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Laughter

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 30, 1914

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 31.

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Laughter

By ELIZA H. MORTON

ELIZA H. MORTON
A SPECIES of the hyena laughs, but man is the only animal that smiles. Laughter is usually preceded by smiles. A little girl was once told that the Bible nowhere says that Jesus smiled. She replied, “I know that he did smile, for he called the children to him and blessed them, and they would not have gone had he not smiled.”
It is true that the word smile does not occur in the Bible, but the word laughter is mentioned a number of times. It says there is a time to laugh (Eccl. 3:4), and the whole tenor of the Scriptures goes to show that God’s people should be a glad, joyful people. The laughter of fools, however, is like the crackling of thorns under a pot (Eccl. 7:6); and when the feet are in the ways of death, the lips may laugh and yet the heart be heavy and sorrowful (Prov. 14:13). This class of people are counseled to turn their laughter to mourning (James 4:9),—mourning for sin,—which, if genuine repentance, will cause them to receive the oil of joy for heaviness, and gladness for sorrow.
It is always true that the Christian should avoid frivolity; and in these days when God is working a strange work in the earth, it is especially true that they should be sober, walking softly before the Lord, and wrestling with him for that victory over sin which will bring a holy joy to illuminate the countenance with the light of life. When God turns again the captivity of Zion, those who now weep shall laugh, and shall say among the heathen, “The Lord hath done great things for us.” Ps. 126: 1, 2.
Portland, Maine.