Book details

Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life (hardcover)

James Martin

9780062024268

1/11/2011

Joy is an essential element of a healthy spirituality. Yet many people believe that being religious means being deadly serious. This is all the more surprising when we look at the great biblical heroes and heroines, and the lives of the saints and world's spiritual masters, and see how the theme of joy, humour and laughter runs like a bright thread through the spiritual life.

Readers will learn how to discover joy in their spiritual lives, how to live as joyful believers, how to laugh at themselves, and even how to relate to God with a smile. The book will make use of relevant (and overlooked) stories and characters from Scripture (Abraham and Sarah, Zacchaeus, Nathaniel, Eutychus), insights and teachings from the lives of the saints (St. Philip Neri, the "joyful saint," St. Teresa of Avila, Blessed John XXIII), the writings of spiritual masters from a variety of traditions, and the author's own personal experience.

Practical, how-to advice on incorporating joy, humour and laughter into your daily life will be included throughout the book. All this will be done in an upbeat, user-friendly and humorous way -- with many stories, examples, quotes, asides, boxes and (funny) footnotes.