No crackers, Gromit!

Just home from a Ministry Refresher Conference (no sweets in sight) but feel refreshed. If nothing else blessed me (lots did) I was blessed by a moment during Communion that you could not create if you wanted.

During the service there was a time of silent reflection. I was praying hard when someone’s phone went off. Ordinarily that may have been the cue for a round of serious tutting, head-turning and hard stares. Instead it led to an experience I can only describe as… brilliant.

The ring tone was Wallace (of Wallace and Gromit fame) saying, “No crackers, Gromit! We’ve forgotten the crackers!” It repeated several times before the owner of the phone was able to find it and silence it.

I was splitting my sides, trying hard not to laugh. The problem was that I could sense all those around me having the same problem. People were shaking silently all around me. Some had their heads in their hands, others were stuffing hankies in their mouths.

It got worse. Everytime I closed my eyes again and tried to be holy my mind replayed, “No crackers, Gromit! We’ve forgotten the crackers!” That led to me smirking and trying to suppress more sniggers.

It’s a line from A Grand Day Out – the first ever Wallace and Gromit film.

Eventually we calmed down a bit and got back to remembering what we were doing, even though Wallace kept coming back to me at different times. After the service I spoke with Viv, who was leading that part of the service, and asked if she had heard it. She had, and said she didn’t know what to do – to try to carry on or say, “Yes, it’s funny, we all have permission to laugh now.”

I wish she’d gone for the latter option. I have a feeling that the heavenly trilogy were having a good giggle – at the incident and at our efforts not to laugh out loud.

Perhaps the only thing that could have made it funnier would have been if we had been Anglicans or Catholics using communion wafers!

If you hear of the Swanwick Blessing you now know how it started…

No additional joke because this was such a funny experience for me and the rest who were there