Faith&Friends
LAUGHING MATTERS
ABBA, You and Me Some say God wouldn’t show up at a Swedish band’s concert. But I assure you, He did. by Phil Callaway
M
y wife, Ramona, was young and sweet, only 17, when we first heard the music of ABBA on a tinny radio at Pine Lake, Alta. Known for hummable tunes, platform shoes and flared polyester pants that could house a family of eight, the Swedish couples topped the charts for 18 years after winning the Eurovision Song Contest with their catchy song, Waterloo. Our conservative church forbade us from listening to such tripe, but we did. I celebrate a rich heritage. Great preaching, and music from Phil Keaggy and Chuck Girard were all part of the eclectic entourage that nudged me to faith in Jesus. Valuable life lessons were absorbed from secular sources, too. From “I Quit” to “I Do” Swedes joked that ABBA was the nation’s largest provider of revenue outside of Volvo, but they weren’t far off. When Anni, Björn, Benny
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and Agnetha sang, “Money, money, money. Must be funny in the rich man’s world,” the stuff rolled in. Some estimates put record sales as high as 380 million. Reportedly, their success was so enormous in parts of Eastern Europe that the band accepted payments in oil rather than money. But no one is made to be worshipped. There is only one Abba (Father). Popularity brought legendary tours, meteoric highs, then crushing heartache and divorce. The year ABBA called it quits, Ramona and I said, “I do.” Blasts From the Past In August 2019, our lifelong friends, Kevin and Ivy, called. “You guys are celebrating your anniversary, right?” they said. “There’s an ABBA tribute band in concert. Let’s go.” And so, for our 37th anniversary, guess what we did? Donned white suits, platform shoes and polyester
