LAUGHTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 17, 20 January 1934, Page 1 (Supplement)

LAUGHTER.

A HEALTHFUL MINISTRY.

VALUE DURING DEPRESSION.

(By J. R. HERVEY.)

Who lives merrily, he lives mightily. Without gladness availes 110 treasure. —Dunbar.

It is a maxim of the Wise Solomon that there is a, "tima to weep and a t time to laugh." Life is a stern business. Its burdens J uist be borne. Its pains must be endured. Its duties must be met. There is a time to work, and a ( time to weep. I'rom these more prosaic , and painful aspects laughter provides ] an escape. Laughter is a safety valve. To see the funny side of things—to j indulge in what wo call a * hearty < laugh, brings much needed relief to the \ tired and harassed and anxious spirit. ] When a great chip strains at her cables : they are sometimes loosened in order to relieve the strain. So laughter is the ; loosening of life's cable —a relaxing of life's tension. One writer has said: "If i a happy temper be conducive to health, i the indulgence of a merry mood cannot i be otherwise than beneficial. The • physiological effects of a hearty, down- < rio-ht laugh are not to be denied. There is° probably no remote corner of the human system that does not experience the benefit of the convulsions peculiar : to a prolonged outburst of lajighter. The blood runs more freely . . and every little inlet of the most minute vessels of the body must .feel some wavelet of a more stimulating and invigorating property. Healer of Hearts. Laughter has been known to he a ( settler of disputes, and a healer of hearts. If two people are on the brink of a quarrel, and one of them suddenly sees tlie funny side of the affair, it is often only a matter of minutes befoie the . whole incident is forgotten. There is good reason to believe that ( hearty laughter is the sign of a frank and open spirit. It has been remarked that confirmed criminals never give vent to this type of laughter. The lurking suspicion, the suppressed resentment, , the brooding introspectiveness, these , qualities would naturally prevent the spontaneous and ■ care-free outbursts which we associate with happier conditions. Carlyle, making play with , Shakespeare's words, writes in "Sartor Resartus," "The man who cannot laugh is not only fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoilsj but his whole life is already a treason and a stratagem." Conversely, it might be argued, that humour has an important part to play in softening the criminal heart —that if , the inveterate evil-doer could only be induced to laugh heartily, it might put him on better terms with his fellows, and alter his attitude towards life. Slillicent Preston Stanley says, beaufull y and truly, "Life sometimes kills the laugh of her grown-up children all too soon. Many have lost their laugh somewhere in the dark folds of life. A newspaper correspondent recently said that the New Zealand dairy farmer does not laugh. Falling prices have killed the laughter. In the dark folds of tlie depression many laughs lie lost. In these circumstances, the comedian, the sketcn artist, the humorous writer —anyone, indeed, who can add to the gaiety of the nations—place us all under an undeniable obligation. In war time the visits of humorous artists to the front, not only introduced the note of cheerfulness, but also helped to maintain the morale of the forces. The Optimist Societies, the Sunshine Guilds, and the. Keep Smiling Clubs are no doubt founded on the very sound idea that if we can only get people to laugh many of their fears and their troubles would vanish. All Lost Save Happiness. Because he could still laugh Jeremy Taylor remained undisturbed by menacing circumstances. He lost all—his house had been plundered, and his family driven out of doors. All his worldly estate had been sequestered, yet he could write thus: "I am fallen into the hands of publicans and sequestrators, and they have taken all from me. What I now 1 Let me look about me. They I have left me the sun and the moon, a loving wife, and many friends to pity me and some to relieve me. They have left me my religion. I still sleep and digest. I eat and drink. 1 read and meditate. They have not taken away my inerrv countenance and my cheerful spirit, and a good conscience. He that hath so many causes of joy, and so great, may well choose to sit down upon his little handful of thorns." This is all in the spirit of the man who "resolved to be merry, though the ship were sinking." And that is good counsel for such times_ as we are passing through. It is not just the old, outworn advice to "grin and bear it." The laughter recommended is not the laughter of the fool, which, according to Ecclesiastes, is like the crackling of thorns under a pot. Rather, it is the laughter of wise men, who,"although not blind to besetting difficulties, yet see beyond them, refusing to surrender their faith in tli* future welfare of human society.