Thursday, January 19, 2006

doodles from the pew

A few weeks ago at church, I sat close to the front, right behind the highschool and junior high kids. It was refreshing to watch a bunch of restless kids passing notes and doodling on the bulletin. Not just one or two, but most of them had a pen in their hand with their head lowered as the drew pictures on the back of a hymnal.

This reminded me of the days that I used to sit in that exact same spot with my friends as we drew pictures all through the sermon. It started at a very young age. My dad was a pastor at a small church and we were at every service. As a 4 or 5 year old, I had crayons and coloring books. I would get my knees on the floor and use the seat of the pew as a table for my creations. As adults, we use that same position to pray, but as a kid drawing in church were my prayers to God.

Watching these young kids drawing in church encouraged me or reminded me that I should also be drawing as I listen to the sermon. Some people take notes with words; I like to take notes with pictures. Drawing keeps my mind active, it keeps me awake, and I usually have a better retention of what was said. (sometimes gum does the same trick.)

Here's a picture of a guy sitting in the pew in front of me. I bet he wishes he had a girl inside his arm.

8 comments:

dwhitey said...

nice drawing gman! keep it up.

GoldenSunrise said...

I still draw pictures on the back of the bulletin. I try to make sure noone sees me. I do take notes too.

Great picture!

shakedust said...

Impressive picture... I feel the same way. When I need to pay attention to something I usually also need to fidget over.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...doodles from pew, eh? I guess I am revealing my age group when I say that my first impression when I saw your title was little babies doing what little babies do while sitting in a pew. Gave a giggle and for that I am grateful.

f o r r e s t said...

sunset is the expert on all thing poo, and taz is the expert on all things pew,
and golden is the expert on all thing drew,
and BB is the expert on all thing U2,
and dust is the expert on all things school,
T grew up on a farm so she is the expert on all things moo,
Dash has a dutch oven so he is the expert on all things stew.

MsMayhem said...

WOW!! Great drawing- would love to see more- i also realy enjoyed the caption about him wishing he had a lady on his arm..that is exactly what I thought of when I saw it. Very cool!!!!

Stephanie said...

I've never understood the idea of doodling as notetaking. My brain doesn't work that way. Then again, the only thing I can doodle are peace signs.

Dash said...

I think diddle is to doodle as #1 is to #2.

Also, in pew number 6 or 8, there is a small hole that has been gouged out of the back of the trim in the pew in front. It has obviously been made with the note-taking pens. Although I'm not a vandal myself, I can't help but push the tip of the pen into it and watch the wood split a bit more than it used to.

This probably started from my habit of absent-mindedly holding the pew pen in my hand durring the sermon - T makes fun of me for this and calls me Bob Dole.