Monday, April 21, 2008

Those uncomfortable moments in church

I thought this was a great article from "stuff Christians like" blog site. How many of us have not experienced that awkward moment when the pastor has everyone turn around and greet one another. Read on and hope you enjoy.

"This is a slight variation of the "Greeting the people around you" but after experiencing it at church today I couldn't pass up mentioning it. Every now and then, a Pastor will give you a little homework assignment. In addition to asking you to greet the people around you, he wants you to give them a message. One minister I listened to said, "touch somebody next to you and tell them, 'you're dangerous.'" The more common request is that you tell someone you're glad they are there. At church today, a guy I dig told us to "tell the person next to you something exciting you did this weekend." I've never felt an entire room get sweaty all at once before but that's about what it was like.

Suddenly everyone was trying to call forth something interesting or exciting they did yesterday. The lady next to me fumbled for a few seconds after shaking my hand and then blurted, "I went on a walk with someone ." That's not a direct quote because I was too busy realizing how ordinary my life was. I said something about writing a book and then we sat back down. I felt like I had "won" the exchange until after the worship songs she handed me an unrequested tissue for my allergies. (Living in Georgia is like eating a bowl of pollen for breakfast.) This is the nose equivalent of handing someone a mint as a subtle indication of your distaste for their breath. Well played stranger lady. Well played indeed."