“But let all your godly lovers be glad! Yes, let them all rejoice in your presence and be carried away with gladness. Let them laugh and be radiant with joy!” ~ Psalm 68:3 The outcome of a study done on depressed and suicidal senior citizens was that the patients, who recovered, demonstrated a sense of humor. Ah, the body’s intrinsic ability to sometimes heal itself!
To be happy is to experience an evanescent emotion, through an external trigger or circumstance. However, joy is unswerving and cultivated internally. That is what spiritual joy is – no matter what our external circumstances are, our joy is based on our relationship with Jesus Christ and knowing that He is always with us. I once heard that “laughter is not always joy, but an intentional way to instigate it.” Some benefits of laughter include: it decreases blood pressure and heart rate – encouraging relaxation; it stimulates endorphins (happy hormones); it enables creative thinking. A sense of humor might not be the solution to everything, all the time, but sometimes it can help one overcome difficult situations. Faith step: Feeling emotionally low? Think about or do something that make you laugh until your eyes tear up or until you can’t catch your breath.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
December 2019
Categories |