So a couple weeks ago, at silent worship, the centering word was something from the Gospel of John; specifically about how Yoshua wept (I believe over the death of Lazarus). Quite a bit of the discussion, the things people felt drawn to share, focused around how human weeping is. And yes it is. God weeps alongside us.
Yoshua doesn't laugh in the gospels. He is calm, he is upset, he weeps, but he doesn't laugh. God doesn't laugh. God is calm and serious and angry and sometimes sorrowful. Laughter is utilized, in the Newer Testament, in the context of mockery. Yoshua does not laugh but is laughed at. So anger is a godly emotion, but joy isn't? Laughter is the tool of fools to mock the divine and Their prophets? That's what that says to me.
When I read The Book of God: The Bible as a Novel by Walter Wangerin Jr. (which I have a whole review about), I didn't expect to care much for the Newer Testament section. I don't believe in a Savior. But the thing that made me like it? The thing that punched me in the gut with the reminder that Yoshua was a person? The fact that he laughs. He laughs when Simon shaves his beard. He laughs when he is welcomed into villages. He laughs as often as he weeps, or gets angry. He displays the whole spectrum of emotion.
Maybe this is a reach. But maybe this is a reason why Christianity has become so dull, emotionally. Why suffering is good and pleasure is bad. Of course we also have to take into account that Christianity rose from apocalypticism, of which a core tenant is pessimism. Maybe this is a reason or a symptom or just another piece of the equation.