tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post7438976719148009779..comments2024-03-29T04:31:15.219-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: How Hard It Is...Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-35520607582126078032011-04-04T15:25:00.846-05:002011-04-04T15:25:00.846-05:00I have grave reservations about the nearly epidemi...I have grave reservations about the nearly epidemic of ADD/ADHD diagnoses. The six states with the highest diagnoses are all in the South (Alabama, Louisiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas) and most European physicians do not even believe it is a serious problem. My uninformed medical opinion is that few have a biologically caused ADD/ADHD but the drug companies and our desire for docile children have distorted our thinking. For what its worth...Pastor Petershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-61901768559744549122011-04-04T11:47:03.924-05:002011-04-04T11:47:03.924-05:00As a fellow pastor, it is easy to become indignant...As a fellow pastor, it is easy to become indignant that your parishioners cannot maintain their attention during Divine Service while you as the pastor have the added benefit of being naturally hyped-up on adrenalin in leading the service(which is why Pastors often can't help but take a nap Sunday afternoon, due to the post-adrenalin "crash".) For sure, when some blame the pastor if he preaches "too long" (which, for many who fix their eyes on their watch more than their ears on the preacher, amounts to any sermon longer than 10 minutes, at least in my parish), nevertheless, we pastors can forget how difficult the "passive action" of listening really is, especially in a current technological MTV/Computer culture which contributes to a collective "ADD" even on physiological grounds of brain development, where the simple mental capacity to listen/think rather than see/hear is so weakened. The way that I myself regain such an awareness of this difficulty is very simple: When I myself go on vacation and attend some other congregation's Divine Service. As I myself find the difficulty of maintaining listening to another preacher's sermon, then you begin to understand how it must be for many of the laypeople, especially for the Boomer generation or younger! While I'm not an advocate of shortening a sermon to "Portals of Prayer" length, let alone to always preaching such simple content that makes even VBS seem meatier by comparison, nevertheless, it is something the pastor needs to be patient with just as much as the parishioner does too, rather than simply the pastor blaming the parishioners for not caring about the service nor the parishioners blaming the preacher for what ultimately amounts to their own weakened capacity for listening, not to mention critical-thinking skills in general. Killing your TV, or at least sufficiently limiting your exposure to it might be a good start for a solution, but confessedly, giving up the computer is much more difficult. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-79084463487552184002011-04-04T09:22:26.979-05:002011-04-04T09:22:26.979-05:00Yesterday, in the worship service
the lady in fron...Yesterday, in the worship service<br />the lady in front of me took out<br />a Hall's cough drop after the sermon<br />started, began coughing, and then<br />left the sanctuary. She returned<br />when the sermon was over.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-41941955679133703552011-04-04T08:26:10.622-05:002011-04-04T08:26:10.622-05:00Sigh. In my church now the folks in the back row ...Sigh. In my church now the folks in the back row are scrolling through the screens on their ipods during the sermon now. Can't disconnect even for worship.Lauranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-30578506451258343672011-04-03T23:58:09.271-05:002011-04-03T23:58:09.271-05:00"We cannot go ten feet without a water bottle...<i>"We cannot go ten feet without a water bottle or soda in our hand -- Lord knows, we may get thirsty."</i> <br /><br />Having been an usher for decades, I see people, increasingly over the past few years, bring into the nave not only bottles of water, but caffinated soft drinks and coffee (especially in stainless steel insulated mugs or Starbucks cups). And there's usually a parade of people going out right after (or during) the sermon to hit the restrooms.Carl Vehsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00348831096001668813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-20748786664652694212011-04-03T19:17:42.744-05:002011-04-03T19:17:42.744-05:00Marke, why I am shocked! Are you suggesting that ...Marke, why I am shocked! Are you suggesting that I might be, well, old??? I am shocked.Pastor Petershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-81774465885634737542011-04-03T16:39:07.656-05:002011-04-03T16:39:07.656-05:00Is it self-centered if I see myself, here? Thanks...Is it self-centered if I see myself, here? Thanks for the reminder, Pastor. (BTW...I've used that plate spinning reference a few times and everyone under 40 just stares blankly at me. Just sayin'...)Markenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-70707543915567846322011-04-03T16:00:28.178-05:002011-04-03T16:00:28.178-05:00Our self-centered ME-GENERATION will
always have d...Our self-centered ME-GENERATION will<br />always have difficulty staying with<br />one parish for a long time. They<br />need to be entertained and their<br />ears tickle for a message with self-<br />help hints for a more comfortable<br />life. This accounts for some of the<br />mobility of members who transfer<br />from parish to parish in the same <br />city.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-35145796327715209112011-04-03T07:18:27.083-05:002011-04-03T07:18:27.083-05:00I love the way, during the procession, my pastor&#...I love the way, during the procession, my pastor's eyes are always glued to the processional cross as he models for us where our own eyes should be glued (not looking all around the church to see who's there).Cherylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04817680463922038375noreply@blogger.com