We are having a book discussion over at
Patheos about humor and the book
Between Heaven and Mirth . It's a funny thing because I think humor is just as important as tears and sorrow and pain that we most relate with faith experience. If we must pass through the crucible of fire before we even consider repenting of our wrongdoings and misdeeds or think of hitting rock bottom makes me laugh . Laughter is the best medicine as they say and holy laughter is very contagious! A person may get a serious case of the giggles thinking it might be wrong. However, if your heart is sick it can bring you out of depression or prolonged sadness .
Heart disease runs in my family and sorrow and sadness have been a big part of my experience so when I get the giggles it does a lot of good for the psyche. Sometimes when I pray the rosary with others or the divine mercy chaplet I get
the giggles uncontrollable laughter and the only explanation for that is holy hilarity Lol.
To give you an example of a religious person who makes me laugh is Sr. Emmanuel from Medugorje (pictured left) She cracks me up! Mother Angelica from EWTN , not so much . I guess it's a matter of personal preference but because I listened to miles and miles of video tape from Medugorje with Sr. Emmanuel , she is my example .
"The joy of the LORD is my strength" I know that from experience . When my dad took me to Zaire in 1977 he wanted to see the contryside . On our way to Kinshasa , we had a car accident . I was laying down in the back seat when the car went up the side of a mountain and rolled over on its back, leaving us upside down . The front windshield window was smashed making it easy for me to crawl through the opening to get out . It's funny because at that moment in time , most people would be nervous, panic stricken and unable to cope or think straight from being in an accident but I remained calm knowing I was the only one who could help my dad and the other person get out. - who needs a blubbering idiot when someone is in danger -
Behind every happening there is a providence. - Mustard Seeds
It is easy to see God was with us, looking back on it, because I had remained calm and strong , I didn't cry, because the joy of the Lord was my strength throughout the ordeal. I also should mention that we had only about 30 km left to go before we reached Kinshasa, when we got into the accident . My dad was tired , anxious to get to the city and was driving too fast judging by the cars we had passed . But because we were way ahead of everyone else , a couple cars stopped to see if they could help and lucky for us we were transported safely to our destination.
ilent was the night , and then one day Joseph said :
