So I’m in Wal-Mart the yesterday (so already I’m frustrated) … and trying to find what I need. Every other aisle I run into the same woman. The kindest way I can describe her is that she is rather plump, very very white, wearing a shirt that has plunging neckline that barely covers her and spaghetti straps tied at the shoulder. Now I suppose I could be more forgiving if we lived in the desert and as the temps cruised around 125 degrees, relief would be sought in any way possible. But no, we’re inside … on a relatively cool day. It reminded me of the woman in the grocery the other day that wore a long sleeve sweater but tiny shorts that barely covered her posterior, which flabbed above some bumpy cellulite covered legs exposed to the world. Now even if these were pretty young women in excellent shape, I still object. Why is it ok to dress in beachwear (or less) to go to Wal-Mart or the grocery store? There used to be a “no shirt, no shoes, no service” sign. I think there should be a “no clevage, no rumpage” addition to that. Maybe that seems petty…
My extention cord. I think it’s about 25 feet long and it stays attached at one end to my leaf blower. No matter how nicely I roll it, at the next use it has become a tangled mess. Is there a gremlin that loves to tie up our extention cords? Why can’t it just be easy. Do you have a secret for maintaining the extention cord? I know…it’s petty.
Busy. How many times a day does someone say to me “I’m busy”. Sometimes it is expressed with exaggeration; “I’m so busy I don’t know what I’m doing”, “I am crazy busy,” “I don’t think I can do everything I need to do I’m so busy”. In fact, it is true that I do not know anyone who isn’t busy. We wear “I’m busy” like a badge. You know what bugs me the most about this? I say it too. I’ve caught it from some of you. Bad company corrupts good morals you know. But when people say “I’m busy” to me, I usually wonder why they’re hiding behind that expression. If you think that’s petty, just wait for this last one …
It’s easy to fall into habitual phrases in prayer. I do not think they are sinful. But anyh phrase repeated over and over catches my attention. But in the past several years the one phrase that has snagged almost all public pray-ers, is the word ‘just‘. We keep asking the Lord to ‘just‘ do something … when we have in the same prayer asked him for a dozen things … each time using the word ‘just‘. For example: “Lord, just help us to focus on you each day. And Lord as for sister philadelphia, just heal her today. And Lord just bless our church.” I think it’s a habit akin to saying “uh” in a speech. Because otherwise it sounds like we’re trying to make a deal with God, indicating we’d be satisfied if He’d just do that one thing for us. As I said … not sinful … just petty.
OK, mind, you no longer have to think about these things. They are all expressed and out there … let it go.
Got anything petty on your mind today?
john
Amen, preach it, brother! JUST tell it like it is! :-)
I think I’ve spent too much time with my mood altering drug of choice today (my computer) to have something petty. Let me go away from it for awhile and I’m sure I’ll come up with something. I aim to please. :)
That being said, I hunted and hunted for a clip of Tim Hawkins’ great bit about stuff people repeat during prayers, but could not find it online. I have his “Full Range of Motion” DVD and he has a hilarious section where he talks about this.
lol John I don’t think the peeve about how the woman was dressed IS petty. What really struck us in Shanghai and Hong Kong was that tho the young women there were mostly dressed very fashionably, we didn’t see one who was immodest in the sense of exposing herself. What is it with our culture that is into exposing everything? I am aghast at weddding pictures on facebook of my young church friends. Low cut dresses with more than just cleavage. More hanging out than in.
OK, now I have vented too.. Thanks!
yes i do , got something petty on my mind , but better keep it there:?
take care
Regarding the extension cord, you use a spool already, right?
As for “just,” my brother (a Catholic) mentioned that almost ten years ago after my ordination service. Catholics avoid the whole problem by officially scripting their prayers (and virtually everything else). I had never noticed it before. Thankfully, most of my ministry since has been with Brazilians. Unfortunately, there are verbal potholes in Portuguese too.
Sigh.
I would think of something petty, but I’m just too busy.
In my haste I misread the post on Facebook and thought you said “pretty” rather than “petty”, and then the Walmart tale..uggh.
I just think this post is right on, If you just understand what I mean.
Royce
With the clothing — can. not. STAND. it. If they are a tiny petite thing, I STILL don’t want to see everything they have. Put some clothes on, people!!
With the prayers — truthfully, unless I am interpreting it, I gave up listening to public prayers a long time ago because they bug me so badly. I just pray in my head and talk to God.
And while we’re on the subject — why can’t people read the Bible in public as if it actually MEANS something instead of sounding as if they have been asked to read from the phone book? THAT is my ‘church peeve’…
Alright, my virtual friend – you asked.
I hate the way new communication technologies have led to the corruption of grammar. Capitalization? Proper punctuation? Nah – I’m JUST texting, emailing, blogging, etc.!
And don’t even get me started on people saying, “I could care less.” Okay, so you could care less. How much less could you care? What are you really telling me here? Oh, you meant “I couldn’t care less,” but it is JUST harder to spit out, so you dropped the negative contraction, completely robbing your statement of any substantive meaning. Gotcha. Just checking.
Well, I fell better now! How much do I owe you for the session, John? ;D
AMEN Roger and Sarah! And the clothing! – serving communion trays to the flock and looking down at acres of cleaveage has got to be one of the weirdest experiences there is. I just don’t know what’s in the minds of young women and their moms these days.
