What are some environments where it’s okay to be loud? And I mean, really loud?

Playing outside? At a sporting event (but not golf because golfers can’t handle it)? Cheering like crazy at the end of a Broadway performance?

What about the reverse? Where would it not be appropriate to be loud?

Church? A wedding? A funeral? In the conference room as executives pore over every legal phrase before signing the papers to finalize a merger?

Volume matters, and tends to adjust based on environment. This is why nobody sneaks up behind a surgeon in the middle of a tense procedure and screams in her ear.

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Today’s the day after Epiphany, and as we all turn the page on the Christmas season, I want to leave you with a final thought that has the power to transform the new year we’re all embracing. It comes near the end of the majestic introduction of the Gospel of John.

[su_quote]So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. (‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT, emphasis mine)‬[/su_quote]

Many other translations say that Jesus “took on flesh,” and all of them are beautifully summed up by Eugene Peterson in The Message: “the Word took on flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”

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During the holidays, our family traveled to the land of fire ants and hell-simulating summers (I’m looking at you, Columbia, SC) to celebrate Christmas with The B99’s side of the family. Along with eating more food than seems humanly possible, we also had some fun playing some Minute To Win It types of games (shout out to my niece, Megan, for organizing all the craziness!!). My favorite one involved stacking marshmallows, and whoever had the most normal-sized marshmallows stacked one on top of the other after a minute was the winner.

I think I won, or at least tied for the win, but I’m not here to brag (unless stacking marshmallows really impresses you and makes you want to subscribe to my stuff).

What I noticed was how each person would step up to the table absolutely convinced that he or she could build a really tall marshmallow tower, only to end up with a tower of one when the time ran out and their stack had fallen. This happened almost ever single time, and it didn’t matter what technique the stacker employed. We had smashers, lickers, and shapers, and yet no one was able to get higher than four, and like I said earlier, most of the four-marshmallow towers ended up as one when the three on top fell over at the end.

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