Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life

The nicest compliment I ever received came from a Catholic deacon at a parish in Iowa. My family and I were getting ready to move out of the area (my one-year fellowship at the local Catholic hospital was ending) and he was explaining why our family would be missed: "It's been so nice having you here. You and your family live the faith joyfully."This compliment came back to me while reading Jesuit Fr. James Martin's new book, Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life, which hits shelves today. Fr. Martin has crafted a wonderful book highlighting the rich tradition of faithful humor and joyful spirituality. He takes dead aim on the gloomy, pessimistic side of Christianity, arguing that it is not only antithetical to the teachings of Christ, but hurtful to the Church's mission of evangelization.If you're looking for a quick summary of Fr. Martin's insights, skip to chapter four (helpfully entitled "Happiness Attracts: 11 1/2 Serious Reasons for Good Humor"). This is a similar list to the keynote talk I heard Fr. Martin give at the 2011 NCCL conference. At the top of the list is the fact that happiness and humor are ways to witness to our faith:"Joy, humor, and laughter show one's faith in God. For Christians, an essentially hopeful outlook shows people that you believe in the Resurrection, in the power of life over death, and in the power of love over hatred. Don't you think that after the Resurrection Jesus's disciples were joyful? 'All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well,' as the fourteenth-century mystic Blessed Julian of Norwich said. For believers in general, humor shows your trust in God, who will ultimately make all things well. Joy reveals faith."This may seem self-evident, but the number of dour and humorless Christians would seem to indicate that it bears repeating. Fr. Martin goes to on extol humor's virtues in the area of health, spirituality, hospitality, play, and interpersonal relations.What's more, the book is funny. Fr. Martin sprinkles jokes and humor from the saints liberally throughout the text, including stories about Pope John XXIII; Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ; Dorothy Day; various Jesuit saints; and, of course, Jesus!In fact, I think his look at humor in Sacred Scripture (both Old and New Testament) will be especially eye-opening for many people. As Fr. Martin points outs, it is easy to overlook the humor in the Bible:"We've simply heard the stories too many times, and they become stale, like overly repeated jokes. 'The words seem to us like old coins,' [Elton Trueblood] writes, 'in which the edges have been worn smooth and the engravings have become almost indistinguishable.' Trueblood recounts the tale of his four-year-old son, who, upon hearing the Gospel story about seeing the speck of dust in your neighbor's eye and ignoring the log in your own,laughed uproariously. The young boy readily saw the humor missed by those who have heard the story dozens of times."Besides the Bible Fr. Martin recommends numerous books on humor and spirituality (he admits up front that his book is not intended to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject) and even gives a list of his favorite funny movies.A quick note about the book's intended audience: some Catholics may wonder why a book about spirituality by a Catholic priest includes insights from other Christian traditions as well as Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. Fr. Martin writes for a broad audience, and I hope that his Protestant and non-Christian fans from the Huffington Post and the Colbert Report will pick up the book; I think many would be surprised at the relevance of its subject.I heartily recommend Between Heaven and Mirth for anyone interested in furthering their own spiritual journey -- or just looking for a few new jokes from their repertoire. The Church's rich tradition of faithful joy is a treasure that deserves to be shared, for humor is a gift from God.Or, as Hilaire Belloc so succinctly put it:Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,There's always laughter and good red wine.At least I've always found it so.Benedicamus Domino!Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book for free from TLC Book Tours.

This is a must read for people of all faiths... especially for those who were brought up to believe and still continue to believe that God frowns on those who are not deadly serious when they are praying.I went to an all girls Catholic school run by Benedictine nuns for my grammar and high school. We would have a school Mass once a week and those nuns walked up and down those pews to make sure that we were not talking, laughing or God forbid even just smiling while we were in the chapel. The consequence of that was that I grew up fearing God, instead of considering God as a friend; as someone I can talk to. For college, I went to a Catholic university run by Dominican priests who were no better than my Benedictine nuns. It was a university where the men had entirely separate buildings from the women ( not just classrooms , but buildings!) with separate cafeterias and libraries.I guess God decided that I had had enough of that nonsense because after college, I ended up going to a Jesuit Law School.And those Jesuits ( thank you God!) set me straight! Some of them were not only my professors, they became friends as well.And I now have a Jesuit spiritual director. Whew!!!But back to the book. The author is right. Our relationship with God can be be a joyful one whatever our circumstances may be or whatever kind of day we may be having. Just think about it. Sharing our thoughts and experiences with the one person who can truly understand us. It does not get any better than that!.And just like Fr. Jim says in the book: Imagine Jesus walking with you bit sitting beside you, sharing your day. Sometimes you don't even have to say a word. Just enjoy each other's company.As the hymn goes: This is a day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it! God bless you.

James Martin, a Jesuit priest, explores the role of joy and laughter in our private and public worship, and he does so masterfully. He consistently helped me to see the scriptures and spirituality in a new light. He shows how the Gospels give hints of Jesus himself using humor in his teaching. (These are just hints, granted, but he ultimately convinced me.) For example, he shows how the absurdity of some of Jesus's comparisons would like have struck listeners as funny: Just after reading that, I was reading in Luke 11 how Jesus asks, "If a son shall ask bread of any of you..., will he give him a stone? ... Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?" I laughed at the incongruity. (I wasn't convinced by all of his examples, but enough to make the point.)Martin shows how humor can help us to remain humble and appreciate our own failings. He demonstrates - beyond humor - how to use gratitude to populate our lives with joy and fun. He encourages us to be the leaven in our communities, to bring the joy, and to enjoy the joy of others. He provides specific, practical tools for exploring gratitude in each aspect of our lives, and he gives guidance for sharing our joy and laughter with the Almighty, in addition to sharing our needs and fears and desires. My (electronic) copy of this book is heavily marked and I hope to refer back to it often.The book draws from a rich range of sources: Martin's own anecdotes (funny and sad and everything in between), stories from friends, quotes from hundreds of interviews, scriptures, and passages from a range of other books. And the book is interspersed with great JOKES. I have already retold several of the jokes here to great effect (particularly the one about the Catholic priest, the Baptist preacher, and the Rabbi who try to convert a grizzly bear).I do feel like the book could have used an editor with a firmer hand; occasionally I felt some repetitiveness. But the pleasures of this read so far outweigh the few weaknesses that I would recommend this to anyone who seeks a richer, more joyful spiritual life. I have already given away one copy and will do so again.Why I read this book: I read a great review of it in the Washington Post (by Harvey Cox, published 25 November 2012).Note on content: There is no objectionable content in this book.

I used this book to read, and to think about joy, humour, and spiritual life. Like many books about spiritual life it was full of anecdotes, and descriptions of the people mentioned. I thought that it rather caricatured the assumed solemnity of religious people, and revealed little scholarly or theoretical refelexion.

This is an excellent book which lives up to its title. It is one that you can dip into from time to time, and if you are feeling low this book will uplift you with its joy and mirth. It is serious as well. I can recommend it wholeheartedly

This book tackles the subject of joy in general, comparing it to the perfect being which God hopes we will be. Jokes as well - what more could you ask of a book.

Great

Another lovely book from the kind amd thoughtful James Martin whose works never fail to bring me closer to God.