Planking is the new craze. You lay face down, keeping your hands at your side, and remain stiff (hence, a “plank”). (A bit like “Petrificus Totalus”.) Then you find a bizarre spot to plank, have your picture taken, then post it on the web.
I’ve been doing this for years. I sleep like this. When I was in high school, if we were at a friend’s house late on a Saturday night, and I started to get tired, I would lay down like this. My friends said I assumed “The Dave Lamb” position. No pictures were taken (that I’m aware of), and since this was before Al Gore had invented the internet nothing was posted.
For an interview about what kids think of planking, check this out this CBS news video: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504784_162-20108946-10391705.html?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.11
But does planking pre-date even me? I think so. We find early forms in Scripture. There’s the demonized boy who gets dashed to the ground by an unclean spirit and becomes rigid (Mark 9:17-18). So perhaps planking is a sign of possession?
Even further back there’s Elijah who lays down on top of a dead boy and stretched himself out (like a plank?) three times (1 Kings 17:21). Surely that video would have gone viral. While Elijah’s behavior seems a little creepy to us, apparently God was impressed since the boy was brought back to life.
So, planking can be both bad (the demon boy) and good (Elijah). Apparently, some one was killed planking recently, so the children on the CBS news video recommend “safe planking” only. Sounds like good advice.
Do you plank? Any other examples of biblical planking?