Ep 14: Laughter REALLY Does "Doeth Good Like a Medicine"

Richard and Pat discuss a fascinating study done by Israeli researchers that showed physiological changes in the body based on what the subjects were exposed to. When exposed to humor the bodies macrophages - "the clean up crew" - of the blood attacked the bad bacterium. Conversely, when the subjects were exposed to negative stimuli like a horror movie, the bad bacterium attacked the good macrophages. They discuss the clinical, personal and biblical aspects of the results of the study, as well as the surprising impact a person's outlook and mood may have on not only loved ones in close proximity, but also those thousands of miles away. 

Transcript

pat: 0:23

And welcome to the two Unlikely Christians podcast. I'm comedian and lifelong recovering Morron Pat McCool, and all the way across the pond to London, England to. Renowned and esteemed psychotherapist and a Dixon specialist, a man with royal blood coursing through his veins, who is presently 30,165,130. Second in line to the British throne, Richard Tull. Hello, pat, Richard? Yeah,

rich: 1:00

I didn't know he was talking about, at first I thought maybe we had a third person on the call.

pat: 1:05

No, no, that's you, man. That's me. I think like 30, you know, 30 million in line. If a plague ever hits Britain, you gotta fly to Mississippi. Really? You know, we gotta get you and Shereen on a plane. If you survive the plague and that knocks out those 30 million in front of you, we could be doing the podcast in Bor Castle. How cool would that be?

rich: 1:28

Yeah, that would be something, man. Although if there's a plague. You know, maybe, you know, it might, it might be better if I come to Mississippi, you know, I come and hide, come and hide out amongst the typhoons and the trailers for safety.

pat: 1:40

That's what I said. You're gonna come, you're gonna come over here, we'll do the moonshine and eat a jerky. We might, we both might figure out how to hunt or something while you're here. Yeah,

rich: 1:49

yeah, yeah. Ar

pat: 1:50

ar

rich: 1:50

fifteens.

pat: 1:52

Yeah. Yeah, that's, yeah. The AR 15. We'll get us a couple of AR fifteens and we'll go shooting, man. And, uh, and then you'll be, you know, you, you'll have a little experience, a little military experience, so when you go back and assume the throne, you know, you can, you can ride on your military experience. So, uh, how did the, uh, the prep, the preparation for the wedding, you went shopping for the suit. Did you find a suit? Yeah, got the

rich: 2:17

suit, got the suit today. Went to look at rings, got some shoes, got a shirt. You know, man, it's all happening. It's all happening. I'm feeling

pat: 2:26

like you, you didn't follow my advice on naughty holder. No,

rich: 2:30

no, no, no. I did. I didn't. I didn't. I've gotta be honest with you.

pat: 2:34

Yeah, yeah,

rich: 2:35

yeah. Yeah.

pat: 2:37

For those of you that are listening, uh, I suggested that he go with a bold look. And, and I picked out Naughty Holder, which was the lead singer of the Rock Band Slade from the late sixties, early seventies. And Slade was a great group. They wrote, uh, come on, feel the noise. Uh, my mama we're all crazy. Now Quiet, right? Cover those, but Slade actually did it and Nty Holder was the lead singer and he had the seventies look, and I'm thinking Richard could bring back if he would be bold enough to, in the wedding we got some plaid, we got bell bottoms, we got big little pedals.

rich: 3:16

Well, I've gotta say there is a slight nod to naughty holder right in that my suit has a very faint check in it. So your, your advice, your suggestions, you know, your, um, almost fatherly guidance. Yeah. Like, and you know, I'm always looking for a father figure, pat, do you know what I mean? Yeah,

pat: 3:37

yeah. Like,

rich: 3:37

like it, it didn't land on deaf ears, you know, so I just, you know, I want to acknowledge that. You, um, you, you have authority to speak into my life. And, um, my heart is spelling,

pat: 3:48

I'm make, I'm making an impact. And that's all I'm trying to do.

rich: 3:51

Always Pat, always making an impact, man.

pat: 3:54

Just, just, just kind settle it in there. I just, I like making a difference and, and, and you're the guy, so that's excellent. I can't wait to see the wedding picture. So, uh, without further ado, let's get to our, uh, were you about to say something?

