Laughter the GPS System for the Soul

Laughter was honored by the ancients as a spiritual healing tool and celebrated by the world's great religions. So why aren t we laughing along the spiritual path today? What would happen if we did?

In this personal and funny look at humor as a spiritual practice, Rev. Susan Sparks an ex-lawyer turned comedian and Baptist minister presents a convincing case that the power of humor radiates far beyond punch lines. Laughter can help you: Remove the fearful mask of a God who doesn t laughDebunk the myths that you don t deserve joyFind perspective when faced with adversityExercise forgiveness for yourself and othersReclaim play as a spiritual practiceHeal emotionally, physically, and spirituallyKeep your faith when God is silentLive with elegance, beauty, and generosity of spirit

Whatever your faith tradition or if you have none at all join this veteran of the punch line and the pulpit in reclaiming the forgotten humor legacy found in thousands of years of human spiritual history."

Laughter—the GPS System for the Soul Laughter was honored by the ancients as a spiritual healing tool and celebrated by the world's great religions. So why aren’t we laughing along the spiritual path today? What would happen if we did? In this personal and funny look at humor as a spiritual practice, Rev. Susan Sparks—an ex-lawyer turned comedian and Baptist minister—presents a convincing case that the power of humor radiates far beyond punch lines. Laughter can help you: Remove the fearful mask of a God who doesn’t laugh Debunk the myths that you don’t deserve joy Find perspective when faced with adversity Exercise forgiveness for yourself and others Reclaim play as a spiritual practice Heal—emotionally, physically, and spiritually Keep your faith when God is silent Live with elegance, beauty, and generosity of spirit Whatever your faith tradition—or if you have none at all—join this veteran of the punch line and the pulpit in reclaiming the forgotten humor legacy found in thousands of years of human spiritual history.

This paper reviews the performance of the health sector in Uganda. It addresses concerns in the Ugandan health community that health financing must be increased to improve health, nutrition, and population outcomes, especially given the rapid increase in the country s population. Although international development aid targeted to health has increased dramatically, Uganda s first priority is actions to reduce waste and inefficiency in existing health expenditures. Such actions could include improved management of human resources in the health sector, strengthened procurement and logistics management for medicines and medical supplies, and better programming of development assistance of health. This paper is targeted to health policy makers and those involved in health services financing, both in the government and in donor agencies. This working paper was produced as part of the World Bank s Africa Region Health Systems for Outcomes (HSO) Program. The Program, funded by the World Bank, the Government of Norway, the Government of the United Kingdom, and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), focuses on strengthening health systems in Africa to reach the poor and achieve tangible results related to Health, Nutrition, and Population. The main pillars and focus of the program center on knowledge and capacity building related to Human Resources for Health, Health Financing, Pharmaceuticals, Governance and Service Delivery, and Infrastructure and ICT."

'Working in Health' addresses two key questions related to health workforce policy in developing countries: What is the impact of government wage bill policies on the size of the health wage bill and on health workforce staffing levels in the public sector? Do current human resources management policies and practices lead to effective use of wage bill resources in the public sector? Health workers play a key role in increasing access to health services for poor people in developing countries. Global and country level estimates show that staffing levels in many developing countries particularly in sub-Saharan Africa are far below what is needed to deliver essential health services to the population. One factor that potentially limits scaling up the health workforce in developing countries is the government overall wage bill policy which sometimes creates restrictions. Through a review of literature, analysis of data, and country case studies in Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda, and the Dominican Republic, this book examines the process that determines the health wage bill budget in the public sector, how this is linked to overall wage bill policies, how this affects staffing levels in the health sector, and the relevant policy options. But staff numbers are not everything and more money for the health wage bill alone will not solve the health workforce problems of developing countries. 'Working in Health' looks at how effectively governments use the available wage bill resources in the health sector and policy options. Policies and practices in recruitment, deployment, promotion, transfer, sanctioning, and remuneration for health workers are reviewed to identify their influence on budget execution rates, geographic distribution, and productivity of health workers."