“A joyful heart is
good medicine." ~ Proverbs 17:22
Sharon found herself slumping into a new year; weary, worried, and troubled. “We’re living through a dark time of an out-of-control virus, the violence in our presidential election, and a planet careening toward disaster,” she thought.
So, she decided to do what she always did when she needed a
pick-me-up. She didn’t do drugs. Sharon didn’t frequent the bars, shopping
malls or nail salons.
She went to the zoo.
After walking down a darkened hallway, she peered through a thick
glass pane into the icy pool. Suddenly a
penguin jumped into the water and he was flying; clearly in his element. Penguins are invaluable as diversion and
consolation; a great antidote for despair.
Tuxedoed birds with endearing personalities, penguins are
fascinating for both young and old alike. Clumsy and comical on land, Penguins become
beautifully graceful swimmers under water.
They’re ten times more streamlined than a Porsche! With the equivalent amount energy from a
single liter of fuel, they can swim over 1,500 miles.
Penguins lost the ability to fly millions of years ago, but
their powerful flippers and streamlined bodies make them the fastest swimming (up
to 20 MPH) and deepest diving (up to 1,800 feet) species of any birds. Those huge depths require great lung
capacity; the longest-known dives have lasted 22 minutes! They seemed almost miraculous.
But to Sharon, their essential value lay in their ability to
make her laugh. It was virtually impossible
to feel miserable in the company of penguins.
They always lifted her spirits.
A line of penguins paraded past her with their distinctive,
comical waddle on tiny little feet - so serious, so purposeful; pretentious
even. Then one slipped on the ice and did
a face plant in the snow. Undeterred, he
picked himself up and abruptly smacked a neighbor with his flipper. Sharon chuckled as a playful chase ensued.
Pride and a pratfall. Slapstick on ice.
Then she remembered something odd about Antarctica's king
penguins. Turns out they emit such
copious amounts of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, that “researchers have known
to go 'cuckoo' from being surrounded by penguin poop.”
Suddenly, a laugh emerged from Sharon like a newly sprung
leak - timid at first, stopping and starting.
Laughing didn’t come just from her mouth, but from her eyes as well, as
her face changed to a vision of relaxed joy and unrestrained hilarity.
How could one not laugh at those beloved clowns at the
bottom of the world? Precious!
“Grant me, Oh Lord, a sense of good. Allow me the grace to take a joke to discover in a life a bit of joy and to be able to share it with others.” Amen (“A Prayer for Good Humor,” by Saint Thomas More)
