Connie Adams

Every now and then we are treated to the wisdom that "the mind can only absorb what the seat can endure." This is offered to prompt preachers to be brief. I do not favor repetitious sermons, or rambling discourses without apparent design. Every speaker needs to build a rapport with his audience and be alert to signs of weariness or loss of interest. Every speaker cannot hold an audience for long periods of time. But it needs to be said that the seat can endure whatever the mind wills. Whatever occupies the mind will determine very often what the seat can endure. That is what enables people to sit for hours to drive to a vacation spot or to see relatives long missed. That is what empowers us to stay strapped in a seat on a jet plane across the country, or halfway around the world. That is what caused me to sit for 7 hours in a school taught by a physical therapist a few weeks after back surgery, with only five minutes stretch every hour. That is what causes people to sit through baseball double-headers and football games. The mind wills it and the seat endures it. The saying is catchy and usually draws a laugh, but it is the reverse of the truth. Let's get it straight - "The seat can endure what the mind wills it to endure."