By
Archbishop Chrysostomos of Etna
It seems
to me that now, as we begin the journey through the Great Fast towards Holy
Pascha, may be an appropriate time to comment on something about which many of
you have asked me: the delicate question of the positive nature of humor and
laughter and their negative transformation into frivolity.
Let me
begin by saying that I am very fond of humor and believe that wholesome
laughter is spiritually, psychologically, and even physically healthy. I am,
indeed, personally uncomfortable around individuals who lack a sense of humor
and who do not laugh. One might respond, with regard to my statement, that many
ascetics and holy people have argued that humor and laughter detract one from
spiritual sobriety and opine that Christ, the Archetype of the perfected man,
never laughed, there being no evidence in Scripture of His having had a sense
of humor.
Secondly,
with regard to the witness of ascetics, they constitute a class of remarkable
and special individuals, called by Christ and gifted with special Grace, who
serve to set the standard of Christian praxis and who, by virtue of the Grace
dwelling in them, take solace in Divine comforts and rise above the
weaknesses—even the more innocent weaknesses—that mark the majority of us
Christians. As well, they see Christ in a higher and more exalted way than we,
and are drawn into His Presence, as it were, in a manner that transcends our
trifling encounters with Christ. If they opine that Christ never smiled or
laughed, or that He did not have a sense of humor, this rises out of the purity
of their vision. And while I would not dispute the words of such holy personages,
their individual views do not have definitive or dogmatic authority, with
regard to Christ as He dwelled on earth; nor, in respecting their words, are we
obliged to condemn laughter and humor on this account.
Here
then, St. John the Golden-Mouthed brings us to a crucial distinction between
laughter and humor that, as we have observed, can comfort us and others and
frivolity—characterized by immoderation out of season—which he tells us to
control (“kratoumen autes”). As healthy as humor and laughter in moderation are
for us spiritually (when we use them to comfort the distressed), psychologically
(as they give respite and comfort to our souls), and physically (since health
in the soul promotes health in the body), frivolity, witless laughter,
cackling, and the indulgence of humor at the cost of spiritual sobriety are not
salutary things. When we look upon the Saints and holy men and women of our day
who had a good sense of humor and enjoyed refined comedy, the one thing that
characterizes them, above all else, is their corresponding lack of frivolity
and silliness. In keeping with St. Paul’s description of the proper Christian,
they are “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (II Corinthians 6:10).
If all
that the Divine Chrysostomos tells us about people, in his times, who exceeded
the boundaries of healthful humor and laughter seems hyperbolic, I would ask
you to attend to the nature of private and public discourse in our day. I
constantly hear telephone conversations in which every comment, whether
humorous or not, is either introduced or brought to a close with meaningless
laughter and cackling. Face-to-face conversations are likewise peppered with
completely inappropriate laughter. And even in instances where humor might
properly provoke laughter, the latter is so drawn-out and witless, with long
guffaws and cackles, that it obviates further intelligent discourse. Without
our noticing it, frivolity has become so much a part of our modem society that
people do not respond to serious matters or serious discussions in a mature
way. They have become like children on the playground who speak and act in
childish ways.
I
listened, recently, to an interview (recorded from the Public Broadcasting
System) by the “chat host” Charlie Rose with Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of the
immensely successful company, Amazon.com. This individual is an exceedingly
gifted and bright individual, as well as a potential source of sound and
productive advice in a world facing one of the worst economic meltdowns in
history. I was dismayed that, in the style of the contemporary interlocution
that I have described, throughout this interview, even when discussing
important and interesting economic or scientific issues, Mr. Bezos would break
into almost uncontrolled laughter, to which his interviewer would respond with
equally inordinate laughter. Thus, otherwise cogent observations took on the character
of flummery and babble.
What St.
John Chrysostomos said to Christians in his own day applies, then, to our era,
when we are surrounded by the superficies of a society that cannot respond to
the greater issues or ills of human life with instructive or palliative humor.
We have placed humor, laughter, and comedy outside the realm of moderation and
circumspection, depriving ourselves of a wonderful part of human discourse by
abusing it. It behooves us, therefore, almost sixteen centuries after he
chastised our Christian forebears, to apply St. John’s chastisements to
ourselves and to take care that we do not squander the riches of our Faith on
foolishness in the name of humor, allowing giddy, imbecilic behavior to
discredit and despoil our witness to our fellow man and to the world. Following
the admonition of Scripture, too, let us be “sober, grave, temperate, sound in
faith, in charity, in patience” (St. Titus 2:2), as we appropriately “rejoice
with joy unspeakable” (I St. Peter 1:8).
CONVERSATION