Humor is important for therapy and healing the soul

Humor is a very important part of our lives and can have a therapeutic effect. Years ago, Norman Cousins was told that he had a debilitating disease that could possibly would lead to his death. He checked out of the hospital and into a hotel and rented humorous movies such as The Three Stooges, etc., and laughed his way to better health. Personally, I wouldn't recommend that drastic kind of action because doctors are very important to our healthy wellbeing, but it worked for Cousins, proving in a way that laughter is good medicine.

I thought about that because of April Fool's Day. I heard Bubba and Tarsha on the radio the other morning talking about the origin of April Fool's Day. I had to leave my car before the answer was given, so still do not know.

I did read of Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University who indicated that April Fool's Day had its origin during the time of Constantine. He said some of the court jesters and fools told Constantine they could do a better job of running the country than he did, so he allowed Kugel, one of the jesters to be king for one day. Kugal passed an edict calling for absurdity on that day and after that it became an annual event. Professor Boskin said, in a way, that it was a very serious day. He pointed out that fools were really very wise men and their job was to put things in perspective through humor. In 1983, the Associated Press picked up the article and it was printed in many newspapers. There was only one problem: Boskin made up the whole thing and it took a couple of weeks for the AP to realize they had been the victims of an April Fool's joke.

Some of my ministerial colleagues use the Sunday following Easter as "Holy Humor Sunday." The entire worship service is built around humor, pointing out that sometimes we take life far too seriously and need laughter to get rid of tension and stress. There is humor in the Bible but, so often, we are too serious to recognize it. Anyway, there is a lot to be said for humor, and when we laugh and smile we find that life is a wonderful journey, not something to be endured, but to be enjoyed.