Must… Not… Make… Joke…

And years ago, when I used to attend EQ before being in YM, if the lessons were boring then I was part of the problem. People would start talking about spiritual stuff and I’d just sit very still, fold my arms, squint, and offer the occasional thoughtful nod.

It gets worse, but more complaining about specifics on my part probably isn’t going to solve the problem. I only brought that up to illustrate the depth of the problem.

Don’t they just sleep in High Priests meeting? “Well, brethren, Edith and I… blah blah blah… zzzzzzzzz…”

I was joking. I was actually glad to avoid that, especially given that a member of the HC was actively campaigning for me to be put on the HC. Mostly because he liked my talks. Ugh. I think I would die in the HP meetings. Though at the moment I have a hard time imagining how they would be worse.

Let me tell you a little secret . . .

I’m tempted to say that the teacher that made it clear he wanted to discuss the Super Bowl for an hour was actively driving the spirit out of the class and that there wasn’t much I could do outside of leaving to recapture it. But I agree that I should sincerely pray for the teachers and for myself. I also agree that hijacking is fraught with difficulties. Not the least of which is that I am new in the ward and don’t want everyone’s first impression to be that I am some sort of know-it-all jerk. They’ll figure that out soon enough.

Rusty,

I do wonder if there are aspects of Utah church that make it more prone to bad teaching. I think there are more cultural Mormons here that are going out of habit or for social reasons rather than out of conviction. That said, Utah doesn’t have a monopoly on this aspect of church by any means.

skl,

Thanks for you kind words. Maybe if we had stayed around for a bit longer they would have made me a High Priest (at 31 I think I was the oldest Elder in the ward) and that would have solved my problem when I got back to Utah.

ed,

Doesn’t the presidency have the first Sunday lessons in your ward? First Sunday should be any topic you select. Fourth Sunday are the Teaching For Our Times things.

Bret,

I am more than willing to admit that my singles ward experience was not the norm. Also, it was limited to one ward so I don’t have a large sample size. The lessons were generally very good with the possible exception of the ones I taught.

I have a problem with the hijacking thing. Being called as a teacher can be scary, particularly if you hate public speaking. These guys may be doing their best just to get through the lesson. The last thing they need is someone who could teach circles around them trying to take over.

On the other hand, as someone who knows how to teach, it’s tough to listen to someone who either can’t or won’t take the time to make the material interesting or meaningful. But that’s the job of the listener – to help bring the Spirit into the classroom.

My advice would be to pray for these teachers (what a novel thought!). You might include a prayer for yourself, to be more humble and teachable. Let your pride go. When I don’t enjoy or “get anything out of” a lesson, I consider the fault to be mine, at least partially.