Unexpected smiles

Every Sunday I find myself in the smile business. I encourage greeters to welcome people into our church. Some their first time in church.  Churches are so concerned with a welcoming atmosphere they spend millions on environments and higher staff to make sure people feel comfortable. 

Yet, I found myself at an event that correlated with our current series, swetin to the 80's. An 80's skate night.  Complete with a costume contest, and couples skate. Being the 80's generation the staff loved the idea. As of last Sunday we had a few sign-ups for the event and even if it flopped at least we would have some fun. 

People started trickling in on a Tuesday night. Most adorned with some sort of 80's garb. Some went over the top. Shaved mullets, incredibly tight leather pants, and who can forget all the neon. Heres who I didn't expect to show up. People who were barely alive in the 80's and adults who were past there prime in the 80's. We had them both, and everybody in between. People who had never skated and those who had some left over skills strutted their stuff. 

As the night wore on I realized the greatest phenomena, Smiles. Real legitimate smiles. Our age group is so jaded. We find hope in our pessimism. We rejoice in failure. But of this brief moment all the oil prices faded. For a brief moment the election was forgotten. People were having fun. I guess we all get used to being happy enough to think everything is all right. When was the last time we just had a blast? Tuesday, May 20th at 6:30pm.