A little Lenten story

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There was a rule that we were to enter the assembly hall in silence, but when my friend filed in behind me and whispered, hand to shocked mouth, “I forgot your birthday card!” what could I do but turn and tell her with love, “It’s ok.”

For that, I got detention.

The deputy headmistress, stern and scary, asked me why I was there. “I spoke,” I told her, defiantly. She nodded, not as stern as I had thought, after all.

Last evening, entering silent prayer, someone complimented my dress. I answered, “thank you,” but as quietly and forbiddingly as I politely could.

And my teenaged ghost shook her head at how I had forgotten which rule most matters.