What makes something humorous is almost impossible to define, for one person’s perception is different from another.  And yet when it comes to the humor of the soul, that is a different matter, for here humor is connected to tenderness and love and does not partake of the raspiness, sarcasm, belittling, or display of ego that is so often associated with humor within modern discourse.  The humor of the soul exists solely as an expression of love and joy, both of which must be connected in order for humor to maintain its innocence.

Innocence is an important aspect of humor.  It is what young children, even babies, find in the miraculous events around them that are of no consequence to the adult mind.  These events which very young children witness partake of the miraculous.  They appeal to the fascination with life that bestows upon circumstances and situations that are quite ordinary to the adult way of thinking, a cast of magic and of importance.  Thus, children are quite able to laugh at things that the adult mind would not deem to be funny at all.  Such innocent laughter partakes of delight in the sheer existence of life itself.  It is innocent.  It is pure.  By contrast, humor without innocence has lost its connection with delight.  It has also lost its connection with the sacredness of life.

Delight can be taken in many things, and humor can surround many events that are sacred, for it is a gentle outflowing of the heart that experiences joy, wonder, and reverence for the miraculous nature of experience and of the world itself.  The humor of the soul is an expression of innocent delight in life itself, and in the experience of love.  Indeed, love that exists solely at the level of the personality can also partake of a portion of the soul’s humor, for in finding delight in the beloved, there can be a return, at times, to the original purity and innocence that is part of one’s essential nature.

Modern efforts to stir laughter or to be funny, by contrast, are often made for reasons that have nothing to do with delight or innocence.  It is not uncommon that one can become accustomed to laughing at misfortune, to ridiculing what is only worthy of respect and compassion, and to employing and participating in a language of sarcasm and disdain which is really only the language of separation.  Such separation is characterized by one self distinguishing itself as vastly different from another, usually in order to feel superior in some way or to eliminate the fear that might arise should similarity with another be made conscious.

The new humor, emanating from greater soul consciousness, is tender.  It is compassionate and life-affirming.  It does not find amusement in misfortune, destruction, or human frailty.  Instead, it finds its roots in love.  As this humor emanates from love and from respect for the sacredness of life, it at all times is infused by tenderness and delight.  Its aim is to accentuate the poignancy, beauty, and radiance of life itself, and its presence is a gift to all souls who are enabled in an expanded way to feel themselves held firmly in the embrace of tenderness and of love.

Article Section -  A New Consciousness