This weekend reminded me that in the midst of the ordinary and everyday things of life there’s much that’s funny going on.
So Ben, our oldest son, was explaining the Harlem Shake to his inquisitive Granny. It was Saturday and we were in Frankie and Benny’s having breakfast, celebrating both my birthday and Mother’s Day (which was actually the next day).
‘Well, it’s like a flash mob who all get together and dance in an everyday setting’ said Ben.
‘A flash mob? Let me see…’ came Granny’s innocent reply. ‘Is that a lot of people all exposing themselves at the same time?’
We fell apart with laughter.
Later that day all the Porter clan were at the wedding of Tash Tranter and James Fletcher, taking place in St Michael le Belfrey Church.The wedding was great and included a bible reading from Luke 15 – the story of the Prodigal Son. The reader read really well although stumbled just slightly at verse 14, giving a whole new twist to the story. So instead of hearing: ‘There was a severe famine in that country’ we discovered that ‘there was a severe salmon in that country’. It all sounded rather fishy to me!
The next day (Sunday) was great fun with more baptisms at The Belfrey at The 7, including my friend Kevin who’s recently committed his life to Christ. There were many smiles and much thanksgiving as we watched Kevin and the others on video tell their stories and then put them under the water to publically mark their new faith in Jesus Christ. If you think about it, it’s a funny thing getting baptised. Not so much ‘ha ha’ funny, but more unusual funny. Unusual because (like getting married) it’s not something everyone does, and it normally only happens once in life. So getting baptised is funny … and it’s fantastic. It’s a massive privilege to share in the celebration as people bury their old life by going down under the baptismal water, and mark the new life Jesus brings as they come up out of the water, drenched and dripping.
So there’s much that’s funny going on around us.
I know that when I’m busy I often fail to see the funny. Don’t do that. Instead, enjoy it. Both the ‘ha-ha’ funny, and the unusual funny. God likes it. And so should we.
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