My Dad and I happened to be discussing laughter the other day, having fallen into one of our fits a couple of days before, and noted upon reflection that, when approached the right way, it can actually help a person become holy. Now, to be sure, laughter comes in different forms, like wine. There is the light, sweet giggle that goes down easy, like Zinfandel, and the flippant, dry smile of Merlot; then you have the heavy, blundering guffaw of Cabernet, followed by the hearty, tear-wringing laughter of a Port or Pinot Noir, which are both full-bodied and honey to the soul. These last are my favorites, as is this particular form of laughter - and it is a sweet thing to be consumed by it once in a while. Like wine, laughter can be a kind of sacramental, and we concluded that it is a special grace to be shaken with the utter delight of another person or situation. When one is uniquely tickled by something, or someone, a kind of forgetfulness of the self occurs and there escapes from us such sounds of joy as we are too elated to feel embarrassed about. I often wonder, is this what heaven is like? We laugh sometimes when we discover a silly human truth about someone - do the saints laugh all the harder because their sight is clearer? Because of the special nature of this kind of laughter, and the fact that I'm filled with a deep gratefulness that is both its cause and effect, I think it may play some role for the good in the soul's journey towards God. It would be interesting if a new Order were established in this era endowed with the particular charism of laughter, with the sole aim of getting others to do the same - especially at themselves. Looking back, however, I realize that something of the kind has already been done by St. Francis, who, as one writer put it, had literally "made a fool of himself" for God. And I suppose that goes for most of the saints. Whatever the case, there is something to be said for laughter and, well, I've said it - so, to follow the command of someone who probably could have profited a good deal from it in his lifetime, "So let it be written; so let it be done."
"There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied that it was His mirth." -G.K.C.
