One of most pastorally sensitive things a brother at Emmanuel recently did for me was laugh at what I was saying. I was obsessing over a problem and him taking it seriously would only have, unhelpfully, encouraged me. What I most needed was his laughter. And he - very wisely - saw that and laughed at me.
Need convincing? Ed Welch from
CCEF recommends it as a pastoral response (with some important caveats!)
here.
