We sat in church trying DESPERATELY not to giggle. Our ages spanned a dozen years, yet a family gathering at Gram and Pa’s squashed us cousins into one unit of children. Get us together, and we couldn’t stop the bubbles of giggles arising at the most inappropriate moments: church, hospital visits, solemn events, and even funerals! It would start with a close whisper and spread down the line of us like a game of telephone. The person on the end rarely knew what we were laughing about.
One Sunday in a small Midwestern church, my sister Cyd studied a felt banner adorning the wall. Methodist churches always had felt banners back in those days. Maybe they still do. Anyway, she bent over me and whispered to my cousin Paul, who could see it better, and asked, “What does it say? I can’t read that last word, life is a…?”
In typical Paul fashion, he dramatically threw his arm into the air, and said in an over-the-top affected accent, “Life is a Cabaret!”
And just as the pastor stepped up to the lectern, our giggles commenced. They flowed down the pew with each of us trying to stifle the disruption with pretend coughs or sneezes.
The banner actually said, “Life is a Celebration!”
And isn’t that the truth? Life is a celebration!
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” ~Psalm 118:24