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Review by Jeannie Crawford-Lee
I have read recently in the popular press that laughing is a great boon to one's health -- the physical movements, the chemical reactions, the molecular changes that take place when we laugh have been demonstrated scientifically to help fight disease, even keep us young! Naturally, I was primed for a book on the subject of laughter.
Surprised by Laughter by Terry Lindvall takes us into another realm where laughter is good for us, the spiritual dimension of life.
The Comic World of C. S. Lewis is Lindvall's topic, and his examination of this renowned apologist for the Christian faith reveals a refreshing and often unexpected perspective on the primacy of humor as a gateway to God.
"What is funny about us is precisely that we take ourselves too seriously." That quote from theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, aptly selected by Lindvall as a chapter opening, capsulizes the springboard for C. S. Lewis's dive into the comical. The incongruities of life provide a wealth of opportunities to laugh at ourselves if we allow -- even encourage -- highlighting them through jokes, wordplay, games, and more.
What's "spiritual" about that? Lewis observed that humans are stuck between two worlds, a natural one and a supernatural one. God, he said, had set out "to make an organism which is also a spirit; to make that terrible oxymoron a 'spiritual animal.' " The tension between flesh and spirit is the source of our best kind of laughter, because it fundamentally affirms our relationship to God.
Whether you are one of the many avid fans of C. S. Lewis or a newcomer to his writings (I'd put myself in between those two points), you'll find Lindvall's treatment interesting.
Lewis, an Oxford don and intellectual, became a Christian after years as a confirmed atheist who regarded religion as "endemic nonsense into which humanity tended to blunder." That pilgrimage is part of the fascination Lewis holds for many. Unencumbered by traditional, stereotypical religious attitudes, Lewis always cuts to the heart of Christianity. His high esteem for laughter, whether generated by a joke, satire, good food and drink, or a convivial party, reflects his belief that play and pleasure are gifts from God, and in fact, that these are hints of the Kingdom of God.
Lindvall clearly endorses Lewis's point of view. His exploration of this aspect of Lewis's credo pulls together threads from the gamut of his works: private letters, fiction, essays, poems. He also weaves in references and quotes from a host of other writers, some contemporaries of Lewis, along with many classical and medieval authors. As an in-depth look at a key tenet of Lewis's faith -- the centrality of joy in Christianity -- Surprised by Laughter is rewarding both for its insight into Lewis and its provocative nudge at one's own view of "spiritual" life.
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