A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.—Proverbs 17:22
Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.—Karl Barth
The church must take its cues about humour not from the entertainment culture as much as from the gospel itself. Baptism, the watery half of the “by water and spirit” new birth, is joyous, even hilarious, as much as any birth can be. But the joy of baptism does not comport with an ironic smirk, and definitely not with pratfalls.—Christianity Today, Oct. 2007
It’s telling that we talk about “gales” of laughter. We instinctively recognize that laughter belongs to the world of wind, or Spirit – unexpected joy arrives on the gust of a fresh current and carries us to a different place from the one where it found us. —Carolyn Arends, Christianity Today, Mar. 2008
Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.—Psalm 126:2–3
Laughter is carbonated holiness.—Anne Lamott, Plan B
