The Meeting Meant For Him

I watched an Education Week address this evening by John BytheWay. The title was "The Best Three Hours of the Week" and was given August 16, 1999. It was a wonderful talk about getting the most from our church meetings. It included this poem, which he did not write and can't attribute. He found it stuck in a hymn book in church.

"There was envy in the glances that a lovely woman cast
At the hairdo of her neighbor while the sacrament was passed.
And a teenage girl I noticed, though a timid lass and shy
Watched a youthful priest intently through the corner of her eye,
As he sat behind the table where the water trays were spread.
She was not remembering Jesus nor the prayer the priesthood said.

There was nothing reverential on the things the Cub Scout drew
On the pages of the hymn book till the sacrament was through.
Not a thought of Jesus’ passion entered careless elder’s mind
As they whispered to each other and the girls they sat behind.
And the high priest’s brow was furrowed as he stole a secret glance
At his check book’s dismal story of his failure in finance.

There were hundreds in the chapel but the worshipers were few
And I couldn’t help but wonder what the Lord himself would do.
I couldn’t help but wonder what the Lord himself would say
Had he walked into a meeting where his Saints behaved that way?
Would his loving eyes be saddened, would his countenance be grim?
While he there observed and listened to a meeting meant for him?"