rich: 4:09

No, no, no, no.

pat: 4:11

Um, let's get to our topic today. Our topic today is actually one of my favorite subjects, which is laughter, which, um, comes easy for me'cause one of my life's main mottoes is I'm not giving up immaturity without a fight. So it comes easy to me. But what we're gonna do is I wanna read this article that was posted that's very interesting. That was posted by a good friend of mine, Dr. Beverly Smallwood. Now, um, Dr. Beverly Smallwood is a psychologist, well-known psychologist here in Hattiesburg. I only hang out with really well-known. She's a bit a bit of a local celebrity here. She's also the author of. The book on grief. This was not supposed to happen to me. 10, make or break choices when life steals your dreams and rocks your world. And she's somebody who has had her world rocked and she is the epitome of, uh. If someone asked me, give me an example of a follower of Jesus Christ and how you're supposed to do it, I would take you and introduce you to Dr. Beverly Smallwood. She never has a bad word to say to anybody. I've never seen her angry. You know, unlike somebody like myself, I, I try to be a good follower of Jesus, but I can lose it. Go off on you in a, in a New York second, and then I'll go back and ask for forgiveness and probably even apologize to the person that I go off on. But this person, Beverly Smallwood, is just a, uh, Dr. Beverly Smallwood is just an encourager, a lifter upper, and she's writing a book on anger, and I'd love to have her on to discuss it when it comes out. But anyway, I just wanted to give her, credit for posting this particular article. But let me. Let me read this. Uh, and I find this very interesting. It was an article written in Your Minds on Facebook, and it says, in Israel, scientists conducted a remarkable study, a single drop of a participant's blood was placed under a microscope and projected on a screen. What they saw was captivating bacteria, slowly moving around and microphages, am I pronouncing that right? I think so.

rich: 6:32

Yeah.

pat: 6:32

Mi Microphages, the cleanup crew of the blood was just lying dormant. The bacteria were wandering freely as if on a peaceful evening stroll the microphages fast asleep, ignoring their job entirely. Then something unexpected happened. The participant was shown a funny movie, and as their mood lifted, the microphages suddenly woke up. One of them rolled over to a nearby bacterium and started devouring it with real enthusiasm. This wasn't lunchtime. This was science, so that cleanup crew and the blood that divides the, the bacteria woke up and just started cleaning out the blood and started getting the bacterium out. The takeaway there was our mood directly influences our immune cells. Here's the twist. The blood sample had been separated from the participant and was in a different room. Somehow the change in the participant's emotional state affected the blood at a distance when researchers switched. To horror film clips, the opposite happened. The bacteria became energized, multiplied rapidly, and even started attacking the microphages, forcing them to retreat. Takeaway. The state of our consciousness plays a critical role in maintaining our inner ecosystem, and it doesn't stop with us. Since our relatives share our bloodline, our emotional states can influence their immune systems too, even across continents. This is what some call family immunity. A watchmaker once shared a story whenever his left index finger would start twitching, making his delicate work impossible, he wouldn't massage it or take supplements. He'd call his mother thousands of kilometers away and say, mom, you're worrying again. Stop it. I can't work like this. Even mild maternal anxiety was enough to affect his physiology. And the takeaway, the old saying, it's my life will do what I want, is outdated. Our mental state impacts not just our health, but the wellbeing of those we love. So find ways to cultivate joy, laughter, and inner harmony, not just for yourself, but for your entire immune tribe. PS this reminds us of Norman Cousins who famously healed from a terminal illness through laughter. His story told in anatomy of illness in 1976 showed that positive emotions can activate the body's healing systems. Turns out laughter is the best. Medicine isn't just a saying, it's physiology. What do you make of that, Richard? And, and do you, go ahead.

