Any preacher without a sense of humor would be better off finding another place of Christian service. Truth is, it's impossible to survive working with most congregations without a healthy dose of humility and an equal share of laughter.
And it's good to know funny things don't just happen to preachers in the United States. Scanning the headlines recently, I came across ..
- The cellular phone craze in Italy is affecting the clergy, too. One priest in a town near Genoa was forced to stop reading the Gospel during Mass; he reached under his cassock and pulled out his cellular phone, which he had forgotten to turn off. No reports as to who was calling.
Another priest, Cesare Ghirini, was performing a funeral in a small town near Parma. While at the altar during the ceremony, he had to pause and answer his cellular phone. Some of the faithful complained to local newspapers, but Rev. Ghirini insisted that the phone was a requirement because he is on call at all hours of the day: "If I'm called it's because I'm needed."
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Besides, the guest of honor wasn't going anywhere ...
- David Taylor, pastor of a small non-denominational church in Weston-super-Mare, Avon, in England, received a top award at the Ideal Home Exhibition for his invention, the Dandy Paint Brush Cleaner. The "Dandy" is a brush holder which is placed on an electric drill, allowing the painter to clean brushes by simply spinning them into a bucket. Judges considered the pastor's invention the "most innovative and practical product" introduced at the show.
Truth is, preachers have been perfecting methods for cleaning up other people's messes for centuries!
- A Muslim preacher in Malaysia chose to marry 10 women in defiance of Islamic law. Abdul Talib Harun, age 35, is father to 17 children by the women, who range in ages from 24 to 28. Since Islamic law only permits four wives, the Muslim preacher was sentenced to 25 months in prison and fined nearly $6,000. The wives (both legal and illegal ones) also received fines and brief prison sentences for willingly participating in the illegal cohabitation.
Actually, I've been around some churches that might have welcomed having ten pastor's wives. One of them is bound to know how to play the piano.