Giggling in Church

            Note: Some names have been changed – well, you’ll see why.

            Mom and Becky were down for part of the weekend.  As is typical of Mom, she started telling us stories from way-back-when.  This one is funny, if you can get the mental image from the story.

            It seems that, quite a few years ago, it was time for the church service to begin at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, just off of Hwy. 378 west of Lexington. The choir was robed and waiting at the back of the sanctuary to process in during the first hymn.  Mom and Mary Lou were at the front of the double lines.  The organist was already playing the first hymn’s introduction.

            That’s when Mom and Mary Lou spotted Mr. Jacob Smith, sitting in his usual pew with “Miss Rose,” as she was affectionately called.  And that’s when Mom and Mary Lou got so tickled they couldn’t hold their giggles inside. 

            It seems that Mr. Jacob, like just about every other man back then, had worn his Sunday hat to church.  Mr. Jacob’s hat must have been an old one, because when Mr. Jacob got inside church and took his hat off, the felt lining had remained on his head, like a faded and flat crown covering his balding spot. 

            So, there Mr. Jacob sat, up near the front of the church, ready to stand and sing, with the felt lining still on his head. 

            And that’s why Mom and Mary Lou processed in that Sunday morning, giggling instead of singing.

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