The Man Who Never Laughs by J. R. Miller from The Duty of Laughter. The disciples were filled with
joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts chapter 13 verse 52. The
fruit of the Spirit is joy. Galatians chapter 5 verse 22. The wise man says that there
is a time to laugh. That is, there is a time when
laughter is right. when it is a duty, and when it
would be wrong not to laugh. Perhaps we have not been accustomed
to think of laughter in this way. We regard it as an agreeable
exercise, but are not apt to class it among duties, like honesty
or kindness. It would be a sad thing, however,
if laughter would be altogether crowded out of life. Think of
a world of human beings with no laughter, men and women always
wearing grave, serious, solemn faces. Think of the laughter
of childhood, departing from the world, how dull and dreary
life would be. Nothing on earth is more beautiful
than the merry laugh of childhood. Laughter has its place in every
wholesome, healthy, holy life. The man who never smiles is morbid. He's lost the joy cords out of
his life. He's trained himself to think
only of unpleasant things, to look only and always at the dark
side. He has accustomed himself so
long to sadness that the muscles of his face have become set in
hard, fixed lines, and cannot relax themselves. His thoughts
of life are gloomy, and the gloom has entered his soul and darkened
his eyes. Where there is no laughter, all
evils nest. Demons do not laugh. The man who never laughs must
not blame his fellows if they think there is something wrong
with his life, something dark within. If the streams which
flow out are only bitter, The fountain cannot be sweet. The
wise man says, A happy heart makes the face cheerful, But
heartache crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15.13. A cheerful heart
has a A joyful heart is a good medicine,
but a broken spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17.22. May the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace. Romans 15.13. Rejoice in the
Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice. Philippians 4.4.