Between Heaven and Mirth by James Martin, SJ (2011)


TL;DR: Joy is a sign of God's presence; Humor and Laughter can be found in the saint's lives, in the Church, and through your own personal spiritual life.

This book was a joy to read, enlightening and quite funny. My experience of faith tends to be mixed. As a kid I remember it being repetitive; some times gloomy. To know that there is place for "not gloomy" things in this context is refreshing.

Why should you read this book?

It provides an understanding of Joy, Humor and Laughter in a place not usually associated with it. It pulls not only from the Catholics, but from the Protestants; Islam and Judaism are also represented. And it was surprising to see some of the recent concepts in Psychology in here also: "Savoring" and "Authentic Happiness".

How can you use this information?

It boils down to Gratitude. You see life and people differently. Every time you start to take yourself too seriously, don't. People screw up. Laugh. Savor the moments. Most philosophy and religion agree that life is suffering. Very serious, and it is. It is the courageous act to go through life with this in mind and still be joyful.

Structure: 

The most infallible sign of God is Joy
A history of why religion tends to be "gloomy"
Reasons for Joy, Humor and Laughter from a spiritual perspective
Difficult questions to a joyful life
Joy, Humor and Laughter in the saint's lives, the Church, in your personal spiritual life and in your prayers

Some notes highlighted:
I've reached the unscientific (but I think accurate) conclusion that underlying this gloom is a lack of belief in this essential truth: faith leads to joy.
Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin "Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God"
Popularly understood, Joy is a particular type of happiness, an intensified or long-lasting delight. [...] Humor is a quality or attribute "That quality which appeals to a sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous. [...] Laughter is a thing or an act. [...] a natural expression of joy
Karl-Josef Kuschel. two main ways of looking at laughter from a spiritual vantage point. [...] Laughter can heal or hurt. [...] In short, one school of spirituality condemns laughter; the other praises it.
As long as it remains firmly in that first category of "joyful" and does not transgress into "mocking" human laughter is a gift from God, a spontaneous expression of delight at the world.
Thomas Aquinas. The highest joy, says Thomas, is seeing God "face to face", since one has attained all that one's heart can desire.
In popular terminology joy is happiness. For the religious person joy is happiness in God.
What characterizes Christian joy in contrast to happiness, he says [Donald Saliers], lies in its ability to exist even in the midst of suffering, because joy has less to do with emotion and more to do with belief. It does not ignore pain in the world, in another's life, or in one's own life. Rather it goes deeper, seeing confidence in God - and for Christians, in Jesus Christ - as the reason for joy and a constant source of joy.
Joy is a sign of God's presence
Joy can be subversive.
Laughter can be rebellious
To sum up, a few reasons why humor might have been given a short shrift in Christian circles are: a contemporary lack of understanding of what was considered funny in biblical times, the prevailing norms of the Hellenistic culture into which the Gospels were introduced, an over familiarity with the stories in the Old and New testaments, an overemphasis on the Passion in the Christian narrative, a failure of the imagination, and the sociology of hierarchical institutions.
Traditionally, Christians relate to the saints in two ways: as patron and companion. The Patron Model [...] ask for a saint's prayers, also called "intercession". [...] Companion, [....] the saint provides us with a model of Christian life, and we are helped by following his or her example. In other words, the saints serve as our models.
There is something irresistible about a person in a position of authority with self-deprecatory sense of humor. It instantly binds us to the person, perhaps because we see in him or her a reflection of what we could be, of what God wants us to be in the midst of our accomplishments: simple, humble, aware of our own limitations, and of course, joyful.
Can you also allow yourself to think that the wonderful or funny or unexpected things that surprise you are a sign of God being playful with you?
The call manifests itself as a simple human desire.
But vocation is bigger than what you do, that is, your work, your job, or even your career. It's about who you are. Each of us has a unique vocation to become the person we are meant to be. [...] God desires for us to be the freest, most mature and most loving, most alive person we can be.
Joy is often an outgrowth not simply of following our vocation in life, but of helping those in need and of loving one another. So joy is not a selfish thing to seek, but a selfless thing to find.
Humor is within the reach of everyone, because everyone's life is full or absurdity, improbability, and general craziness. 
If you're looking for joy, can you be the one who provides it?
A few years ago, I was complaining about some small physical malady to my friend Chris, a Jesuit brother. I said, with mock seriousness, "My life is such a cross!"
"Yes" he said without missing a beat. "But for you or for others?"
I burst out laughing. Whenever I am tempted to focus to much on my own problems.
A catholic sister is teaching finger painting to her first grade art class. The sister walks up and down the aisles looking at what each of her student has painted. She stops over the desk of one little boy. "What are you painting , Billy? she asks.
Billy looks up and answers, "I'm painting the face of God."
"But that's impossible," says the sister. "No one has seen the face of God"
Billy turns back to his drawing and says "They will in five minutes!"
Anthony de Mello, "Look at God looking at you... and smiling"
Has anything happened recently that made you laugh or made you laugh at yourself?
St. Ignatius Loyola, Ingratitude is the most abominable of sins, and is the cause, beginning, and origin of all sins and misfortunes.
Can you surprise God? Can you surprise God in your prayer and in your life? Can you do something out of character (say, lie on your back in a field and enjoy the sunshine, draw a picture with crayons to express your creativity, or sing a hymn aloud) that might, just might surprise God? Perhaps God wants to be surprised from time to time. and delighted.
Preparation for heaven forms the basis of a great deal of Christian theology. Life, in this understanding, is not so much a test as it is a rehearsal. [...] In that case, why couldn't earthly joy, humor and laughter be a way of preparing for lifetime of happiness? Why not allow yourself to enjoy a little heaven on earth? Engaging in those virtues, then, is not simply a way to live a fuller spritual life now, but to orient yourself to your future.

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