Mike, and their husbands and fathers too! Altho, sadly, sometimes the husbands and fathers encourage it.
Sarah, As for public prayer, I don’t get it either. We seldom have public prayer and don’t have a Bible reading at the evening service where I attend. (The more traditional morning service still has both). And the roof hasn’t fallen in yet…
I JUST read your article on “The Shack” and “Finding God in the Shack” in the Christian Chronicle. I had not heard of the second book, but I want to check into to it after reading your review. Keep up the good work!
John, you must be going fishing….I think you have opened a can of worms. :-) It’s OK though, it needed to be opened.
First, I couldn’t agree more, the LACK of modest apparel is sad, especially in the church. I get so upset when young mom’s start dressing their three year olds in spaghetti straps and short-shorts, short dresses etc. Or, when they are dressed, (or if older) allowed to dress in clothing with wording across the bust line or their bottom, not good! What ever happened to being separate from the world? I’ve heard all the excuses too…yes, it may be more difficult to find appropriate clothing, however it can be found.
Now, about prayer….I will make it short. If we talked with our friends the way we talk with God, we might find ourselves short of friends. It’s about relationship and real feelings, not monotone and memorized words. I will cut some slack tough…relationships are usually developed over long periods of time and I fear unintentionally teaching is to blame. I know the bible has example of prayer and who we should pray for, however, praying should be a matter of what/who is on our heart and not being afraid to show our feelings when we pray. Lastly, I can’t be too critical, I recognize for some men it is very uncomfortable to do public service, and in all fairness…we have some awesome prayer warriors in our family. Uh…sorry….so much for keeping it short. :-)
I get annoyed at the “I’m busy” comments too. Everyone is! But I wish they weren’t! If we are all so upset about how busy we are, maybe we should make it more a priority to be less busy.
Just sayin’, since you asked. :)
When we lived in Florida (Cocoa Beach area), it was not uncommon to find oneself standing in a checkout line at a grocery store staring at a woman in the very least of bikinis.
Extension cords … when I did the set up / take down for our praise band in Long Beach (yes, a church of Christ), I didn’t let others “roll up” any electrical cords, mic cords, instrument cords, because there is a certain way to roll them up so they unroll perfectly.
Other annoyances … drive in Southern California!! The total lack of customer satisfaction in most retail stores these days. The people who “work” in fast-food restaurants. SPAM on my blog site. SPAM in my email.
Gotta go, I’m busy.
John, Sounds to me like you need a fishing trip to get your mind off petty things. I laughed about the Wal-mart incident because, no lie, I actually had a sister tell me she counted 9 bra straps in services Easter Sunday. Maybe she needs to get her mind off petty things, huh? Hope you have busy summer Ha!.
Thanks for the laugh John. I think what made it funny was not your irritating day, but how true it actually is. My wife always has a saying about those who dress that way in public…. “somebody lied to that person….” But I agree with you, even if they are drop dead gorgeous, they should put some clothes on.
I don’t look too much better, but at least I realize it. I cover up when I dress. ha!
Keep up your good work brother!
“Do you have a secret for maintaining the extention cord? I know…it’s petty.”
JUST because you asked … but i’m really too busy to answer … but anyway. i use one os those orange spool things for my 100′ extension cord.
I HEAR GREG!! when i was in texas i did all the mic cords for our praise team. it was like going to heaven when we went wireless with the mics! :o)
and btw as far as the prayer comment goes, my peeve is when guys keep saying Father this and Father that. i think He knows we are praying to Him when we start out the prayer. He doesn’t need to be reminded that we are talking to Him, does He?
my wife says that spandex was not an equal opportunity garment … and sports bras are NOT and outer garment, either. i’m just saying …
How about someone at church who tells you they have an “idea” they would like to share with you. What they really mean is:
1. I have another thing to add to YOUR plate.
2. Would you like to become financially independent? Have you heard of ____?
John – I’d say you got too much time on your hands if you can list all these petty things — BUT I’m “too busy” to do that LOL LOL.
Actually – these hit home -most of these things I relate too — except the extension cord. What bugs me there is that I never have a problem as long as I’m the one who coils it and uses it –but LInda – she always messes it up when she uncoils and never coils it up properly – at least that’s what I thought for a long time untilI realized left-handed coilers and right -handed users can’t peacefully co-exist. There is a solution for you -2 actually
1 but a gas blower and eliminate the cordor 2) buy a spring-loaded cord winder (like the ones on a vacuumcleaner)
God Bless
Charlie
Annoyances are God’s way of helping us to not get too comfortable here and to have something to look forward to in heaven.
The real culprit in my life was cynicism and I used to find that everything annoyed me. Then my wife (who is a psychologist) said I needed to find an alternate reason why people do what they do. So people who cut me off in traffic are headed to the hospital to say there goodbyes to a dying child…and poof!!! no annoyance. Women in wamart who dress scantilly, was sexually abused by her step father for 6 years and is looking for some affirmation that she is still Ok. I have found the more explanations I can find, the less petty I get.
Don’t buy a gas blower…they never start! and for each knot you untie in your extention cord, find something in your life to be thankful for and it will cease to be a problem. God may tie knots in it to get your attention.