The tenth step of humility is that he is not given to ready laughter, for is written: Only a fool raises his voice in laughter (Sir 21:23).
The Rule of St. Benedict, 7:59
Our reading of St. Benedict is perhaps veering into the ridiculous here. The text shows its context most clearly in passages such as these, and it becomes difficult to make connections between a prohibition on laughter and how to live more humbly in our world today. Perhaps words could be said about avoiding the trivialization of the solemn, but as a firm believer in the idea of holy laughter, I will leave such arguments to others.
Justin DaMetz 