Laughter in the Scriptures

In a book I’m listening to, S. Michael Wilcox made the comment that it is challenging to understand when laughter is acceptable to the Lord and when it is not.  If we look in the Old Testament, we see that laughter was frowned upon in many cases.  The writer of Proverbs suggested that laughter doesn’t lead to good things, saying, “Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness” (Proverbs 14:13).  The writer of Ecclesiastes said, “I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?”  He also wrote, “Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better” (Ecclesiastes 2:2, 7:3).  And yet the writer of Ecclesiastes also wrote that there is “a time to laugh” suggesting at least that there is still a place for it.  In the New Testament we have one story in which laughter is spoken of; when the Savior suggested that the damsel who had died was not really dead but was asleep, the people “laughed him to scorn” (Mark 5:40).  And yet the Savior also suggested that some kind of laughter would be part of the future blessing for the righteous: “Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh” (Luke 6:21). 

               The Doctrine and Covenants speaks of laughter in several verses which suggest that laughter should be tempered.  In one revelation we read, “And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:15).  I don’t know quite how we determine what “much” is, but clearly from this laughter is approved by the Lord as long as it is limited to some extent.  In another revelation the Lord said something similar: “Remember the great and last promise which I have made unto you; cast away your idle thoughts and your excess of laughter far from you” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:69).  Here He didn’t say to get rid of all laughter but to control it and not have an excess.  The same revelation also speaks of laughter later on: “Therefore, cease from all your light speeches, from all laughter, from all your lustful desires, from all your pride and light-mindedness, and from all your wicked doings” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:121).  This tells us to cease from “all laughter” but was given in the context of the school of the prophets—an occasion for learning sacred things and I don’t believe this was suggesting that we should never laugh.  But when we go to the temple or participate in sacred meetings, for example, we should indeed cease from all laughter.  Ultimately the message of all of these passages seems to be that we should be aware and our laughter should be appropriate and given in the right spirit.  We all know the difference between the kind of laughter that the people used to mock the Savior and the kind that lifts and edifies and brings joy, and the latter is the kind we should seek to cultivate at the right time and the right place.  President Joseph F. Smith summarized this balance we should have this way: “I believe that it is necessary for the Saints to have amusement, but it must be of the proper kind. I do not believe the Lord intends and desires that we should pull a long face and look sanctimonious and hypocritical. I think he expects us to be happy and of a cheerful countenance, but he does not expect of us the indulgence in boisterous and unseemly conduct and the seeking after the vain and foolish things which amuse and entertain the world. He has commanded us to the contrary for our own good and eternal welfare.”