Stand and Sing

Last Sunday at the dinner table, with both his and Joel's girlfriends (Dorcas and Hilda) present:

Shane: How come none of you stood today at church when I did?

Me: Did you stand too? All I saw were Hans and Benji.

Shane: Oh yeah. . . . I had an almost irresistible urge to turn around and wave before I sat down.

This was one of those funny moments that sometimes intrude on the most formal of occasions. The person in charge, near the end of the service, when we usually stand for the benediction after a final song said, "Let's sing," and then sat down.

A few young men sitting near the front heard instead, "Let's stand," so they did, but only briefly--until they figured out that, except for the song leader, they were the only ones standing. It was long enough, however, for everyone else to have a moment of self-doubt: Did I misunderstand . . . . ? What a relief to be able to chuckle instead at others having misunderstood.

If Shane had done "the wave" I'm not sure if anyone would have recovered in time to help sing the final song.