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| Never have I seen a photograph of a stained glass window that could show even a little of the brilliance of the bright sun coming through. This window appeared like brightly lit jewels across from me this morning! |
The program chairman for the quarter gets up before the crowd and announces that this morning she had checked her email and the speaker had emailed her around midnight (last night) that he would not be there this morning. No other excuse was given to us.
A Plan B was put into action for the class lesson and we broke up into 9 groups to discuss later as a class.
In the group I was in, one of the guys said this same speaker was a "no show" when he had signed him up to teach a class. This class member said that on that occasion there was no notice before the class of any kind. This speaker has done this twice to the class. I am understanding to a fault but from what was said, the man offered no excuses.
Is it not ironic that one chapter of Blue Like Jazz is entitled, "How to go to church without getting mad"?
Next week the speaker is to present the second part of the book.
My question is, since he did not show up for part I and does not show up for part II, shouldn't a new chapter be added by next week entitled, "How to go to church without getting really mad?"
A sense of humor sure helps in this world ... a little.
5 comments:
As you and I have discussed many times recently, it is not a good sign when you feel worse after attending church than when you first arrived.
Clint: I know, what you said is true. It is not a good sign.
That stained glass window is an inspiration, Cindy. I know the image will stay with you for a long time. As for the absent speaker, you could reframe that circumstance and consider the ways that it served you. It was a good test of your ability to maintain a sense of humor and adapt to an unexpected change of plan. Dividing into groups allowed everybody in the class to have more of a voice and take on more responsibility. You can apply what you learned from this experience to other areas of your life. You already read my account of having to step in and conduct an impromptu television interview with a farmer and his cow. I was thrust into a similar situation when the leader of my NLP seminar group had to leave the stage due to an emergency. He handed me the microphone and instructed me to conduct the seminar in front of the 200 people in attendance. I was jolted out of my comfort zone and petrified to be standing on stage alone with nothing prepared; but the experience taught me how to rise to the occasion, meet the challenge and think on my feet. In today's complex and troubled world we all need to be ready in case we are handed the microphone. We all need to be ready to take the ball and run with it.
I love such colorful windows. Specially when the sun is bringing there light through it.
greetings
Petra
Thank you Shady Del and Petra for visiting my blog and commenting!
Petra, stained glass windows are such works of art, aren't they? I have always loved them. Just yesterday in the Sunday school class, a member told of when the old windows and new ones were installed in our new sanctuary, she was with the stained glass artist viewing the event. She shared with the class how the artist cried. I feel I can relate to this emotion. Thanks again, hope your week is off to a good start!
Shady Del, thank you for your wisdom and thoughts about yesterday's situation. I agree with what you wrote and it probably turned out for the best. Everyone was involved and some personal experiences were shared with the class. One such experience I heard yesterday was shared with Petra in the above paragraph.
The fear of public speaking is way up there on the so-called official phobia list, we all know that. I know from experience I still have a problem sometimes but I am much better. How I dreaded that speech class from many years ago!
The way to overcome it is what you have described. Growth from our discomfort. What you wrote is a quotable statement:
In today's complex and troubled world we all need to be ready in case we are handed the microphone.
Thanks again, I am sure soon you will have some great new tunes on your blog!
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