Lighter Phrases

I saw this picture on NPR.org a few days ago:

A woman is rescued from the rubble caused by an earthquake in Indonesia (Wong Maye-e, Associated Press)

It struck me because I don’t usually associate disasters with smiling. But this lady is beaming, overjoyed at her rescue. Rather than focus on her general distress, or the rehabilitation that may lie ahead, she is just happy to be out of that dark hole, unphased by the glare of cameras, excited to see other faces. I wonder what she is looking forward to the most? Perhaps a loved one, or an engaging job, or a warm meal of spicy rice and prawns, or a favorite movie. Or maybe she has an XBox 360 at home and figured out how to defeat the Scarab tank in Halo 3 while she was in the hole. I know that put a huge smile on my face.

I know what you are thinking. My western sense of “pleasure” needs some perspective and probably doesn’t jive with hers. (Though you never know.) Anyway, I only hope I have her sense of joy if I ever experience great distress and rescue.

So many beautiful songs have been written about seeing God. “Oh what joy”, “take my breath away”, bla bla bla. But I bet none of these song writers considered that suing might be a more profitable expression.

A Campbell River man has received $63,000 in damages for an “out-of-body experience” in which he said he saw God after being accidentally overdosed with the painkiller Ketamine while recovering from back surgery in Vancouver General Hospital.

This does raise some serious liability issues for our church. One too many Hallelujahs and we get served. Or perhaps one of our new songs so lifts our souls that we hallucinate about lions and lambs. Or maybe one of Amy‘s liturgies causes an unsuspecting participant to sell all his possessions and live with the poor. We probably need to hand a disclaimer to congregants as they walk in the door: “By participating in our holy rituals, you acknowledge that New Leaf is not responsible for any intense feelings of optimism or encounters with the Almighty, and you irrevocably waive the right to seek any compensation or an apology.”

(via BoingBoing)