When You've Gotta' Go.

This morning’s service at church was longer than usual. We’d been in the service for an hour and it was clear that the sermon was not ending anytime soon.

Brogan slid over to me in the pew and asked if he could be excused and use the bathroom. I moved over and let him pass. We were sitting on the center aisle, and to get to the door to leave the sanctuary Brogan had to walk down the center aisle to the front, and then cross over to the left side of the room. I was very proud of how quietly he walked to the front of the church – quiet is not in his nature.

When he got to the front of the church he caught the pastor’s eye and told him (in a voice that carried), “I’m going to the bathroom. I'll be right back.”

Everyone laughed, M. put his head in his hands, and the pastor thanked Brogan for checking in.

I was impressed with the pastor’s ability to recover. He said,

“You know, that reminds me of a very old joke about a pastor whose sermon was running long. At one point, one of the deacons got up and started to leave. The pastor was a little riled and decided to call this guy out.

‘Deacon Joe! Where are you going?’ he called from the pulpit.

‘I’m going to get a haircut,” came the reply.

‘What? Couldn’t you have done it before the service started?” asked the pastor.

‘Didn’t need one then,’ replied the deacon.”