Day Dreaming During Sermons
Does your mind wander while you are sitting in church trying to listen to the sermon?
Yep, my mind wanders, too.
Which is not good, because I'm the preacher!
Long time readers may remember that I consider sex to be one of my favorite hobbies. When we were younger, I had to make a rule that there would be no sex after 6 PM on Saturdays. If it was really good, I kept thinking during the sermon about just how good it was. That worked for a while, until I would begin thinking about how I looked forward to getting through the service and going home to hop in the sack.
I still think about sex during the sermon sometimes, but not so often. It's one of the gifts of aging. You become more in control of your sexuality.
Sometimes I look out at the congregation and see someone who needs to hear this particular sermon. I think of changing the sermon to fit that person's life. For a moment I'm tempted to ignore the rest of the congregation, but I continue as planned.
Sometimes I'm in the middle of an illustration and it occurs to me -- "this ain't working."
Sometimes I am making a well planned point, and suddenly realize -- "this is really lame."
Sometimes I think about how my back hurts.
Sometimes I see my son's face and worry about why he looks so sad.
Sometimes I see my son's face and think about how happy he looks.
Sometimes I think about how slim the attendance is, and I worry about where we are headed.
Sometimes I think about how full the pews are, and I get excited about where we are headed.
Sometimes I think about "where's Joe? I haven't seen him in worship in months."
Sometimes I see someone familiar and think, "Who is he? Someone I met at the Senior Citizen's center? Oh wait -- that's my buddy from high school -- gee did he get old!"
Sometimes I think about what movie I want to see on Sunday afternoon.
Sometimes I think about what to eat for lunch, and I wonder if we can get out in time to beat the Southern Baptist crowds.
These day dreams last only a moment or so. They are very fleeting and never hinder the message.
So what do you think about during the sermon? Yep, you probably just think about the sermon, which puts me to shame :)
posted by Apostle John at 11:26 PM
10 Comments:
My mind wanders during the sermom. Often wondering how long its going to take the pastor to get side-tracked babbling about football or basketball.
Sometimes he says something that triggers a thought to an old friend or something in my past. My mind works must faster than he talks, sometimes I wonder if I should have re-stocked the busy-bags with fresh crayons....may things distract me. I was the same way in school.
I dont think i have ever thought about sex then :/ lol
Gracious -- I'm not the only one?
hw on earth does your mind wander while you're talking?! and don't you start saying the wrong thing? or forget to keep talking or something?! LOL
I'm deeply disturbed, and therefore can do two things at once :)
No, I never started talking about something I was thinking about!
laughing - thanks for this touch of honesty!
I usually think about the beginning and the ending. Because sometimes, in that space between the Gospel and the "Please be seated," I forget how I was going to start the thing. And sometimes I forget how I'm going to land the thing.
But as long as I keep my bullet points in my head, I'm generally okay. Which is a good thing, because I also have a peanut gallery to contend with.
Sermons are fun.
I don't think people realize just how human an activity preaching is. I shocked my parents when they were visiting this summer by confessing that my whole goal furing the sermon was not to...well..ahem...do something rude...before the service let out...
I doubt that any of my parishioners imagine that I'm praying, "please, God, don't let last night's Mexican dinner cause problems this morning."
Nope- I think that you are 'bout right on...
I can give a sermon or a lecture or read scripture and think about 1 - 2 other things at the same time.
Is sex sometimes one of the other topics? Absolutely!
I'm a woman, by the way. Don't let women tell you their minds don't go there!
Whenever I'm not preaching, I have to remind myself not to be too obvious about looking down at my vestments. (I'm an Episcopal priest, and the assistant in my parish.)
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