Why I could not be a church secretary:

After bible study this morning, I slipped into a church to spend a few minutes in prayer for my sister-in-law and there was one other woman in there. She was generally quiet but seemed to be reading, the church bulletin, I suppose. It rustled like a newspaper.

Presently, she dialed her cell phone and, as it was lunchtime, I thought she might be ordering some food. Instead, she called the church office which was presumably right downstairs and asked when the midday Ash Wednesday service would begin. I could hear the church secretary tell her that today is Thursday and it was yesterday. I suppose Presidents' Day had thrown her off. To her credit, she didn't immediately leave the sanctuary but stayed a bit.

The season is not entirely without its own peculiar humor.