rich: 9:16

Yeah,

pat: 9:16

I

rich: 9:16

mean, it's a fascinating bit of research. Um. Yeah, I mean that idea that laughter is the best medicine is, um, you know, it kind of backs that up, doesn't it? I mean, what, what I would say in terms of the family, like the links between like family members, you know, we know about, like, we know about things like intergenerational trauma. We, you know, we know that we know what happens in another generation can impact on generation beneath them, and then that gets carried on to the generation between them. So sometimes think something I'll do with clients is do what's called a genogram. You map out kind of like a family tree, and then you'll see patterns of mental illness, addiction, physical illness, relationship struggles like, you know, like divorce, adultery, you know, all of those kind of things. You'll, you'll, you'll see those kind of replicated again and again. Through the generations. And this adds another like angle to explain that. You know, it's like if, if family members can impact each other in this very biological, scientific way, then it kind of adds another layer of understanding to how these patterns play out, you know, over and over, you know? So I think it's fascinating, but I mean, I guess the takeaway. Really for like us as individuals and, and certainly as like clinicians working with people trying to, you know, find their way out of difficult mental states or difficult patterns of behavior is actually just how important laughter is. So I know that, um, when someone is able to laugh at, like, say someone has, um, a personality disorder would be a good idea. Would a, a good example. Like when you start to understand. The symptoms of that and the thoughts, feelings, behaviors that come with that as coming from this, you know, out of this condition or this diagnosis or whatever you wanna call it, and to be able to start to find humor in that and to laugh at that. You know, I like to, you know, rather than it being a very serious, heavy, ethical thing to, to live with, you know, there can be real healing in that. You know, it just allows one, a bit of freedom, you know? So, yeah, I mean, I think it's a, like I said, fascinating bit of research. Um, she sounds like a fascinating lady. You know, I'd love to meet her sometime, pat. Um, yeah, laughter's really important, basically, I guess in a nutshell.

pat: 11:46

Yeah, you reminded me of something, um, when you were talking about,'cause just like with my wife, I, you know, when, when, when we've gone through struggles, you know, our last episode was on struggles. We just always laugh. I mean, at the end of like, what, whatever carnage or whatever, something happened at the end of the day, we'd just sit down. Look at the absurdity. One. One in our case comes from trusting God. If you're trusting in God and trusting in Jesus, you always feel like you have this safety net around you. You know? So maybe that's where it kept. Maybe that's where it comes from, where we can just have that laughter. But uh, but I remember one time her mother said, I have never heard anybody laugh like you guys, y'all are, no matter what the circumstances. Now part of it, you know, is I'm. Somewhat of a lifelong fool. And like I said, I'm not giving up immature without a fight, but, but my wife just sees the humor and everything and it just changes and it just lifts, you know, lifts your spirits. By the same token, if I, if I wake up in the morning and Gwen is, is yelling at the dogs, which is easy to do because we have the most obnoxious dog dogs in the neighborhood. Uh, if she's in a bad mood about something. It kind of affects me. The whole, the whole atmosphere kinda gets a little, little grumbly up there. Uh, so I think a lot of that has a lot to, uh, a lot to do with what you're talking about. When I read this, I immediately thought of you, I wondered if Richard uses this, you know, kind of in his practice. It turns out you kind of do maybe in a, you're not stating it that way, but in a, in a different way. So I thought, you know, what's the clinical. Uh, application to laughter and seeking out laughter and joy. And also there's a personal, and then there's also a biblical, which I'm going to give some, scriptures when we finished. But in the, um, the personal, that guy at the end of the article was talking about healing from a personal, from a, a, uh, a terminal illness. I don't know if that. I don't know the particulars on that and the veracity of it, but I remember once going to a meeting when I was an executive in the insurance business and I was sick, I had some kind of Hong Kong whammy. I mean, I'm coughing. I'm just really feeling horrible. But I had to go to the meeting, you know, uh, that is. So I get there the first day, I'm very sick, goes through to the second day, I'm sick all through the day. In the evening we had entertainment and we had a comedian named Jerry Farber, uh, Southern comedian. And I went and started watching and this guy was great and, and he just killed, and I laughed so hard and I walked out of the meeting and went back to my room and I kid you not, but I was completely healed. I mean, even the cough was gone. It wasn't just a mood change. I was just, I went to sleep that night. I wasn't sweating anymore. I didn't have a fever, but I had, I had literally laughed my way out of, of. Whatever, you know, illness or malady that, that I had. So that's real. That can really happen. I'm not saying you can just laugh your way outta curing illnesses, but that happened with me for sure. I remember a woman after a show one night came up. And she was telling me that she loved the show and laughed, blah, blah, blah. But she said her husband had been sick for a long time and she said he didn't want to come, but she said, Hey, let's go to the comedy show. Let's go to the comedy show show. And she said he laughed so hard that he's had a smile on his face and he's standing there. She said, look at him. She said he this, he has not smiled in months. And now he's got a big smile on his face and seems to be, uh. In, in a much better mood. So I'm thinking there's a lot to, you know, laughing and not just that, but having the joyful attitude. It seems like in a, in our, our personal lives, it can make an awful lot of difference, but it's just making a choice, you know, of looking at the absurdity. You said something a minute ago about, uh, I, I can't remember what you said, but it was like noticing. The humor in things as opposed to to noticing. Go ahead. What were you gonna say?

