Laughter

There has not been much laughter in our home recently. None of us has felt well, sleep has been a little elusive, and we’re all a tad off normal.

So when I came across this portion of A Christmas Carol (we’re reading it for school) it became a poignant reminder of the beauty of laughing.

It’s a little lengthy, but I’m going to share it with you anyway.

“Ha, ha!” laughed Scrooge’s nephew. “Ha, ha, ha!”

If you should happen, by any unlikely chance, to know a man more blessed in a laugh than Scrooge’s nephew, all I can say is, I should like to know him too. Introduce him to me, and I’ll cultivate his acquaintance.

It is a fair, evenhanded, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor. When Scrooge’s nephew laughed in this way:  holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions:  Scrooge’s niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he. And their assembled friends being not a bit behindhand, roared out lustily.

“Ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

“He said that Christmas was a humbug, as I live!” cried Scrooge’s nephew. “He believed it too!”

“More shame for him, Fred!” said Scrooge’s niece, indignantly.

Bless those women; they never do anything by halves. They are always in earnest.

May this week before Christmas be filled with laughter for you and your family. May you be blessed as you laugh in earnest and not by halves.

This post has been submitted for inclusion in The Christian Home Magazine Issue 40. As the featured columnist for the Gentle Humor column, I will be sharing something weekly that will, hopefully, bring a smile to your day!