Laugh Your Way to Grace
Title | Laugh Your Way to Grace PDF eBook |
Author | Rev. Susan Sparks |
Publisher | Turner Publishing Company |
Pages | 173 |
Release | 2010-05-01 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1594733430 |
Laughter—the GPS System for the Soul Laughter was honored by the ancients as a spiritual healing tool and celebrated by the world's great religions. So why aren’t we laughing along the spiritual path today? What would happen if we did? In this personal and funny look at humor as a spiritual practice, Rev. Susan Sparks—an ex-lawyer turned comedian and Baptist minister—presents a convincing case that the power of humor radiates far beyond punch lines. Laughter can help you: Remove the fearful mask of a God who doesn’t laugh Debunk the myths that you don’t deserve joy Find perspective when faced with adversity Exercise forgiveness for yourself and others Reclaim play as a spiritual practice Heal—emotionally, physically, and spiritually Keep your faith when God is silent Live with elegance, beauty, and generosity of spirit Whatever your faith tradition—or if you have none at all—join this veteran of the punch line and the pulpit in reclaiming the forgotten humor legacy found in thousands of years of human spiritual history.
The Power of Laughter and Satire in Early Modern Britain
Title | The Power of Laughter and Satire in Early Modern Britain PDF eBook |
Author | Mark Knights |
Publisher | Boydell Press is |
Pages | 242 |
Release | 2017 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9781783272037 |
Leading scholars show how laughter and satire in early modern Britain functioned in a variety of contexts both to affirm communal boundaries and to undermine them.
Subversive Laughter
Title | Subversive Laughter PDF eBook |
Author | Ronald Scott Jenkins |
Publisher | |
Pages | 256 |
Release | 1994 |
Genre | Performing Arts |
ISBN |
These vivid portraits uncover a profound reason for the universal appeal of comedy.
The Power of Laughter
Title | The Power of Laughter PDF eBook |
Author | Gail Hand |
Publisher | |
Pages | 104 |
Release | 2003-02-01 |
Genre | Humor |
ISBN | 9780972878302 |
In this humorous book about using laughter more with family and in your life every day. Gail Hand shares stories of her family of upbeat characters and life in a body cast in high school that will keep you in hysterics.
Laughter and Ridicule
Title | Laughter and Ridicule PDF eBook |
Author | Michael Billig |
Publisher | SAGE |
Pages | 276 |
Release | 2005-10-03 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 9781412911436 |
From Thomas Hobbes' fear of the power of laughter to the compulsory, packaged "fun" of the contemporary mass media, Billig takes the reader on a stimulating tour of the strange world of humour. Both a significant work of scholarship and a novel contribution to the understanding of the humourous, this is a seriously engaging book' - David Inglis, University of Aberdeen This delightful book tackles the prevailing assumption that laughter and humour are inherently good. In developing a critique of humour the author proposes a social theory that places humour - in the form of ridicule - as central to social life. Billig argues that all cultures use ridicule as a disciplinary means to uphold norms of conduct and conventions of meaning. Historically, theories of humour reflect wider visions of politics, morality and aesthetics. For example, Bergson argued that humour contains an element of cruelty while Freud suggested that we deceive ourselves about the true nature of our laughter. Billig discusses these and other theories, while using the topic of humour to throw light on the perennial social problems of regulation, control and emancipation.
Humour, Comedy and Laughter
Title | Humour, Comedy and Laughter PDF eBook |
Author | Lidia Dina Sciama |
Publisher | Berghahn Books |
Pages | 220 |
Release | 2016-04-01 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1782385436 |
Anthropological writings on humor are not very numerous or extensive, but they do contain a great deal of insight into the diverse mental and social processes that underlie joking and laughter. On the basis of a wide range of ethnographic and textual materials, the chapters examine the cognitive, social, and moral aspects of humor and its potential to bring about a sense of amity and mutual understanding, even among different and possibly hostile people. Unfortunately, though, cartoons, jokes, and parodies can cause irremediable distress and offence. Nevertheless, contributors’ cross-cultural evidence confirms that the positive aspects of humor far outweigh the danger of deepening divisions and fueling hostilities
Between Heaven and Mirth
Title | Between Heaven and Mirth PDF eBook |
Author | James Martin |
Publisher | Harper Collins |
Pages | 261 |
Release | 2011-10-04 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 0062098624 |
“Between Heaven and Mirth will make any reader smile. . . . Father Martin reminds us that happiness is the good God’s own goal for us.” —Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York From The Colbert Report’s “official chaplain” James Martin, SJ, author of the New York Times bestselling The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, comes a revolutionary look at how joy, humor, and laughter can change our lives and save our spirits. A Jesuit priest with a busy media ministry, Martin understands the intersections between spirituality and daily life. In Between Heaven and Mirth, he uses scriptural passages, the lives of the saints, the spiritual teachings of other traditions, and his own personal reflections to show us why joy is the inevitable result of faith, because a healthy spirituality and a healthy sense of humor go hand-in-hand with God's great plan for humankind.