rich: 16:06

Yeah, so you can, like, what I might do when it's appropriate, if I like working with someone is, you know, you, you can be a little bit playful, you can be a little bit jokey, you know, then you can help people notice that actually, you know, when a little bit of humor is allowed into the room. Then it can, it can shift mood state, you know? It can be a distraction, you know, but, and also play is, play is like a really important part of therapy. You know, like learning to people help, excuse me. Learning to help people play, laugh, joke, you know, there's something that happens within that kind of free child. Spontaneous, playful, joyful. State that can be very healing, you know? And, you know, I guess on a, like a personal note, you know, like, um, whilst when we sit together, pat, like obviously you see like a kind of very, um, you know, hopefully quite kind of righteous and professional and knowledgeable kind man. Whilst this may come as some surprise to you and anyone that's listening to us, like, I'm actually not the easiest person to live with. Right. And, uh, you know, I've got some, some defects and some shortcomings and, you know, some areas that are struggling and, and, and sometimes me and, you know, my other half and I Shereen will be like working towards, you know, taking some. Serious steps down the road towards an argument, you know? And, and then we just laugh about it, you know, something will happen and it makes us laugh and it just all of a sudden, like nothing, you know, whatever it is you're arguing about, you know, who said what? And like, you know, who, who misunderstood this and who did that? And what did you mean by that and why did you say it? Just all just seems so much less important. In fact, earlier this week we were like, you know, on our way to a bit of a vicar or whatever, and, um, I, I was so. Up with what I felt like I needed to say. You know what she needed to understand. But I was eating my corn flakes, right? And I was that consumed, like I really needed to say this thing that I tried to say with a mouthful of Corn Flakes and all this milk and corn flakes sprayed out, you know, and we both just cracked up laughing. And then that was, and that was that. And it's like, look, I'm sorry babe. You know? And, and yeah. It's, it's a really, it's a powerful and important thing. I never knew about it from that perspective, you know, kind of like deep microscopic level. But that, that research, um. Evidences. But, um, but yeah, it's such an important thing and it's such an important part of life, isn't it? You know, to be able to laugh, you know,

pat: 18:44

maybe something that, uh, you think about, you know, as you go along. I mean, I know, you know, we, I joke with you about your, you know, y'all, you're just now starting to get married. I've been married 35 years. I wear that like a badge of honor because I, I messed up everything.

rich: 18:59

Married?

pat: 19:00

What's that?

rich: 19:02

You wrote like a me don't you like Oh, yeah, yeah. It's, yeah, it's around.

pat: 19:05

Yeah. I would, I, as matter of fact, I, I would have a lanyard, you know?'cause to me, I always, you know, if you notice somebody with a lanyard, you feel like they're official. If I, I'd have a lany married 35 years. Didn't mess that up. I tell people all the time, probably when you and I met. Yeah. Yeah, I've been married before I started telling you about, about all of the bullets flying and, you know, and all of the crimes I've, I preface it with, been married 35 years. So, and actually

