rivka

I dreamed this morning that I had organized some kind of complicated outdoor fair at my church. It was being held on Sunday morning before the service. Everything went well until, as I was cleaning up afterward, the head of the Worship Committee leaned close to me and whispered,

"It's not going well in there."

In a series of crashing realizations, I remembered that:
(1) This was the Sunday I was supposed to be preaching.
(2) The service had already started, and I wasn't in there.
(3) I hadn't even thought about what to do for all the non-sermon portions of the service.
(4) I HAD LEFT MY SERMON AT HOME because I was so preoccupied with the fair.

I frantically sorted through various options in my mind while she looked increasingly horrified: could I give the sermon from memory? Did I have time to run home or send Michael home? What was going on in the sanctuary, if I wasn't there?

Then my sanity reasserted itself and I looked at the head of the Worship Committee firmly: "There is no way I would have signed up to do the fair on the same day that I was preaching. This cannot be my day."

Without a hitch she started telling me that the person giving the service had almost no audience and was really upset about it. Instead of panicking over how badly I had screwed up, all I had to feel was vaguely guilty that I wasn't in there being supportive. Then I hopped on a carnival ride and it carried me home.