submitted by Richard Steffy, PA...and Lions Club members leave their shoes off. And everyone knows that the Shriners don't go to church.
Does anybody have any idea what they were trying to say with this sign? Seriously, leave a comment because neither Richard nor I have a clue.
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"Eternal life insurance: You are the soul beneficiary."
submitted by frequent contributor Kelly Quinn
Jesus' premium was a b**ch, though.
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By the way, I was kidding about the Shriners earlier. It's the Freemasons that don't go to church.
edit: (...still joking...)
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Optimists put their shoes on when humor-blogs.com says "finally".
Keep 'em coming.
Funny...my grandpa was a Freemason, but regularly attended the local Methodist church. Hmm. [scratches head] Or was that a joke? Sorry, this semester has decimated my sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have NO idea what that sign means, either.
I think the sign meant that when a pastor is preaching and says the word "Finally,..." (ie, "In conclusion,..."), the optimists put their shoes on, thinking the sermon actually will be done soon- though we have all heard pastors utter those words and continue for another 20 minutes (apparently I'm a pessimist).
ReplyDeleteIf my interpretation is true, my question is- what kind of people take their shoes off in church?
And, how bad is the pastor's preaching if they're saying on the sign that it's long and boring??
Hmm...
MK: It was a joke. Just wanted to make sure I got through a post offending as many people as possible.
ReplyDeleteSara: That was my original thought, too. But it led me to the same question: Why are these people barefoot in church??
I have no clue but maybe they meant something like - the optomist is ready to go to work? I think Sara might be right though. lol
ReplyDeleteOf course, the sign is meaningless, but at least we have a proper use of quotation marks!!!
ReplyDeleteThey're taking their shoes off because they're in the presence of God. Ok, probably not. Maybe they're just weird.
ReplyDeleteI'm telling you, they're on to us. They're just messing with our heads now.
ReplyDeleteMy own pastor preached an incredible message years ago titled "Barefoot Praise." If this is their intention though, the question of the optimists loyalty to God and the presence of God still rises.
ReplyDeleteMy vote is with Sara. The Optimist believes Finally actually means the sermon is wrapping up.
ReplyDeleteBoy the shoeless prejudice is strong! Just to warn you guys, my worship leader has been known to go barefoot in House of God. (He doesn't wear a tie, either!!)
Yeah- took me a while but once I read what Sara wrote, I think she's right
ReplyDeleteI asked my hubby, who's a "recovered" Seventh-Day Adventist if it was something particular to SDAs...he was as perplexed as anyone...and horrified at the idea that anyone would take off their shoes in church!
ReplyDeleteI concur with Sara's analysis.
~Marnie in MI
I think Sara nailed it. But even IF that's what it means, and IF it were better stated... why in the world would you want that on your church sign? Who is going to be attracted to the good news by that???
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'd rather be a pessismist -- as George Will once wrote, the great thing about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised!
Maybe it's the First Church of Podiatry.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they are poor and share shoes.
Maybe you have to answer the riddle to gain entrance to the service.
As for all the comments about shoeless worshipers, I think churches should have signs that say:
ReplyDelete"No shoes, no shirt, no [church] service"
Maybe they have a few of those foot bath thingies under each pew? Preaching and a pedicure?
ReplyDeleteOr they wash each other's feet first?
Listening to Scripture is Holy ground?
They're a bunch of hippies?
Tres bizarre.
Maybe it's a parable... those things really don't make much sense when you think about them logically...
ReplyDeleteWow...thanks for the responses everyone.
ReplyDeleteI think we all agree that we understand it now...but it's still pretty freakin' crummy.
Wait til you see some of the ones that got submitted today...tune in Monday for sure!!
Not to overstate the obvious, but I'm sure Sara's explanation is the correct one--it's the first thing I thought of--and I was like, "what do they mean, they don't get it?"
ReplyDeletenow the part about taking shoes off in church--I totally agree that it's creepy. But maybe the sermon has gone on so long already that people are "getting comfortable" by taking their shoes off?
now I really am just beating it to death.
A woman I got to church with takes her shoes off in church. But she takes her shoes off everywhere so...
ReplyDeleteLove the blog. I have NO idea what the heck this is supposed to mean. Maybe pessimists have stinky feet so they never take their shoes off.....
ReplyDeleteThis would almost be amusing if they had said "coat" instead of "shoes."
ReplyDeletebrentd:
ReplyDelete"Maybe you have to answer the riddle to gain entrance to the service."
The church sign as modern sphinx!
I agree with the general interpretation here, and also that it is pretty crummy - unless THEY ARE ON TO US!!! In which case, they probably have a congratulatory insert in today's bulletin.
I'm not sure where this sign is from but if anyone has ever been in a not well airconditioned church in South GA around July the taking off of the shoes makes sense. I have been quilty of it many a time. They are the only thing you can take off in church without everyone knowing your doing it and every in every row does it anyways so it doesnt matter.
ReplyDeleteI would not join any Optimist Club that would have me as a member...
ReplyDeleteThis made total sense to me. I used to go to a church where the priest would start every sermon with "I have three points to talk about today." When he was finishing up the third thing, people would start to stir, thinking he was almost done. But there were always, always, always five things. We didn't advertise that on the sign outside, though.
ReplyDeleteAs for taking off shoes, I had a Muslim friend who told me they do that in the mosque, but that's because they get on the floor to pray. If you're going to be putting your face near the floor, you don't want people's shoe dirt all over it.
It's a proven fact that heat leads to fatigue (remember the man who fell out the window while Paul was preaching), and that most of the body's heat is retained by the head and feet. So, to prevent dozing off during a sermon, slip your shoes off. I believe that's why our church's unwritten dress code allows flip-flops.
ReplyDeleteI am sure Sara got the meaning right...
ReplyDeletebut I would not advertise that because in my mind it is the same as saying
"Come Worship in Our Funky Smelling Sanctuary"
Quote BRWombat: "BTW, I'd rather be a pessismist -- as George Will once wrote, the great thing about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised!"
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty optamistic way of looking at it...
Yeah, the first thing this church sign says to me is "our pastor is boring and long winded." No thanks, I'll stick why my church, preaching straight from the Bible isn't boring.
Shiners are Freemasons.
ReplyDeletemaybe they meant that you're being optimistic if you think the pastor is going to shut up by saying "finally". like "in conclusion". not so sure why their shoes weren't on in the first place, though
ReplyDeleteIt's shocking to me that so few have had the same experience I had growing up. My entire life, I'd say 75% of the girls between ages 10 and about 17 would take their shoes off in church. If there was a special section where the youth would sit together, this jumped to about 90%. Most girls grow out of this habit as they reach adulthood, but some never do.
ReplyDelete