rich: 19:35

your book, like what you do is you find humor in actually what was actually a very dark and disturbing. Alternative events. Right. You know, like, kind of like serious drug use, you know, intravenous drug use, near death experiences, you know, being shot at being incarcerated, like staring down the barrel of like a long, you know, a lot long sentences in prison.'cause you guys, you know, you like to look, you don't mess about, like when you lock people up, you lock people up for a long time. You know, we over here, we look at the condescends that people get handed in America and it's like. But you are sending people to 150 years in prison. I don't know why, you know, but like, it's like didn't really go all out. Right? So, but anyway, so you are staring down the barrel, you know, it's a pretty, your book could have been written as, you know, it's like a tragedy, you know, but actually you make it, you find the humor in it, and I think that is, you know, it's actually really beautiful as I sit here and think about it in our part, like it's a beautiful thing you do and it's a real gift and actually like to be able to make people laugh. Actually, I know that you've put an immense amount of work and you, you know, you went through a lot in order to order a career in which you make people laugh. And actually that's, that's the, you know, for however like worthy, the work I do might seem, actually the work that you do is incredibly important as well. You know, so I really want to kind of take mine out off to you for that.

pat: 21:04

But I think it's, uh, you know, it's something that comes natural to both of us in, in what we do. But it may be something you, you, you, you think about it's, look, I just see the humor. I stand in line where, where everybody's, you know, we're standing at the grocery store. And the elderly woman is writing a check for the pack of chapstick and everybody's getting irritated, you know, because they're being held up. I'm just back there laughing. I'm typing it into my phone about, okay, there's a comedy bit there and you kind of see the funny, um, you're talking about when you and you and Shereen getting married, not just trying to give you marital advice, but again, 35 years and it's something I didn't mess up when we first got married. Richard, just keep this in mind. We fought like cats and dogs. For the first few years there was jockeying for position. So when you're coming at it and you, and you've got these internal things inside of you that are, that are built up, you know, whatever it is, whatever you, if it's rejection, my wife had been married once before, and the back of her mind, I'm gonna do the same thing. Sure that guy did. You know, we talked about in my last name getting dumped, you know, even though I was 18 or 19 and being rejected, I'm thinking, okay, surely this is coming. So you, you've got maybe some kind of rage. She's like, you, your shoveling corn flakes, man. But by gosh you. Have a point you have to make and it's important to get it out, and you could have made that point and, and, and then it, then it builds onto something else.'cause then you start name calling and then a couple hours later you're trying to figure out what started the argument to start with. I mean, we'd have arguments with my wife. Well I, after a few years, I'm like, you know what? I, I, I, I'm not, I've had enough. This is what I'm talking about right here. And I'm trying to make the whole issue about what she just said. Which was so far disconnected from whatever the original thing was about. But the point is it's jockeying for position and that's what we were doing mean we fought like cats and dogs, I mean plastic, ketchup, bottle, you know, going through the air once. I was just like, we set, we joke now about, we separated, you know, we had, we separated so many times, but the separations only lasted like 30 minutes.'cause we just went to different rooms. I've had it, you know what, I've had enough of this. I was just, maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I've had 30 minutes left. I don't even know what I was mad about. So as time went by. When we start, when we started growing together and growing together. And just a little side note off of the topic we're talking about. I used to notice, uh, you know, as mad as I'd get at my wife or she would get mad at me, I would notice that when I got up, uh, in the morning, my wife was always putting me first. Now I'm not one of these knuckle dragger guys that like, well, I expect my wife. I didn't really expect anything. I told you I married my wife'cause she was the best looking woman that was. Giving me the time of day, you know, so I didn't have any expectations. I want you to be like my mother, or I want you to be like this, but I've noticed always had clothes or I haven't had this or had that. She was just always thinking, uh. She's always putting me first. She gets up, even if she's mad at me, she's making sure my needs are met. And then I started doing the same thing. I still, you know, we would travel to these football games. I'd spend all this money to go watch Southern Miss Play Georgia, and thinking that was the thing to do. And I started noticing she doesn't really like doing this, but she's just doing it for me. And then the, the roles got reversed. The mainly, the only argument's, the only time we've had a, an argument. And probably in the last 20 years, 15, 20 years is when I'm not happy that she's not happy about something. So the point is. It's just like my life's things. I'm making her happy. And if she's the person that she is, she's going to do the same thing. And you might remember that in marriage, as you and Reen are going along, you're gonna have jockeying for a position that is just normal. You've come through life and there's always that kind of, you know, when you. But after the years go by and day after day, and you know what kind of person you have, that's how you just keep growing together and growing together and growing together. But what you guys just did, I'm not trying to be the analyst here because you are the, you're the psychotherapist, but think about what you just did. You had a big fight and then you turned around and it turned into a big laugh with you looking like you had rabies with foam coming out, coming outta your nose. I would've liked to have seen that too.

