It all began as any other Sabbath morning. I walked into Sabbath School and sat with my best friend Alizah and our friend Eric. After Sabbath school we failed to arrive in the main sanctuary on time, but because Alizah's parents sit in the second row we had to walk all the way to the front to be with them. While that morning's service was beginning we walked to the very front row and sat down. Almost immediately we whipped out our pens and paper so we could begin passing notes and doodling instead of listening. Throughout the sermon we whispered and restlessly passed notes totally ignoring what the pastor had to say. Towards the end of the sermon I had begun to feel guilty that we were being so disruptive and I thought that maybe I could trick the pastor into thinking that we were listening if I threw out an "amen" and then. With this plan in mind I proceeded to give out a very loud, very obnoxious "Amen!" Come to find out later, the pastor had not said anything that was needful of an "amen" but rather something more needful of thoughtful silence. As I shouted out my interjection, the pastor glared down at me as if I was the scum from the bottom of the sea and Eric and Alizah started to laugh. I'm sure that my face turned several shades brighter. I was sure that the entire church heard my rowdy "Amen!" and I decided to lay low for awhile hoping that people would forget in a few weeks.
This happened three years ago so you would've thought that I was the only one to remember my enthusicastic involvement in the sermon, but this is not so. Just two weeks ago, during vespers at Grass Valley Church, my youth pastor asked us to share embarrassing experiences. I shared my little incident with them. At the end of the story one of the kids said, "Yeah, I was sitting in the balcony and I heard it really loud." So much for them forgetting!
Although it's not pleasent, embarrassment isn't always a bad thing. Not only does it supply a good laugh down the road, it also keeps your "head from getting to big." In other words, those little mistakes and embarrassing moments that we have keep us from being arrogant punks.