Hold Your Hat

"It is madness to wear ladies hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmuts!
Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews!
For the sleeping God may wake someday and take offense,
or the waking God may draw us out to where we can never return."
--Annie Dillard

I think of this quote sometimes when I'm sitting in church.
Looking through the beam in my own eyes, I see complacency.
We don't seem to comprehend the glories of eternity;
we aren't particularly curious about knowing more;
we're not overly concerned about how it should change us.

I wonder when God, in his infinite patience, will have had enough.

I'll never forget sitting with the children for a Primary program one day. While we were singing the very moving words to "He Died! The Great Redeemer Died" the children were combing each other's hair, hitting each other, or chattering away. I just wanted to shake them and say, "Pay attention! Don't you get what this means?! Don't you know how blessed you are?!!"

I've had similar experiences since. I often want to go and shake people.
Sometimes the offending person is me.

I, for one, have determined to try His patience a little less,
by pondering, praising, and 'ppreciating.

At least on the days I remember this quote.