We had an all community meeting at Ananda Village last night. As usual we started with a couple of songs, one of which was The Secret of Laughter.
I’ve sung this song hundreds of times over the years, but last night I experienced — yet again — how much depth there is in these apparently lighthearted and fun lyrics!
In fact, I discovered how The Secret of Laughter pretty much covers everything I’m learning as I move through treatments for cancer: mainly the importance of laughing, giving, and especially singing.
I found so much meaning in the final verse last night:
Sing when the sun shines, sing when the rain falls,
Sing when your road seems strange.
In a tempest, seize the lightning flash,
And ride the winds of change!
We’ve certainly been traveling a pretty strange road lately, with lots of changes still ahead. But we’re managing to keep singing and laughing, and we’re finding joy everywhere.
LYRICS: The Secret of Laughter
The secret of laughter lies in the laughing,
Not in the search for joy:
It’s a swallow winging on the wind!
It’s innocence in a boy.
CHORUS
Luru luru lero,
Luru luru lye!
Joy will come to anyone
Whose heart has learned to fly!
Joy in the singing, not in the song sung,
Welcome, but never crave:
If you think that laughter lies in things,
To things you’ll be but a slave!
CHORUS
Joy in the giving, not in the gaining:
Grasp, and you’ll never sing—
You could win the world and still be poor;
Win peace, and live like a king!
CHORUS
Sing when the sun shines, sing when the rain falls,
Sing when your road seems strange.
In a tempest, seize the lightning flash,
And ride the winds of change!
CHORUS