Friday, September 29, 2006

Silly

MOOOOM. Kari called me silly!

On Wednesday night, and again last night, for some reason I was feeling pretty hyper and not in full control of my mouth. This used to happen to me on a daily basis when I was in my 20s, but the last decade of parenting I guess has refined me.

It all started on Wednesday night at choir practice. We were practicing a song for choir for Stewardship Month.

Now let me take a break here and say that I have pretty strong feelings about God’s plan for stewardship. It’s pretty fair, and it’s pretty plain and simple. Everybody gives tithe -- that’s 10% of their income -- back to God, who gives us everything we have anyway. I try not to talk to much about it in our context, because there aren’t a lot of people in my current denomination who tithe much, and I have no idea who does in any of our churches, although I do know that we as a family do, that we require our kids to (in exchange for us helping them get jobs and giving them rides and such), and that often our family are some of the biggest givers in our churches. And I can guarantee that we are not some of the biggest earners. So that makes me deduce that other people don’t tithe.

WHich is between them and God. I really don’t want to know who does and who doesn’t. But talking to people about money is taboo in society, so talking about tithing has somehow become taboo in our churches. Sure, we can walk around quoting the Bible about everything else it says, but let’s not mention God’s 10% of our income deal. Let’s blast everyone else who is sinning about other things while we spend our money on Hostess Ding Dongs.

See, I told you, I’m in one of those moods.

Anyway, we were practicing a song for stewardship month and I can’t tell you the name of it or how it goes, but it’s a nice song. However, it doesn’t mention money and since it was for stewardship, I figured it should. In fact, I figured what a better time to talk about tithing than stewardship month?

So, the person next to me, who by the time we finished the song, might never sit next to me again, got to hear me add a reference to tithing to every line of the song, sung quietly and on the same note as the last phrase, as to not draw much attention yo myself.

For example, “when we walk with God, He holds our hand (if we tithe)”
“when the road gets hard, we’re not alone (if we tithe)”
“We know he loves us (when we tithe)”
and he’ll never let us go (as long as we tithe).

Those aren’t the words, but you’re getting the idea.

Well, once I did it three or four times, I was compelled beyond reason and sanity, to finish out the song. The person next to me, who does not know me well yet, was I think getting a little frustrated and afraid we were going to get into trouble. She was trying not to laugh, which made me even more out of control. I did it throughout the whole song, until the great finish ... big crescendo ... last note

AND WE BELIEVE (AAAANNNNND SOOOOOOOOO WEEEEEEEEEEE TIIIIIIIIIIIITHE).

I know it was immature. I know it was childish. I know it was un-preacher’s wifely, and I know it was unprofessional. Nobody else in the choir knew why we were laughing and i’m sure they think I’m a flake.

But I haven’t laughed that hard for a while and it was great.


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