rich: 25:35

Yeah, I bet you were pa Another just thing that pings into my head about humor is so in, you know, as you know, like I'm a recovering crack addict and, and heroin addicts, right? And there's some, you know, that's not a, a lifestyle choice, right? Which, uh, comes without some, some challenges and some some difficulties, right? And, um, you know, and I have a lot of friends in my recovery circle, you know, my, the 12 step group, the, uh, 12 step fellowship that I'm a member of. Who have had similar experiences and, and, and actually you find like a thread of humor in it, you know? And like a, there's a couple of really common ones. One, one is like. When you, you've, you've, you've smoked so much crack, right? That you are really, you are really paranoid and basically psychotic, right? And you're kind of peering out, you know, through the crack in the blinds, right? And like, you know, looking for the, you know, the, the SWAT team that are gonna come through the door. Right. Like after you and you're like a hundred bucks worth of crack cocaine. Yeah. So like, they've launched a full operation and like, you can't, you know, you can't look, you know, you have to look really carefully.'cause then they, if you, you know, you need to be able to see them. But if you move too much, then they'll be able to see you and there's no one there anyway. Right. And, um, you know, you end up kind of hiding an wardrobe. Um, and the other is like. When you know you are waiting, you know, you're waiting on some corner and you know, you've called, we don't have open air drug markets as much as you guys have over here, although we, we have that in some parts of, of, of London and, and places like that. But you, so you, you'll called a dealer and he says, I'll be there in five minutes. And you call him 10 minutes later and he says, I'll be there in five minutes. And sometimes you might be there for like three hours, you know what I mean? And he's always five minutes away, right. And then you're there and you're cursing him and this guy, ma'am, and he gets here, I'm gonna tell him, and you know, I'm never gonna buy off this guy again. And then he comes. And then'cause she's there with your drugs, like he's now your best friend. You know what I mean? And you're like, yes man, safe, good to see you, man. I love your new trainers. You look great, man. Nice car. You know? And then he's your best friend. And then you go off and you do the same thing again, you know, the next day or like two hours later. Right? But like, but the truth of it is, is those that it is funny to talk about it like that, but actually it's a way of like making peace with what. You know what you've gone through, right?'cause actually what you're talking about is like putting yourself into a state of psychosis over and over again and living in terror, right? Like which you've voluntarily put yourself in to, and then you do it again the next day, which is. Abso, which is mad, right? Like and extremely traumatic, right? And, and, and then also, you know, and waiting on the street corner for some guy who couldn't care less about you, who's actually like, actively profiting off of your distress and you know, the damage that you're causing to yourself and kids around you. And this guy has got so much power over you. You know what I mean? He's got so much power over you, you know, like you are like, you know, it's a desperate place to be, right? You know, just getting treated like. Essentially getting treated like a piece of trash on the sidewalk. Right. Um, so, but the humor, you know, developing that narrative around it actually, it, it's a way of making peace with having gone through like some awful things, you know? And, um, yeah. So as we sit here, like, it's like, oh yeah, like, actually, you know, and some of these are fresh thoughts on the back of that article part, you know, it's like, oh, actually, yeah, that's, that's part of the power of humor as well, is to make peace with things that are actually awful.

