THE LOL

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 224

Soooooo… I kinda had to work this morning. And you’re like, “Duh, Pastor; we know that.” But stay with me here, because this might get a bit snarky. Honestly? I kinda woke up that way. Well, let’s be perfectly honest, I kinda went to bed that way. Let’s rewind to the scene of the crime: bedtime last night.

Seeing as Sunday is the only day of the week lots o’ people think pastors actually work (insert massive eye roll here), I kinda gotta be on my A-game. That means getting up at an ungodly hour for a guy who is so not an early bird; getting in early, setting my spirit and soul, doing some last-minute prep, and so on and so forth. Oh, and let’s not forget inhaling my breakfast and shmoozing with the congregation before I gotta don the official pastoral garb and get holy.

Anywho, back to the story. Right on time, we shut off the tube, pottied the pups, brushed the snaggle-tooths, and crawled into bed. Keeping with my standard routine, I was firing up a game or two of Sudoku while waiting for the wife to come upstairs and kill the lights. So, lying there, absolutely whipp’n this puzzle, I heard it: Spinal Tap 2.0 on full throttle. It sounded like the bassist and guitarist had their amps fully cranked to 11.

“Ughhhh. You gotta be kidding me,” I fussed out loud to absolutely no one. (The dogs certainly didn't care, and the wife was still downstairs doing her thing).

See, the night before, the street dance had bumped until midnight. The DJ’s musical choices were making it a solid six blocks down the road, vibrating right through the brick and double-paned glass of our house. Goodness, I thought on Friday, is anybody really out there dancing at 11:30 at night?

Overnight, I had officially morphed into that old man screeching, “Turn it down, you darn kids!”

And last night? Round two. The local “talent”—and I use that word with reckless abandon—was pretending they were the 80s band Autograph, trying to "turn up the radio" as loud as humanly possible. Geesh, I grumbled to the ceiling, doesn’t anybody go to sleep in this town? Surely there’s some other old fart like me who just wants to catch some Zs.

I shot a text to my buddy Max. “Any idea how long this ‘legacy of the loud’ cover band is supposed to go? I can hear them perfectly in my bedroom with all the windows shut.”

“Midnight,” Max replied.

Me back: “Oh joy. Thank you. Maybe I’ll be a bit cranky on purpose tomorrow, LOL.”

I have no idea what time I actually fell asleep—sometime just before midnight—but good golly Miss Molly, I was not a happy camper. Anyway, fast forward to this morning.

Shockingly, I slept okay and actually woke up before my alarm. Even with two hours less sleep than normal, I felt rested enough. I got ready for church, arrived on time, and went through my Sunday routine as outlined above.

And that’s when the laughs began.

Hanging out and chewing the fat with a number of congregants, we got to chat’n about this weekend’s festivities—excessive decibels included. That’s when Diane started imitating the bass: “Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!” I cracked up and shared my cranky-old-man story. My friends, who are all old enough to be my parents, immediately realized I was laughing at myself and jumped right in for the kill.

“Pastor, you’re getting old!” they laughed. “You old fart! You mean you don’t party like that anymore?”

Yah, that was me. The cranky old fart on a Saturday night who just wanted some Mozart lullabies instead of faux hair metal. The irony? Under normal circumstances, I loves me some Autograph, Def Leppard, and yes, even the fictional group Spinal Tap. I totally would’ve cranked it past 11 myself.

Solomon wrote: “A joyful heart is good medicine” — Proverbs 17:22, CSB.

Even Jesus knew the power of a good chuckle. He said: “Blessed are you who weep now, because you will laugh.” — Luke 6:21

So true. So true. Laughter is some of the absolute best medicine, especially when you can laugh at yourself with a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor (and when your elders happily put you in your place). And for that, I’m thankful to God. Period. Full stop.

What are you thankful for today? Share your funny story in the comments section below!