06 February 2010

Oh, and on the subject of ribbons...

...and such: WHY do some people insist on leaving the ribbons dangle out of the hymnals and not put the hymnals back the way they found them? I know, people call me obsessive-compulsive - hey, Mr. Monk makes a great deal of sense to me - but when I stand in the back of the church and look forward and see a hymnal upside down or with its ribbons fluttering lose, it aggravates me no end. So, you St. Paul members who may be reading this, remember to help your pastor's sanity in this small way: PUT YOUR HYMNAL BACK THE WAY YOU FOUND IT. There, I feel better already... :)

13 comments:

Rev. Jim Roemke said...

I feel your pain, brother! It always makes me huffy to see that.

Rev. Paul T. McCain said...

What? Take care of the hymnals in the pew? And deprive CPH of hymnal sales sooner than we would have received had those books been care for properly.

I say, let the ribbons dangle, let the kiddies write in them. Be sure to fold and crease the pages. Toss the books any old place.

Please.

SARCASM mode off.

Past Elder said...

What? You don't have elders who go through the church after to make sure everything is OK?

Elephantschild said...

Oh, while we're at it, why do parents let their kids rip and tear the ribbons into fluffy shreds that stick to everything? Bah!

Pastor Peters said...

I thought I was the only obsessive compulsive Pastor in the LCMS...

Brian P Westgate said...

Personally, I like 'em better when the ribbons are out, though hanging straight down the side. Adds a little colour.

Doorman-Priest said...

Let it go, William. Let it go.

If I come visit I may do it deliberately as an act of rebellion!

Rev. Allen Bergstrazer said...

I feel your pain +2.

I think it stems from 1) how much it took to actually replace all the hymnals at one time in terms of persuasion and fund raising. 2) How long we had to put up with old hymnals that shed pages like trees in autumn.

The most aggregious case of ribbon abuse was from a VBS guest who ran them through her considerable fingernails and curled them like ribbons on top of a present.

Rev. Allen Yount said...

I've seen hymnals with the ribbons all braided together and tied in knots. Some people, even some in church who've learned (or shouid have) how the seventh commandment which enjoins us to "help our neighbor to...protect his possessions," just don't have any respect for other's property.

Anonymous said...

Ok so now I'll have to get all the members at church in on an April Fool's joke... boy o boy wouldn't make you have a panic attack...

Anonymous said...

Get a pair of scissors and start cutting those ribbons!

Problem solved!

Anonymous said...

Eventually we may have to eliminate the ribbons. I think the new copies of the pew editon don't have them.

CyberSis said...

We applied Fray-Check to the ends of our ribbons and they're holding up nicely despite all the abuse.