Ask Annie for Sept. 24, 2003 Dear Annie,
I just began attending church regularly, and have been surprised to find my fellow pew-warmers rather inattentive. Some fall asleep during the sermon, and others fiddle with things or write the whole time. Tell me, why do adults choose to come to church if they then can't make themselves concentrate on what the pastor is saying for forty minutes?
New to the Pew in Raymond, WA
Dear New,
Nice to hear from a reader in Raymond! And now I have some confessing to do: I'm a fiddler. Sometimes a sleeper! Though I have the best of intentions when I head off to church some Sundays, once I get there and relax sometimes it's all I can do to stay awake. It's not the pastor's fault, or that it's a boring sermon. Like most of my readers, I work full time, and have little ones and a house to take care of. It doesn't take much slowing down to make me come to a complete stop on a day of rest after four ten hour days at work. When I fiddle, it helps me concentrate. I get my mini pocket knife out of my purse and clean the gunk out of my "I Love You" ring while I'm listening. My job involves what the help wanted ads refer to as "multi-tasking." When you get used to doing two things at once, which most of us mothers do as a matter of course anyway, it's hard to stop. I have a hard time just sitting and not doing anything else. I bet those you see writing are taking notes on the sermon, to look back on later. So please get used to what goes on around you at church without letting it bother you too much. We Christians are forgiven, not perfect!
Annie
Please write to: Annie, P.O. Box 1084, Eatonville,WA 98328
E-mail: letters_annie@hotmail.com
Past Ask Annies:
Sept. 24, 2003 Church-goers Inattentive
Sept. 17, 2003 Friend Sells My Stuff on Ebay
Sept. 10, 2003 Lottery Winner Didn't Tip Clerk
Sept. 3, 2003 Business Insults to Consumers
Aug. 27, 2003 Divison of Wedding Expense
Aug. 20, 2003 School Workers' Kindness & Men's Attractiveness
Aug. 13, 2003 Attractiveness Hints
Aug. 6, 2003 Annie's Husband's Accident at Work
July 30, 2003 Deer Automatic Sprinkler Best & Stores Don't Stock Washington Clothes
July 23, 2003 Scarecrows and Halloween Decorations Scare Off Prowlers Too
July 16, 2003 Redhead Asks Attractiveness Advice
July 2, 2002 Atomatic Deer Scarecrow Blasts Prowler