Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Talk with the Preacher

Home
Progressive Christian
Instrumental Interference

Instrumental Interference

Last updated on: October 14, 2015 at 8:55 pm by Amy Butler

Instrumental Interference 2015-10-14T20:55:23-04:00 Amy Butler

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I don’t want to complain . . . but I will anyway.

I have had such a time with the sermon this week. I know it’s in there somewhere, but it is refusing to make its way to the paper this week. At least so far. I guess it’s a good thing that Sunday comes no matter what, so something has to appear somewhere, sometime before 11 am on Sunday morning.

I hate to disenchant all of you who thought preachers wrote their sermons six months in advance.

So today, instead of trying to write, I’d like to point out . . . in my defense . . . two small relevant details.

First, this is kind of an anomaly. I’m usually finished with the sermon by this time in the week. Okay, maybe not DONE done, but certainly mostly done (note for context: this was written last Friday, but I got you, didn’t I? Sermon done on Tuesday . . . now, that’s funny!). Not that this fact helps the current situation, but I felt compelled to include it here before I bring out the big guns.

The second, and main reason my sermon is not getting done at this moment is this: as of last week Hannah has taken up the oboe.

I now firmly and unequivocally believe that I am constitutionally unable to hear the Spirit of God when all evidence would lead you to believe that a cow is dying a slow and painful death in the middle of the living room (just adjacent to where I am writing).

Ultimately, I completely support musical development in our family, but up until this point it has not affected my ability to sermon-write.

I try to go into another room-and find you can hear this special sound through the walls.

I try to go outside on the porch with the dog, but his ears pick up the strains and he starts howling along.

I even take the laptop out to the car and tried to write, but it seems that special whine/howl is now firmly imprinted on the soft tissue of my brain and I cannot think coherently about anything except why we ever thought it was a good idea for Hannah to take the instrumental music elective this year in the first place.

Thus I maintain that this is certainly reason enough for me to send my regrets Sunday morning, don’t you? Surely someone could stand up and say: “Jeremiah wrote a poetic treatise on the anger of God. Please open your Bibles and discuss amongst yourselves.”

Yes, I think that might be the way to go, because I imagine by then I’ll be lying in bed, hopefully under heavy sedation, with earplugs firmly in place and a cold washcloth on my forehead.

I’ll keep you posted.

(Update: Sermon written and preached. Hannah is still working on perfecting the oboe.)

Answering the Call

Living in Relationship

Hannah

Parenting

Previous Post

September 12, 2007

Church Mouse

Next Post

September 21, 2007 Slow Reference Guide

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Answering the Call Being the Church Curating Wisdom Laughing Out Loud Living in Relationship Practicing Discipleship Reclaiming Baptist Speaking from the Pulpit Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005

Search for:

Instrumental Interference

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Meta

Which sea did Moses part during the Exodus?