I attended a retreat for women at my church this weekend. It was a great opportunity to get away from my normal routine and meet other women in the community. The main focus of the weekend was building friendships with other women. The food, fellowship, music, and worship was outstanding and I enjoyed it so much. However, for those of us with RA I ask…do we really have to stand up to sing praise? Now, I already know the answer to this question, but I still have to ask. You know how it is…you get that feeling that your joint/s are starting to swell…you start shifting…you try standing on one leg. After standing on one leg for a while and trying to balance and bumping into the person next to you, your hip begins to hurt, so you try to put some weight back on your foot and feel that familiar sting and wish you had your gel pack. It’s hard to concentrate on worship when you are constantly trying to shift your weight to a position that doesn’t hurt.
Because I try to be an optimist, I have found a bright spot in modern worship services…at least we don’t have to worry about holding the hymnal now that the words are on the big screens! I wonder if they were thinking about those of us with RA when this concept was started? Hmmmm….nope, probably not. But, nonetheless it’s helpful, so yeah for words on the screen! (It’s also great for those of us that just had to start wearing glasses…but that’s another story for another day.)
I looked around and noticed that there were a few people sitting down but, if I sat down what would people think? (I look forward to the day when I’ll not care what people think) But until that day, I’ll just shift and wiggle and balance to get through it until the much anticipated words are spoken…”you may be seated”. Can I hear an amen? Amen.
I vote for staying seated! I’m pretty sure god doesn’t care and would like to believe that the other people in the church would assume you have a good reason (and if they judge, then they’re in the right place and need to listen harder to the sermon). A-hem.
I agree – it’s very nice when you can just look up to the wall for the words to the hymns. My Dad usually holds the hymn book for me, which is very nice.
How are your pews? Ours are awful – an hour in one is sometimes enough to wreck my back for the day. Too bad we can’t all sit on couches in church!
Movie theatre seats would be nice!
But, I’m thinking that if our seats are too comfortable that we might have some snoring to deal with. Actually, our seats aren’t too bad. It’s a new sanctuary with separate row seats instead of pews.
Whoa….you are so right. For me, I think it’s just defiance against RA. I just don’t like the idea of it dictating whether or not I stand or have to sit down. I’m kind of stubborn.