There are scratches on my pew.

I admit and confess my crime; my suspenders get out of control sometimes as I squirm around in the seat trying to stay awake (er, I mean lean forward as I hang on every word the preacher makes!) There are not big gouges, yet, but I know the other day I made a pretty good dent in the wood by accident.

This isn't a problem on Wednesdays, as those who regularly attend that evening bible study can bear witness to the fact I usually wear bib overalls ("usually" meaning just about every single Wednesday for a couple years now...) I really like to be comfortable as I am there studying and worshiping God with all of you, and any fashion statement I am making is likely saying "No comment!"

But there are scratches on my pew, and I put them there. It's a crime I apparently commit in patterns. When I was visiting back in Lisbon. Ohio some time ago with Deniese I showed her where I used to sit in the building the first 20 years of my life. It's easy to find my spot - I had to wear dress shoes and would let the heels drag marks on the floor. Since the floor was some kind of vinyl stuff, and since it's the same floor in the building to this very day, the marks are still there and quite vivid. If you ever find yourself visiting there, and stranger things have happened, it's about the 4th pew from the front on the right side of the building as you face the pulpit, on the far right end of the pew (near the outer wall.) Coincidentally, just about where I usually sit here!

You might wonder why I don't stop wearing suspenders and use a belt to hold my pants up instead. Well, a man of my considerable stature (i.e. I'm a pudge) can't handle that thing squishing into my middle for hours at a time as l struggle, er, lean forward. I've tried smaller suspenders, too. the kind that are less offensive to the good polished wood on our pews but they don't do the job and as John Bosworth used to find out a simple yank and they sprang over my head on their way to putting someone's eye out. No, I use industrial strength suspenders and they do the job right.

Suspenders are cool because they do stretch and bend with you but they spring right back to their preferred size when you stand up straight. If you try to overstretch them into a size they are not meant to be, though, they rebel and simply won't do it. If I'm silly enough to touch my toes, they actually help me straighten up a bit. Obviously they are more than just some alternative way to hold my pants up, and worn right they are extremely comfortable!

The word is a lot like suspenders. We may stretch and bend our lives around, but the word helps keep us in the truth and in fact can show us the preferred way to live. When we try to stretch it even further to cover something that simply isn't true, it just won't fit. The word supports us, it doesn't cut into us, and if I'm silly enough to try to touch some sinful things, the word actually helps me straighten back up when I desire to return to being upright. Obviously the word is more than .just a code of alternative ethics to live by, and when followed right my life is extremely joyful!

But I do have scratches on my pew. Frankly. I wish there were scratches on every pew. For scratches to be there, someone would have to be sitting there week after week. Maybe not scratches because not everyone uses suspenders, but how about wearing the carpet out with dress shoes or high heels or whatever? In other words, what does your pew look like?

Randy