A Good cure
I left my house at 7:20 Wednesday morning and by the time I said goodbye to a dear coach friend at the Gonzaga parking garage, I drove off at 5:20 in the evening. It had been a full day of
connection and growth with hundreds of women (and a few brave men) at WomenLead. Heading to pick up my daughters, I dreaded the thought of going to another event at 6:30. I’m a people
person, but I was honestly peopled out. My brain and heart were full. Being alone to recharge was sincerely what I wanted. But I made a promise to my children that we would go, so despite my
desire to stay home I kept my commitment.
As I entered the building, I was greeted with the typical, “How are you?” I was glad to be asked by someone I felt safe enough with to say, “I’m so exhausted, I don’t really want to be here.”
Instead of judgment, she met me with compassion. She listened as I told her about my day. Later when I sat next to her, she jokingly volunteered, “I’ll protect you as much as I can.”
When we were instructed as to what would come next, she whispered, “Ooops, I don’t know if I can protect you from that one.” I laughed, already feeling lighter from her humor and expression of
care.
Because we were celebrating something important that evening, discussing heavy topics like usual wasn’t on the agenda. We played a game instead. Soon, people’s less protected parts of their
personality came out and it was fun to see. I started getting an enjoyable ab workout with so much laughter in the room. What else did I receive? I’ll let King Solomon explain:
A happy heart is good medicine and a joyful mind causes healing…
I looked up the meaning of “good medicine” in the text’s original Hebrew language and this is what I found:
Good = “to make a thing good or right or beautiful”
Medicine = “a cure”
In other words: A happy heart is a good, right and beautiful cure.
What’s the opposite? King Solomon continues, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.
With the recent passing of my favorite aunt and 7 other deaths last year, I’m acquainted with grief and dried up bones. I must say that despite how Wednesday evening started, I found myself in the
end glad to be there, surprisingly experiencing a happy heart. I confessed before the group, “I really needed this you guys. It feels so good to laugh.”
My encouragement to you this week is to not underestimate the healing power of laughter. Let delight be an intentional part of your life. Remember, one of the meanings of shalom is delight.
So heartily and unashamedly laugh.
