On Laughter And Death
Two readers here have expressed their support regarding the Christ against Christendom post. They also disagreed with a verse from Luke where Jesus laments those who laugh:
Woe to those who laugh, for they shall weep.
The verse seems unusual -not only to them but also to me. It seems to have come from outer space. Woe to those who laugh ...? Woe to those who look for that thing I am constantly looking for ...?
But the Scriptures do not lie.
Although I cannot find a place in the Bible that forbids laughing, there are many precautions about it. These precautions seem so alien to me. I admit laughter is a thing I struggle with everyday.
In response to these readers (and, yes, I am a reader of this blog also) I have put together a collection of life experiences and passages from the Bible, Shakespeare, and Kierkegaard on laughter and its perils.
If you are ready to continue then please begin. I did not want to start without providing a fair warning.
A fire broke out backstage in a theater. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe its a joke.
Either/Or
It is better to go to a house of mourning
Than to go to a house of feasting,
Because that is the end of every man,
And the living takes it to heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:2
Last week my uncle traveled a great distance to see me and my family. As a way of entertaining everyone at dinner I began telling a story I thought had perhaps been forgotten.
"When my Uncle was on the faculty of my elementary school, one of my friends punched a boy in the face and broke his glasses. Instead of facing the punishment he decided to run. The administration did not know what to do. My uncle, on the other hand, took off running. He chased him for a mile before he caught him."
Everyone laughed with the only exception being my uncle, who looked very grave. I thought I had truly said something wonderful, but then my uncle spoke up: "That boy had a troubled childhood. Before he finished highschool he had taken his own life."
I said to myself, "How foolish I am!"
It should worry one to see with what hypochondriac profundity a former generation of Englishmen have discovered the ambiguity at the bottom of laughter. Thus Dr. Hartley has remarked: 'When laughter first manifests itself in the infant, it is an incipient cry, excited by pain, or by a feeling of pain suddenly inhibited, and recurring at brief intervals.' What if everything in the world were a misunderstanding, what if laughter were really tears?
Either/Or
Alas, poor Yorick !
I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft.
Where be your gibes now?
Hamlet, V.i
Christianity is seriousness.
Anticlimacus, The Sickness Unto Death
He said, "I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.
Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, `Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?'
"Is anything too difficult for the LORD ? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."
Sarah denied it however, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh."
Genesis 18:10-15
4 Comments:
"Woe to those who laugh, for they shall weep" (Luke 6)
It's funny the passage is mentioned twice within Luke 6 - both times using mourning/weeping as the antithesis of laughter. I almost think the idea behind it about dealing with our mourning/pain in such a way that we can laugh again (be joyful). In not dealing with life's hurts (as in laughing to cover them) we soon find out that we still feel the pain - unlike the person who dealt with their pain and have healed.
I find nothing wrong with laughter and joy - they are quite normal human traits which we enjoy.
One can also recall a story from Gemesis where Isaac (which means laughter) is called this by his mom Sara (Gen 21:5-7). Apparently, Sara felt this was a great thing.
Psalms 126 mentions laughter in regards to the ideal I mention about in Luke's 'laughter' - in celebration of captives being freed - what happens? Laughter, joy, and gladness in that scenario.
Laughter has it's place - but so does dealing with pain - call it a balance.
I may have misunderstood your first post, and indeed, I might now be misunderstanding this one as well.
But it seems to me, a very casual observer, that you have two contradictory ideas going this article.
One is that laughter, while generally fine or even good, has places where it is inappropriate. I agree with that, but fail to see how it relates to the scripture sited.
The other idea is that laughter is bad, against scripture, and might just be the end of the world. I don't think you mean this, but some of the passages that you cite seem to indicate it as a possibility.
Consider the following commentary on Luke 6:25 that I found lying around
Wesley:
Full - Of meat and drink, and worldly goods. That laugh - That are of a light trifling spirit.
Family Bible Notes:
You that are full; are satisfied with earthly enjoyments, and desire nothing better.
Laugh; live in thoughtlessness and sinful mirth.
JFB:
24, 25. rich . . . full . . . laugh—who have all their good things and joyous feelings here and now, in perishable objects.
Matthew Henry:
3. Here is a woe to them that laugh now, that have always a disposition to be merry, and always something to make merry with; that know no other joy than that which is carnal and sensual, and know no other use of this world's good than purely to indulge that carnal sensual joy that banishes sorrow, even godly sorrow, from their minds, and are always entertaining themselves with the laughter of the fool. Woe unto such, for it is but now, for a little time, that they laugh; they shall mourn and weep shortly, shall mourn and weep eternally, in a world where there is nothing but weeping and wailing, endless, easeless, and remediless sorrow.
I stand by my implication in my original comment that you are using the verse incorrectly. It is not an admonishment agains all laughter, or even most laughter. It is an admonishment against a thoughtless life. A warning against the idol Bacchus, if you will. I'd love to find a linguistic analysis of the words used in the original text here.
As you said, Scriptures don't lie. That doesn't mean we can't use them to promote a lie.
Hi SocietyVs,
Thanks for taking up my questions.
I do not believe my concerns can be alleviated by moderating laughter. If one lacks the necessary sense of seriousness (as Solomon writes, the way the living may 'take things to heart') it matters little whether one spends one-half or one entire lifetime in a merry mood.
There is something to be said, however, for being able to deal with pain -as you say. I think often times a laugh is just a way of distracting oneself from pain (as BrotherKen seems to suggest).
Hi Albert,
Thanks again for stopping by. I dig the commentaries. I have high regard for Matthew Henry as a commentator.
I am wary of adding qualifications to the Bible. When the Bible says, "Children obey your parents." it leaves many qualifications out. For example it does not say, "...unless your friends think it would be cool to disobey them." Or, "Unless they smoke." Or, "Unless it is socially unacceptable." Etc.
The worldly qualification of "appropriateness" is out the window right off the bat. I refrain from mentioning the places where ungodly choices are openly accepted and considered permissible and, as they say, appropriate.
So as I said, qualifications are dangerous and usually indicative of poor behavior (this is why they are the favorite toy of philosophers, as Erasmus noted).
Jesus does make a qualification, though. He says, "Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh."
The qualification is paradoxical because it appears to completely undo the previous statement: "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep."
I do think there is a place for laughter … for those who mourn and recognize the seriousness and vanity of everything.
On the other hand, I stand by my original claim, that we should feel sorry for those who see a sermon as an opportunity to laugh, because Christianity is seriousness.
Sorry for the late reply. I spent a while considering your post.
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