Perhaps you have heard of him, perhaps you havent; Mark Lowry is a Christian comedian. Thats right, I said comedian! Ive seen him on occasion on those Bill Gaither Homecoming videos, but never enough to get the true depth of this man (and his humor). One other thing, my Mother adores him.

As Mothers day approached, I couldnt come up with anything to buy the woman who has everything. Luckily, I heard that this Mr. Mark Lowry was performing in Montgomery, AL on Mothers Day weekend. Genius, pure genius Ill take Mom to the show, I thought.

As the weeks approached the concert, my Mom became more and more excitedit was all she could talk about. I began to wonder how I was going to make it through the evening. And, I began to think of the people that would certainly attend an event such as thisobviously, nothing good could come of this.

I pictured a bunch of country bumpkins all carrying their Bibles and sporting that certain look of disapproval that has become so fashionable among the fundamental groups. I imagined a lot of speaking on tongues (whatever that means) and possibly even (EEK!) snake handling. I would have to be on my best guard to remain unrecruitable and must be refuse to be sprinkled, dunked, or blessed in any way.

Thats what I expected. It was not what I found.

On that particular Saturday night of the concert, we drove to this HUMONGOUS Methodist Church. Truly, a symbol of modern architecture and the inside looked more like a shopping mall than a church, at least from my recollection of the churches of my childhood. The building and the people of the audience were very modern and, dare I say it, sophisticated.

In fact, the crowd was a pure pleasure to be around, I havent seen that much hand shaking, hugs and, most of all, manners since the last time I was around my Grandmother. What a great and warm feeling generated from these people. They have that energy, or vibration, or glowwhatever it is you feel around people who are truly happy, and they had it in a big way.

The show began with a song and introductions. And, Mark Lowry riding out on the stage on one of those electric scooters they advertise on TV for old people that dont cost them ONE RED PENNY. He apparently had some sort of motorcycle accident and was still in therapyI was in stitches over the whole thing. Mark did a great job of working his recent injury into the show and luring me into believing that even when bad things happen to good people that God still has our best interest in mind. I never believed that before, but I believe it now.

I guess since I already told you that Mark is a comedian, it wouldnt surprise you to hear that the show was funnybut it was funny, I laughed all evening. What is surprising is how good I felt hearing the message of the show. That is, God is Crazy for Me and how uplifted it made me feel.

The results of the show have been long lasting. I find I have a spring in my step, Im kinder to people and I have more patience. In fact, someone said to me today youre glowing, I hope they know its because Im truly happy.

Thanks Mark and Mom for introducing me to something I didnt know existed. That is, humor in spirituality.

Why has this been a secret for so long?