Laden with Thoughts

During service on Sunday morning I realized my stomach was upset, so I left the room and sat on a chair outside of the worship center. While I waited for the service to finish I applied myself to the important task of people-watching (one of my very favorite occupations). For the most part the only souls my gaze encountered were mothers trying to comfort their fussy babies and a few wayward children who seemed to have escaped the grasp of their over-burdened Sunday school teachers. The former chatted happily with each other, comparing weights and heights of their respective children. The latter amused themselves by running in and out of bathrooms and taking frequent trips up and down on the elevator.

Just before service was due to be over, a door across the hall opened and two women emerged from one of the classrooms. One of the women, Beth, was escorting the other to the kitchen (apparently in the hopes of obtaining donuts to bring back to the rest of the class). The other woman, who is mentally retarded and goes to the Agape Sunday school class that Beth teaches, suddenly turned to Beth and shouted:

“Guess what!”

Beth turned to her. “Yes?”

The woman threw her arms in the air and said, triumphantly, “Today is my BIRTHDAY!”

Beth yelled in return, “Hooray! What a GREAT day!”

As I sat watching the two women hugging and laughing, tears came to my eyes and I laughed with them. I had envied the mothers who held beautiful children in their arms, and I had envied the children running heedlessly around the building without a care in the world. But now I mostly envied the birthday girl and all the joy she found in something which I had long ago forgotten to find so worthy of joy.