Oh , I ought to have gone to church ! The bustle of the rising congregation reaches my ears . They are standing up to pray . Could I bring my heart into unison with those who are praying in yonder church and lift it heavenward with a fervor of supplication , but no distinct request , would not that be the safest kind of prayer ? -- `` Lord , look down upon me in mercy ! '' With that sentiment gushing from my soul , might I not leave all the rest to him ? Hark ! the hymn ! This , at least , is a portion of the service which I can enjoy better than if I sat within the walls , where the full choir and the massive melody of the organ would fall with a weight upon me . At this distance it thrills through my frame and plays upon my heart-strings with a pleasure both of the sense and spirit . Heaven be praised ! I know nothing of music as a science , and the most elaborate harmonies , if they please me , please as simply as a nurse 's lullaby . The strain has ceased , but prolongs itself in my mind with fanciful echoes till I start from my reverie and find that the sermon has commenced . It is my misfortune seldom to fructify in a regular way by any but printed sermons . The first strong idea which the preacher utters gives birth to a train of thought and leads me onward step by step quite out of hearing of the good man 's voice unless he be indeed a son of thunder . At my open window , catching now and then a sentence of the `` parson 's saw , '' I am as well situated as at the foot of the pulpit stairs . The broken and scattered fragments of this one discourse will be the texts of many sermons preached by those colleague pastors -- colleagues , but often disputants -- my Mind and Heart . The former pretends to be a scholar and perplexes me with doctrinal points ; the latter takes me on the score of feeling ; and both , like several other preachers , spend their strength to very little purpose . I , their sole auditor , can not always understand them . Suppose that a few hours have passed , and behold me still behind my curtain just before the close of the afternoon service .
The hour-hand on the dial has XXXXX beyond four o'clock .
catching leave look passed plays pray prolongs standing thrills understand