Little Elmo

Little Elmo

 

 

Me and my sister had an imaginary friend when we were little.  His name was Little Elmo.   For every meal, Daddy had Mamma set a place at our kitchen table for him.  Daddy would stop on our way back home from church to pick him up.  My sister, Daddy, and me thought it was so much fun playin’ like Little Elmo was real!

 

Mamma didn’t like it too much, though.  She thought it wasn’t right for us to pretend to have a friend you couldn’t see.  She was afraid people might think strange things ‘bout us. 

 

Anytime somethin’ got gone or misplaced, Daddy would say, “Little Elmo must have taken it.”  I remember when Mamma’s biscuit pan got missin’.  We blamed it on Little Elmo.  That made Mamma even madder than her biscuit pan bein’ gone! She said, “No imaginary child could take my pan!” 

 

After this, she put her foot down and gave Daddy a piece of her mind.  Daddy sat me and my sister down and said, “Little Elmo is just pretend.  At first, it was fun.  But now it’s gotten out of hand.  I won’t be pickin’ Little Elmo up after church anymore, and there won’t be a place at the table for him.  Most important, we won’t be blamin’ him for things we’ve done.  I’m sorry I let it go so far.” 

Many years later, when Daddy had his heart surgery, we got him a balloon with a face that had accordion arms and legs.  Me and my sister told him it was Little Elmo.  We all laughed for days as we recalled our little friend - even Mamma.  She did remind us that the Bible warns us ‘bout believin’ in your own imaginin’s though.

 

 

Ezekiel 13:2B-3  Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! (NIV)

 

God, keep us in your truth. In the name of Jesus, amen.

 

Things To Think 'Bout:

1. Did you have an imaginary friend?

2. How did you feel when you found out he/she was not real?