Wednesday, September 14, 2011

AN INAPPROPRIATE TIME TO LAUGH


In response to the writing prompt, "an inappropriate time to laugh" on Mama’s Losin it blog:

I was about twelve.  My mother forced me out of bed.  

In my semi-conscious state, I had just enough time to dress for church, but not enough time to eat.  After Sunday School, my friend Susan and I headed for the church balcony, so we didn’t have to sit with our parents.  The sermon was boring, as usual, and it seemed to drag on forever.

Then my stomach started to growl. 

And it was loud.  

Susan started to giggle.  Then I did, too.  Then it growled again, even louder.  Pretty soon, we  were holding our sides, trying not to laugh, but we just couldn’t stop.  Every few minutes, we would calm down, and then my stomach would start up again. Tears rolled down our red cheeks as we tried to hold back our laughter.

My mother, who was on the main floor but within our sight, looked up to see what was going on. I got a good tongue-lashing afterward.

I have always thought church should be filled with more laughter and less solemnity.  If it had been, I might still be dragging myself out of bed on Sunday mornings.  Now, I prefer to attend the Sanctuary of Slumber.

4 comments:

Karen and Gerard said...

That is pretty funny when your stomach starts growling in public. We laugh in our church--it's very upbeat. Our Pastor is actually funny sometimes. Churches vary a lot, you just have to go hunting to find you that you feel comfortable in. When my husband and I went on a "church hunt" we really liked the first one we tried so just stayed. That was 13 years ago and we're still there every week.

Stopping by from writer's workshop.

Stacey said...

I can't count how many times I have laughed myself to tears in church. Sometimes things are just funny. And honestly, I think God has a pretty good sense of humor! Great post!

Jackie said...

Oh my goodness, I could totally imagine this! How funny!

The worst thing I did at church was chew gum. My grandmother always got on my case about that for some reason.

Alex said...

Sanctuary of Slumber. LOL. I attend there as well.

For whatever reason I was never more hungry then when sitting in a church service.