You "almost said sermon"....So, since you introduced that term into your piece, here's a random thought from a reader about 'sermonizing', a term which as used these days strayed from its original meaning of 'writing or delivering a sermon or homily in a religious setting' (as defined by Poor Richard's New American Almanack, post-modern edition) (yes, it's made up by "Poor Richard"). 'Sermonizing' is a term used nowadays -- "in the parlance of our times", to crib from the Cohen brothers -- to describe ironically a statement presented as fact or as an argument for the factual basis of a belief or opinion. Sermonizing is a variant of 'lecturing', however it connotes an element of uncertainty as to the statement's accuracy, whether willful or inadvertent. Often decoratively wrapped in layers of latinate arcana, parenthetical elucidations and delivered with a plonking, self-assured tone of one possessed of superior wisdom, such sermons are often delivered no so much as contributions to the discourse but as a means to end it, on terms most favorable to the sermonizer's self-regard.
I was thinking worthy discourse, but it was the memory of the bottoms of my legs tormenting when sitting in a pew, not that that happened super often--my mother eventually put some lining in the pants, I think. The years pass but the little torments remain with the body.
You "almost said sermon"....So, since you introduced that term into your piece, here's a random thought from a reader about 'sermonizing', a term which as used these days strayed from its original meaning of 'writing or delivering a sermon or homily in a religious setting' (as defined by Poor Richard's New American Almanack, post-modern edition) (yes, it's made up by "Poor Richard"). 'Sermonizing' is a term used nowadays -- "in the parlance of our times", to crib from the Cohen brothers -- to describe ironically a statement presented as fact or as an argument for the factual basis of a belief or opinion. Sermonizing is a variant of 'lecturing', however it connotes an element of uncertainty as to the statement's accuracy, whether willful or inadvertent. Often decoratively wrapped in layers of latinate arcana, parenthetical elucidations and delivered with a plonking, self-assured tone of one possessed of superior wisdom, such sermons are often delivered no so much as contributions to the discourse but as a means to end it, on terms most favorable to the sermonizer's self-regard.
"Thus endeth the lesson for today". (q.e.d.).
I was thinking worthy discourse, but it was the memory of the bottoms of my legs tormenting when sitting in a pew, not that that happened super often--my mother eventually put some lining in the pants, I think. The years pass but the little torments remain with the body.