Bring Down the House
University and community plays often bring down the house. Audiences love local drama and give frequent standing ovations.
Actors have a great time too, as we see with this Campbellsville University cast.
Entertainers bring down the house when the audience claps, stands, or cheers for a long time.
The greater the approval, the longer the ovation. Comedies bring down the house with laughter.
According to The Free Dictionary, “The term comes from the mid-eighteenth-century theater.” It implied noise loud enough to endanger a house. Back then, if audiences did not laugh or clap at a joke, comedians would say, “Don’t clap so hard; you’ll bring the house down (it’s a very old house).”
Real life rarely brings down the house.
We don’t receive applause for activities such as:
- Cleaning
- Going to work
- Cooking
- Mowing
- Caring for family needs
However, all that work needs to be done – over and over again.
Keeping up the good work means far more than bringing down the house.
May we always prove worth our salt, whether we receive praise or not.
- Faithfully follow God’s call.
- Work well.
- Serve others.
- Live the best life possible.
“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God?” (Galatians 1:10 NIV).
Thanks to Jane Ashley Pace for the suggestion and to Ariel C. Emberton for the photo.
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