The nuisance
of mobiles
Just over a week ago, just as the New York
Philharmonic were concluding Mahler’s Ninth Symphonic a mobile phone went off
with its iPhone Marimba ring-tone and it became such a nuisance that the
conductor stopped the orchestra to get the culprit to check and stop that
ringing. [NYTimes]
The view is conductors rarely ever stop an orchestra
in flow but this warranted an extraordinary action. Now, it is to be expected
that when we go in to attend performances at the theatre or watch films at the
cinema that people silence their phones not to constitute a nuisance and affect
the enjoyment of others including themselves during the show.
There have been instances where actors have called out
to people to switch off their phones in the middle of a performance though I have
not heard of any occasion where such a culprit has been asked to leave the
premises, but that I feel should eventually become the norm for the purposes of
showing such recklessness and indifference will not be condoned in public.
Multilingualism
in church
When I attend an event, I very much want to
concentrate on the purpose of the event than be distracted by other attendees
whose enthusiasm appears to override the social necessity to be decorous in
polite company.
Nothing is as annoying as to be heckled by miscreants
in the audience whatever their gripe to the discomfort of others.
My church is a young vibrant church, we can be
exuberant and loud especially in the singing and the applause – it comes with
the territory. There are people who dance, some jump though I have not seen
anyone do cartwheels or somersaults yet, such will not be out of place for the
part of the programme that will accommodate such expression.
Having stood before a church to speak before, I can
understand the difficulties in maintaining flow if for every sentence spoken there
is need for interpretation, my pastors are experts at this, they never skip a
beat.
I was however amused with context and translation this
morning when the call to prayer in Dutch had the words “U bent Heer” that the
interpreter, bless his wonderful heart interpreted as “You are here” when I
really think in context of the prayer what was meant was “You are Lord”. You
can imagine that if native Dutch speakers mishear each other, those of us who
are by no means word perfect have no chance – it did bring a wry smile to my
face as this was repeated twice. It goes to show how “hier” (here) and “heer” (Lord)
can be confused, then again, I might be wrong.
What we
expect elsewhere
If I were to attend a lecture and for every valid
point the lecturer made that sounded profound there was someone loudly acknowledging those points, I am sure the lecturer might at one point for all
the compliments to his views be inclined to advise the person to be quiet and
show their appreciation at the end of the lecture.
If in secular settings we maintain a modicum of
consideration and behavioural adjustment with respect to people speaking to an
audience it is disconcerting that church allows an almost unforgivable level of
levity that is quite distracting that it can almost be considered heckling.
Speakeasy at
church
I have sat through many a sermon in my church and had
my attentiveness seriously disrupted by such interruptions, there are times
during the preaching that certain things are said where a majority of the
attendance at church interacts and responds, those are quite understandable,
however, where every single sentence elicits a vocal egging on as if we are in
some speakeasy environment one is caught between maintaining the peace and
wanting to once and for all shut that person up.
Such was the feeling I had this morning and I am sure
there were many more in church who felt just the same. In a church of a few
hundred people one person cannot singularly be the most engaged and responsive
to the preacher beyond everyone else that we are so annoyingly inconvenienced
with the equivalent of for the purposes of churchianity
– cat calls – because in any other setting, that is what they are –
unnecessary, over-exuberant and inconsiderately selfish expressions of
agreement with the preacher without the temperance of social graces to recognise that the setting is there for more
than just the overly receptive attendee.
Something
has to give
If this matter is not curtailed as it begins to irk at
the level of the high-decibel grunts of female tennis players, there will be
one almighty disruption of a sermon just like the conductor stopped the
orchestra to deal with the ringing mobile phone hopefully to put an end to this
situation.
I love my fellow church members, we are all there for
reasons of fellowship and communion, but let no person use their liberty to
create a stumbling block for others. I had better let my pastor read this because
I am sure; I am not the only one who is beginning to feel quite strongly about
this.
