One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy, but it is difficult to find in many Christian churches. So many people believe being holy is being grim and serious. But Father Martin believes God has a sense of humor—and I do, too.

I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I’ve read it twice. I gave the first copy away and then missed it so much, I bought another. Yes, there are jokes, but there’s a lot more. It’s entertaining but filled with wisdom as well. I’m not giving this copy away. ( )

James Martin’s Between Heaven and Mirth attempted to persuade readers about the importance of joy, humor, and laughter in a believer’s religious life. He was sure to emphasize such virtues whether they are from Catholic, Pentecostal, Buddhist, and Hindu faith traditions, or atheistic in persuasion. To the writer one way of capturing this spirit was to be grateful. There was no need for church services to be dour, uninteresting, and always serious in nature.
The author delineated the ways how mirth could be a part of a Mass. He found references of joy, humor, and laughter in the Scriptures of the different faiths. At times he referred to humorous situations in his life, and in the life of saints. So Teresa of Avila came to his mind, St. Teresa of Calcutta, Thomas Merton, and Pope John XXⅢ. Martin emphasized how the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth were hilarious when he spoke about a camel passing through the eye of a needle, the Kingdom of God as exalting the poor over the rich, a shepherd leaving the ninety-nine sheep in search of the lost one, and having Sarah in Genesis of the Old Testament laugh when she was told by an angel she would have a child in her old age.
But Martin warned that not all humor was appropriate in religious circles. If it is intended to humiliate or berate believers they will be inappropriate. He noted that there was a time for mourning, and being in sympathy with others, and a time to rejoice. The author expressed ideas that the latter could be shown though the playfulness of believers and God, and with God and his believers. In short Martin’s book is provocative, thoughtful, and self-deprecating with its jokes. He showed that God was bent on loving us, and that way for believers to respond was with joy, humor, and laughter. Being joyful fosters good relationships. ( )

Roman Catholic Father James Martin is incapable of writing a bad book. Between Heaven and Mirth follows his usual, engaging style of teaching theology and spirituality in a straightforward, user-friendly way. I highly recommend this book, as well as all of his previous books. ( )

James Martin may be the best Jesuit proselytizer of the last few decades. He's enthusiastic, humble, funny, hardworking, and completely unintimidating. He writes a book every year or two, and they're all interesting and read well. As he presents himself via Facebook and appearances on the Colbert Report, I like him very much. But no one can be all things, and one thing he is not—is deep. His is a faith of simple virtues, and one of them, to his great credit, is humor. This book is his attempt to convince and reassure his readers that Christian faith need not be gloomy, and at that, he succeeds well. In fact, if you want to learn forty or sixty new jokes and funny stories about religion, this is the book for you.

The trouble is that he doesn't distinguish between the general good-hearted happiness that puts a smile on your face and the deep laughter that can only really arise, at root, from a contrast with the sad. Think of the times you've laughed hardest in your life, and they were probably times when you felt a sense of relief from fear. Or perhaps the hilarity was in the slightly wicked contrast between the gravity of a situation and an irreverent comment. Perhaps your favorite jokes, like many of mine, skewer those you feel really need to be skewered. Maybe you appreciate the black humor of the soldier or the paramedic. The plain fact is that most of the best humor arises from tragedy or occurs at someone's expense. Martin doesn't seem to realize this or its implications—among them, that humor is our way of dealing with life in a wounded world, and that in the kingdom of heaven humor must be greatly diminished.

In fact, the funniest jokes in this book are at someone's expense, however gently. I'm thinking of one in which a cardinal pokes fun at the speaker preceding him at a banquet, who couldn't remember a single name without looking at his notes, by himself pretending to forget the name of Jesus Christ. (It's a good story that's a little too long to relate here in full.) Or another where Pope John XXIII makes a surprise visit to the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in Rome. The nun in charge of the hospital, flustered and nervous, says "Welcome, Holy Father—I am the superior of the Holy Spirit." To which John replied, "How lucky for you! I'm only the vicar of Christ!" ( )

A good book on the joy and humor to be found in the idea that all is well. Not cruel or demeaning humor but honest laughter direct at the humanness in all of us. Sometimes a difficult read, Martin goes on too long on some subjects and becomes redundant at times, still a 3 star book. ( )