Party all day!

....and be a better Christian for it.  How so? 

Well, in light of my step-father's remarriage last weekend (technically I don't have a step-father anymore, I guess, but he still sees himself as a grandpa to my kids, and his new wife loves her 14 grandchildren), I got to thinking about John 2:1-12 and the phenomenon of a longer celebration than we're used to.  Specifically, weddings in Bible times could last close to a week, which was why our Lord needed to make somewhere around 150 gallons of wine in those six jars.  The hundreds of guests present at such a feast could be reasonably expected to drink that amount without getting drunk. 

In the case of my step-dad's wedding, it was interesting to see my children's reaction to their first five course meal (antipasto, bread, soup, main, dessert course, yes Gino it was Italian).  They got into the antipasto, understood the bread and soup, and while all were socializing merrily (and as in Cana, not drunkenly), our kids wondered when, oh when, the main course would come---until I explained the concept of the multicourse meal to them.  At that point, they proceeded to delight relatives and friends alike by engaging in real conversation with them--for the next couple of hours. 

The next day was similar--while my youngest two (6 and 3 1/2 years old) needed to spend some time in the next room getting out the wiggles, about four hours passed without the necessity for a television, or a book.  They did, however, manage to take most of the pictures with the single use cameras placed on the tables, not being as reticent as the grownups to frame a picture.  The celebration continued another few hours into the evening in the same manner. 

And so, apart from the fact that this celebration helped me greatly to fulfill two of my New Years' resolutions (but I'm not completely successful in this yet!), I'm thinking that believers ought to celebrate more often in this fashion.  Step out of the world we live in from day to day, take the time to really get to know relatives and friends old and new, and enjoy one's food and drink in a way that all too often, we don't get the chance to do.  Ought not faith, and life, be from time to time a celebration in honor, and anticipation, of the infinite-course-feast the believer has waiting for him in Heaven?