An Epidemic of Joy

When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." John 2:3-5

Once upon a time, a young woman named Grace invited 350 guests to her wedding. Her brother, Noble, said that he couldn't think of thirty-five people he could invite to his wedding, but Grace said that she had a lot more friends than he did.

Secretly, however, Grace hoped and prayed that no more than 200 of her invitees would be able to come. Alas, she had underestimated her popularity. There were more than 300 acceptances!

Grace wasn't worried so much about the caterer, she just upped the number of plates she ordered. But there was not enough room in the parish hall for that many guests, to say nothing of the orchestra and the dance floor.

At Cana, Jesus had turned water into wine, but who could enlarge overnight the size of a parish hall?

Grace's family went into panic. So did the groom's family. So did the groom. And, to tell the truth, so did the bride. But not for long.

"We'll not worry about it," Grace informed everyone. "If we ignore the problem and have a good time at the party, so will everyone else. Panic is contagious, but so is joy. So let's have an epidemic of joy. Then nothing can possibly go wrong."

Wherever there is joy, Jesus is there too-even if you can't see him.

(AG)

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