humorous discourse allows me to rewrite stories into tales with funny twists or nonsensical references that confirm one simple fact: laughter is a language we all speak. 

Believe You Can Laugh

Laugh loudly and carry a pair of 3D glasses 

The frontal lobe of our brain is associated with numerous behavioral characteristics and triggers, a sense of hope, piece of mind, creativity, identity... it allows us to predict the outcome of our beliefs: I find what I seek.

If we see the world as "funny" we find humor everywhere. If we see the world as "peaceful" we find peace everywhere. If we see people of the world as "nice" and "interesting" and "enjoyable to be around" we interact as such. 

Believing you can laugh is less about the spontaneous sounds and movements of the face and body and more about belief. If you find the world funny, you simply produce varying degrees of physical artifacts that resemble the insight: The World is Funny. This insight leads to effortless laughter, spontaneous giggles, genuine smiles, and relaxed enthusiasm. 

Only when we wish to experience seriousness, sadness, or despair do we focus on those things which inspire these feelings within us. 

Basically, whatever we want, we can find. So, like me, laugh and smile easily, allow me to share with you a few images that made me laugh or otherwise smile.