Good Old Johhny Appleseed

We were invited to a friend's place for supper recently and we were joined by common friends who were visiting from out of town. We all hadn't seen each other in a couple of years and we all have growing families so we had lots to catch up on. We also spent some time remembering the nights of drunken revelry that we shared. There was also the occasional conversational pause as we watched our kids play and thought, "Wow, things have changed."

I guess that they changed more for some of us than others.

We sat for supper. Our host asked us to join hands and join in saying grace. Now let's just clarify this up front ... I am not a religous man. My spirituality is rooted in christian beliefs, and I begrudge no one their right to religous expression. I am just not used to that religous expression taking the form of the "Johhny Appleseed Grace" song at a table where I am sitting with my old drinking buddies and gulping large amounts of red wine. So I was a little uncomfortable. But I sat there and enjoyed the song. As an Irish Catholic, the closest that I ever came to singing grace at the supper table was the time I sang "Whiskey in the Jar" in the back of a Paddy Wagon while passing around a bottle of Captain Morgan rum. (Lucky for us the cops forgot to lock the doors.)

I guess the real surprise came when my 3-year-old started singing "Happy Birthday" as soon as "Johnny Appleseed" was finished. But in his godless world ... why else would you sit around the dinner table and sing unless it was someone's birthday?