Recently I had lunch with a friend that I meet up with on an irregular basis (I’ve known her for 40 years) – and every time we get together, we wind up laughing our heads off about something odd. When we were leaving the restaurant, one of the owners smiled and asked, “Do you two always have this much fun?” Actually, we do – but then… sometimes we don’t, because we’ve both faced life challenges that are anything but funny. But the momentary retreat into humor is a sweet and healthy diversion.

Perhaps you’ve read stories of people who firmly believe that laughing as they watched Groucho Marx movies led to their victories over debilitating illnesses. Even their doctors found no other reason for their amazing recovery. For you younger readers, Groucho Marx is considered to have been one of America’s greatest comedians. Some of his slapstick jokes and one-liners caught you so off-guard that you laughed until your sides hurt. Laughter for some very sick people proved to be very good medicine. So, we can conclude that laughter is not necessarily bad.

But now let’s listen in as Solomon gives us his opinion about laughter:

I said of laughter, “It is madness,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?” (Ecclesiastes 2:2)



Solomon probably had a court jester who entertained him and his guests on a regular basis. Jesters were the comedians of Solomon’s day – and employed a wide variety of skills in keeping the royals laughing – no doubt telling jokes that were often questionable or just plain filthy -- or jokes that made fun of other people. Perhaps the jester did this almost every night.

So why did Solomon conclude that laughter was “madness” or just plain silly? Do you think he was energetically entertained by the jester so often that he became bored? Do you think that’s why he concluded that it was a total waste of time?

Or do you think perhaps God was convicting him about the type of humor he was continually being exposed to – and the thoughts and pictures he might be planting in his mind? When he asked himself, What does it accomplish, was he regretting the time he spent laughing at off-color jokes – jokes that were often told at others’ expense?

Let’s get personal. What makes you laugh? Is it healthy? Are you laughing at the things that Jesus Himself would think were funny? If not, is your heart tender enough to recognize that God’s Holy Spirit might be telling you that you’re wasting your time?

By Judy Shrout