Needing earplugs

There's been a Christian rally here for the past two days, at the polo field next to our house: "There Cometh One Mightier than All." And although I've heard lots of rallies and what-not from over there, this had been the loudest I ever remember. From our bedroom, every word is clear as crystal and thunders in through the windows we've closed to keep it out. Yesterday I hid in the living room--on the far side of the house--and turned on The Phantom of the Opera highlights CD. It's a good CD to listen to with high volume anyway. When David woke up from his nap, we watched Miss Congeniality with the volume up really loud to cover up the preaching.

Later, when NEPA (our power) went off after dinner, we sat around with my parents trying to catch a word or two of the preaching. It was almost entirely incoherent, but we found it amusing to try and catch a few words. David tried hard to make out the Hausa translation done in undertones beneath the main miked speaker. We were able to make out "cast out demons in Jesus' name!"

I really thought we were all going to go crazy. Luke (8) went to bed with earplugs in, and for awhile, we all expected to do the same.

But God is so good! The preaching ended at around 9:30, and we were all able to sleep in comparative peace and quiet. What a blessing!

But now the preaching and singing have resumed, so we have to wrack our brains and come up with ways to cover up the sound. For the first time I can remember, I asked Luke to turn up the volume on the movie he's watching instead of turning it down. It's not that we don't like preaching. But we don't like being forced to hear preaching, especially when we can't understand most of it. At least now they're singing a recognisable song, "He is Lord."

The cynic asks, Is the "one mightier than all" the preacher, or the Christ he's preaching?