laughter the best medicine

Laughter the best medicine

When I was growing up the Readers Digest was still popular and I used to enjoy reading the humour section called ‘Laughter, the best medicine’. Ina and I have just watched the 1998 film Patch Adams based on the true story of a doctor in the US who believes that humour and play are essential to physical and emotional health. He is described as a physician, comedian, social activist, clown and author, not words you would always see together. Robin Williams as you can imagine gives the film a lot of life and energy and inspires patients and staff alike.

There comes a point though after a tragic event when he decides to pack it all in, to give up on his vision for a form of holistic medicine that uses humour and play in appropriate ways. His trust in humanity is broken for a while and he loses his way. Thankfully he finds it again and realises that light can never be quenched, even if it feels that the darkness is winning at times. The most powerful line in the film for me is when is before a medical board and he says indifference is one of the most deadly diseases of all.

These last few months have been strange and we still live in tense times, not only with covid and an uncertain economic future, but also with increased polarisations in certain parts of the world. It is easy for us to become indifferent to others when there seem a never ending number of problems facing our world. The temptation is to retrench, keep our heads down and weather out the storm.

Lightness and humour still remain important parts of our lives however. They speak to the hope within us, the goodness in others, and stop us from being too serious in the wrong way. Being able to laugh and joke and play are not frivolous, but life giving and energising especially in such times as these. We should never be too old or grown up or respectable to celebrate the absurdity and quirkiness of human behaviour, especially our own. Being able to laugh at ourselves is a wonderful thing and makes us great company to be with. Humour, self-deprecating or otherwise, gives us permission to be ourselves, secure in who we are with all our foibles. The last thing we need are too many stuffed shirts!

The picture shared with this is called the Laughing Christ. You can really feel the belly laugh, the real joy erupting in a spontaneous guffaw. It’s magnetic. Jesus was known to enjoy a good party and less than respectable company. The humour and irony of some his parables and interchanges are lost in translation and cultural distance, but his original hearers would have picked it up. He was popular with ordinary people not because he was pious but with his compassion and desire to heal there came a lightness and a joy which were infectious.

When did you last have a good laugh? Did you hear the one about the….

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