Only one hour of church

Today we only had one hour of church #Mormonproblems.  A power outage left our building without electricity, Since there are no windows in the restrooms and the heating is tied to the electricity, the meetings after Sacrament meeting were canceled.  I was glad we had Sacrament meeting: not only did we get to partake of the Sacrament (the most important part of our worship service) but I always enjoy meeting with everyone and taking the time to hear what is said.

Not that that wasn't problematic, either.  Without the microphone, the speakers were quieter and my toddlers louder (in relation to the speaker) than usual.  Keeping them extra quiet was more than a little distracting.

Regardless, it was a good meeting where we were reminded to turn all of our will over to the Lord, and of the joy of a Christ-centered life.  Yet once we left I seemed to feel that our Sabbath was incomplete.  I think I've figured out why: I didn't really help anyone else.

Half of our worship is individual: when we prepare for and take the Sacrament, we are individually assessing our week and approaching our Lord to ask for forgiveness and renew covenants with Him.  When we sit down to learn from our classes, it is our individual preparation for the class and attention to the Spirit that dictate how much we learn.

Yet the other half of our worship is communal.  Our church is divided into wards (perhaps because that is where we go for healing).  Every presidency has counselors, every priesthood holder is a member of a quorum, Think of it: absolutely every single one of our callings and assignments in the Church have the sole purpose of serving other people.

So while one hour of church may seem like a reprieve, it isn't really.  I may not have to struggle through teaching another Gospel Principles lesson, or plunk out another hour of Singing Time.  Others may not have to endure my Gospel Principles lessons (it's the same thing, over and over again!) or be confused by the many mistakes in my piano playing.  But without the lessons, we can't serve others.  We can't support our teachers by preparing for the lessons and giving meaningful participation during the lesson.  We can't serve our brothers and sisters by sharing our talents (such as they are) and helping them learn to share theirs.    When we unite as a Church, we do more than just make God happy.  By both in giving and receiving, we bless and are blessed by others.  And that's worth a couple of hours in my book.