Dear ,
The first time I visited what is now MY church (as in "excuse me,
that's my seat, my parking space, my eggo") I felt like I'd arrived
home after a long trip.
First of all it was in a school auditorium so it wasn't really a
church, which appeals to me, since the kind of praying I do
is not the
type that requires altars, stained glass windows or clerical collars.
And I certainly didn't look around to find the missing confessional
booth.
And since my best praying is usually done in my car or, say, my bed
in the middle of the night or while I'm unloading the dishwasher, I
didn't feel like anything was missing when I walked into this service
that also had a rockin' live band so good you looked around to see if
there was a cover charge.
My husband didn't come with me the first time because he has a hard
time with plans that are not his idea
so I was with my kids on my recon
mission to find GOD.
You could say my hopes were not high after visiting area churches that made me sleepy, hungry and hankering for
Starbucks, still, I was intrigued.
The next few moments I remember like yesterday.
Up walked a fresh from
Princeton Youth Minister, who had gathered all the kids for a five minute
pre"off-to-your-own Sunday-School"pep talk and I expected to use this
time to make my grocery list in my head.
He distracted me though with the tube of Crest toothpaste he had in his hand. Hmmm.
He asked the kids how easy would it be to squeeze out some
toothpaste onto a plate, which one lucky volunteer generously did.
Splat.(ah, the satisfaction of squeezing in the middle)
He then said "Okay, now put it back in." All of us parents were now
on board and watching where this could be going.
His next sentence was
the equivalent of the Sermon on the Mount.
He said, "Kids,words are like toothpaste. They are easy to spill out but almost impossible to take back. So watch what you say."
Amen.He could've had the benediction right then and there and I'd have gotten my
dose of God. I'd come home and didn't even know I'd been gone.
What does this have to do with the health slash fitness rant you were
expecting? Since my brain is capable of making far-stretching
associations I realized (in bed last night in the middle of my 3am
prayers) that the holiday eating that goes on in the next few days, which for
most people is the cumulative caloric equivalent of what other people
in other countries eat in a month,
this feeding frenzy is the reverse match to the toothpaste analogy.
What you put in
cannot easily be taken off.
Does that mean you can't taste wonderful recipes, relax or enjoy tradition?
No. It only means that just like toothpaste, where you usually need
less than you think,
and also with your words, where being concise is
better than rambling on and on, try to eat just enough.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in my Workout World. Watch carefully what you eat, since it won't come off nearly as easily as it goes in.
Probably can't hurt to watch your words as well.
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