Profound Pronouncements

I'm writing this from London, England. I'm sooooooo tired but I'm trying to resist the urge to go to sleep, otherwise my body-clock will never adjust to the time zone I'm in. My flight was really pleasant and uneventful. In fact, everything was rather routine until we arrived at Gatwick airport. We were waiting in the designated immigration line for foreign nationals and there was a young, black family in line behind me. The youngest must have been no older than four years old.

She was having a rollicking good time bouncing around while all the boring adults were smiling at her indulgently, pretending not to be bored out of their minds. Suddenly she yelled at the top of her voice, "Hmmmm, someone farted," and then she scrunched up her nose in mock disgust. It was all I could do not to turn round and 'high-five' her, especially since she'd said what I, and probably everyone else, with the exception of the one who did fart, was thinking. It's amazing how uninhibited kids can be, especially when they are completely oblivious to the sensibilities of decorum.

Needless to say, her mother was thoroughly embarassed, and chided her (as if that would change the effect of her 'timely' declaration). The lessons are myriad, but let's examine just a couple of them. First, "From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. " This Scripture verse holds as true today as it always has. Unlike too many of us, the little girl was willing to call out the 'elephant in the room' instead of cursing up a storm in her mind while outwardly pretending to be unconcerned. Second, Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's impossible to put it back. Words carry weight, and once spoken, they cannot be unspoken. I bet that little girls mother would agree with both these principles after this morning's... shall we say... 'profound pronouncement.'