Last weekend, Leslie made her third and final trip to Dallas to visit her lonely intern husband. At the time, we failed to fully recognize the biblical significance of the number three juxtaposed against Leslie’s third trip, but combining such an implication with the fact that she literally descended from the skies upon the land of promise (i.e. Dallas, Texas), we should have foreseen what type of events the weekend held in store.
On a leisurely Sunday morning, Leslie and I made our way down to the “House of Blues” for a relaxing brunch, courtesy of Uncle Gibson. We gleefully filled our bellies with a variety of brunch-related delicacies, then gathered in front of the stage for a little Southern entertainment. After my lover and I had become tired and sluggish from dining on roasted mutton shanks (SNL reference, if you don’t get it, don’t worry about it), we of course felt a little guilty for playing hooky from church in order to attend the firm outing. But, behold, we were nonetheless able to hear hymns of praise, albeit packaged in a manner to which we were not accustomed.
On this day, the gospel choir did not sing about topics more familiar to us such as repentance, baptism, tithing, or even home teaching. Today’s lesson through song was on (and I’m dead serious about this) “Gettin’ Jiggy for Jesus.” As a white male in his mid-twenties, I am, of course, familiar with the phrase “gettin’ jiggy” and several related variations. I attribute most of my contact with the aforementioned phrase to Will Smith’s popular song and exposure to cultures hipper than my own. However, despite having attained a relatively firm grasp on the English language, I have always been a little hazy on what exactly it means to “get jiggy.” Some of you may be scoffing at my ignorance, but I defy you to provide a concise definition that you didn’t rip off from “urban dictionary.” Does it mean to dance? Does it mean to be cool, hip, edgy, or suave? Perhaps it’s a combination of all of the above (Oh the depth and wealth the English language possesses; if only Shakespeare had been so in tune). There may be some who have attempted to pervert the meaning of “gettin’ jiggy” and have inappropriately enlisted the phrase to refer to coitus. However, as an originalist, I must ask myself what Will Smith meant when he said it. Because Will Smith raps about it, we know the meaning must be moral and pure, but finding an appropriate synonym remains a challenge.
Fortunately, on this day, I was able to witness actual people “gettin’ jiggy for Jesus.” Apparently, based on observation, the phrase means to sing extremely loudly, to clap wildly, and to shake one’s body at will, sometimes violently, with no obvious regard to rhythm. Eventually, when an audience member has become sufficiently “jiggy” they transcend the spectator sphere and join the performers on stage in order to demonstrate to the rest of the crowd that they obediently heeded the choir’s admonition and have now become “jiggy.”
Several songs later, as the canons of religion were further revealed, the choir taught Leslie and me something that far too few truly understand: “There ain’t no party like a holy ghost party ‘cause a holy ghost party don’t stop!” Indeed! If the power of reading this truism knocked the wind out of you, imagine how Leslie and I felt as the choir chanted this inspiring rhetoric literally dozens of times! Unfortunately, the Sunday brunch was evidently not a “holy ghost party,” because the brunch and the party eventually came to a stop.
Needless to say, Leslie and I had a wonderful weekend. Although we joke around about some of it, the music was good, the food was great, and as for the weekend with Leslie—we all have our own understanding of the word, but some might say we got jiggy!
1 comment:
Hilarious Kevin! Although, TMI on you and Leslie gettin' jiggy! How is Houston?????
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