pat: 28:54

I couldn't help but bust out laughing'cause I literally did the, the blinds are down, you're looking through and every car that comes by, uh, is, is, you know, it's the narcotics quad and they're gonna start surrounding the house. They don't know. You know, you, you're in there, some little pan guy doing drugs, but you're just certain at any moment. I didn't really think about that, but I guess that's what it was. I cousin, I did the same thing. I remember getting up, me and my friend get up and look through the window and you'd stare down the window. Wait, wait, wait, wait. It's a car. It's a car. So it's funny hearing you had to do the same thing, but yeah, I think you, you're exactly right. That's why this kind of jumped into my head. It's a way of looking at things and, and not just coping. We're not, I'm not, I don't think it's just saying, Hey, go out and watch a comedian every day. I think it's just everyday stuff. Seeing the absurdity, seeing the, the, uh, humor, but learning how to laugh at yourself. I laugh at myself all the time. Like sometimes I introduce myself as a recovering moron or an idiot.'cause I just fashion myself as that. I'm like, it's just amazing. I made it this far. But it's being able to look back in a humorous way and, uh, what you just said, uh, that, uh, yeah, that is kind of profound looking back. And that's what I was wondering, how it could be used in the clinical sense and to somebody, because everybody that. The people that you're talking to, if they look back at how desperately they needed the drugs and things, what you were talking about, the drug dealer coming up, I know exactly what you're talking about. Looking back on it, it is kind of humorous and how foolish that you were acting. So that's that's a very good point. So there's, um, you know, like I said, there's the clinical aspect, which. Which you talked about and then the personal, I didn't really think about that. It's just kind of, it's looking at things in a humorous and funny way because I can assure you that it's out there. Even arguments in marriage, everyone with me and my wife, we still, if we had a really bad argument, we'll we will go back something 20 years later and we'll joke, we, we'll remember the. Funny part about it. Oh, like you remember the time that I was so mad. I drove to Louisiana, the football game by myself and I and you. So that's a good illustration. And to close, it's not just, um, not just the clinical and the personal, but God wanted us to laugh. He, there are literally 25 references in the Bible. Scriptures that have laughter in it. And the first one is Proverbs 1722. Everyone's heard a cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up bones. There's another translation that laughter doeth good. Like a medicine, and so it does. I mean, the Bible is literally telling us about laughter and that God gave us that. Psalm 1 26, 2. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue was shouts of joy. Then they said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. Luke 6 21. Blessed are you who weak Now. For you shall laugh. That's God talking to us, telling us laughter's important. Uh, Proverbs 31 25. She is clothed with strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future. What he's pointing out here is someone that is laughing. Because they don't have fear of the future. So there is a biblical aspect that this too, part of what gives me the peace and where enduring my wife and our struggles, when you came right down, when it came right down to it, that we laugh.'cause we do know that we have the peace of God. We know how everything ends and our faith is in Jesus. So that really, that, that is the buffer, at the bottom. God gave us laughter, used that laughter and he gave us peace. And he also says in, I can't think of what the, the name of the verse is, but, but the Lord laughs at the wicked for He sees that his day is coming, so God is laughing. God himself laughs, gave us laughter and we should use it. I joke a lot of times that I think God gathers. Peter and Gabriel around and just watches me at times just to get a kick outta whatever foolish thing that I'm doing at the time. But it's literally saying in the Bible, God laughs. God gave us laughter. He emphasizes it. And let's end with, uh, with my favorite, uh, job 8 21. He will feel your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouting. God's telling us he will fill us with laughter. It's a gift that he gave us. And I just think if people would focus on that and you brought some very interesting things that. From what you were talking about on how people can, uh, can utilize that. It's not just going to see a comedian watch a movie or something like that. Although it is things that, you know, we've discussed in the past where you get up in the morning and you turn on politics or you go on social media and you scroll through and you look at something that's wanting to make you wanna punch a friend in the face as opposed to clipping past that and just looking at something funny and something absurd. You know, something of the absurdity of life. Focus on funny, focus on laughter, but it does, that is a very interesting article. It does seem to make a huge difference, not just with your spirit, not just with your mood, but also with your health. Um, any final thoughts before you go downstairs and, um, and, uh, tell Reen that you, you're finished spending time with P Rat.

rich: 34:56

No, man. You covered it all beautifully, pat.

pat: 34:59

Alright, my man. Well go back downstairs and hopefully there's, hopefully it's gonna be a few days before the corn flakes start coming outta your mouth again, you're getting married, it's an emotional time. It's gonna happen. So, uh, let's try to remember the humor part for everyone out there. Uh, maybe put this part of your thought process. Try to laugh, try to find humor and try to keep your heart Mary. So well, good talking to you, rich, and God bless everybody out there and we will see you all next time.

rich: 35:33

Lovely. Nice one, pat. God bless you, and God bless everyone listening. Thank you.