Do come and join us ...
It's lovely, after an afternoon baptism, when the family invite me to join them for the party. It means they've enjoyed the service, appreciate what I've done for them, really want me to share the happiness.
It feels churlish that I usually make my excuses. "Thank you so much, but I've got another service to get ready for..."
The thing is that an afternoon baptism is usually one of four services that day, and it could be (it was today) that I'm preaching a full sermon at two of those. When there's that much spiritual energy going out of me, all I want to do after the baptism is have some time alone.
I'm only an introvert, after all.
I think there are some parish priests around here who only have one service on a Sunday. They are not the ones with country livings, who routinely take even more services than I do. But maybe they are all extraverts?
It feels churlish that I usually make my excuses. "Thank you so much, but I've got another service to get ready for..."
The thing is that an afternoon baptism is usually one of four services that day, and it could be (it was today) that I'm preaching a full sermon at two of those. When there's that much spiritual energy going out of me, all I want to do after the baptism is have some time alone.
I'm only an introvert, after all.
I think there are some parish priests around here who only have one service on a Sunday. They are not the ones with country livings, who routinely take even more services than I do. But maybe they are all extraverts?
posted by Tony at 7/25/2004 06:40:00 pm
2 Comments:
I'm sure they issue you with heavenly eye-shades so you can sleep any time all that praising gets too much for you.
But hey, what are you doing up at 1.29?! I hope that's only something about our different time zones, rather than you still ministering away after midnight?
Brother, I honour you for your sacrificial ministry. Here at home, the good folk of Marston know that church meetings finish at 9.30 p.m. latest, which is when the vicar's brain stops. Anything said after that time has to be said again the following day when he is conscious again. This is the organisational equivalent of Prince Charming having to take round glass slippers for people to try and get their feet into, so it makes for business-like meetings the first time round.
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