Facebook is great — we can find out important events in our family and friends lives, as well as those embarrassing moments. I read recently that the grandchild of one of our church families pulled the fire alarm at his church. It’s probably not the most proud moment of the entire family’s history, but one that will be remembered. Of course, we can attribute the act to his immature 2 year old mind that merely saw a lever, which of course presented itself with a dilemma— what will happen if I pull?
Wish I could rationalize my fire alarm experience that easily. I was a grown-up and a trained chaplain who merely wanted a bag of popcorn while on call at midnight in a busy trauma center hospital in Birmingham, AL. It didn’t burn; it popped great, but the heat apparently set off the alarm which was located directly above the microwave. The nine stories of hospital rooms above me were alerted that there was a fire in the building; the Birmingham Fire Department showed up with sirens blaring and I wanted to disappear into the catacombs of the huge medical facility. It was not one of my better moments in life.
Note to self: never eat popcorn at midnight. Oh and also, the Fire Department definitely does not love you, or the patients in the nine floors above, but God does and that’s all that counts.