Laughter is Good Medicine

Laughter 

...then our mouth was filled with laughter...

Psalm 126:2

As a bagpiper, Joe played many gigs.  Recently, he was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man.  The deceased had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back country.  As Joe was not familiar with the backwoods, he got lost, and being a typical man, he didn't stop for directions.  He finally arrived an hour late and saw that the funeral guy had evidently gone home and the hearse was nowhere in sight.  There were only the diggers and crew left, and they were eating lunch.

Joe felt really bad and apologized to the men for being late.  He went to the side of the grave and looked down.  The vault lid was already in place.  He didn't know what else to do, so he started playing.  The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around.  Joe played out his heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.  He played like he had never played before.  When Joe began "Amazing Grace," the workers began to cry.  They wept, he wept - they all wept together.

When he finished, Joe packed up his bagpipes and headed for the car.  As he was opening the trunk, he heard one of the workers say, "I've never seen nothin' like that before, and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years!"

*

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,

Down in my heart, down in my heart.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart,

Down in my heart to stay.

-Camp Song