When Norman Cousins was diagnosed with a rare and incurable disease, he released himself from hospital and decided to treat himself. Aware of the harmful effects that negative emotions can have on the body Cousins prescribed his own treatment, consisting mainly of mega doses of vitamin C and a positive attitude produced by faith, hope, love and laughter. The laughter came from watching old Marx Brothers films and Candid Camera re-runs. It didn’t take long for him to discover that ten minutes of laughter provided two hours of pain-free sleep. Amazingly, his debilitating disease was eventually reversed and when his story was published he received thousands letters from appreciative physicians throughout the world.
If a good regular dose of laughter can have that effect on our physical well being, how much more when you add in spiritual joy and peace. No wonder the Bible says: ‘The joy of the Lord is my strength.’