Fencing Bear at Prayer

Thanks, as always, to Jennifer for hosting our "takes." 1. Have you ever wondered why it is that people speak in such hushed and reverent voices when they're at a bank ? I used to think that it was out of awe at the presence of money (always a seductive idol), but when I was visiting my bank earlier this week to deposit a fairly large check, I started thinking maybe it's because everyone is so worried about making mistakes. Things need to stay quiet and calm lest the person doing the calculations or signing the papers misses something, e.g. drops a zero, neglects to read the fine print about the interest rates. Hushed and calm, after all, is much preferable to angry and loud, as, for example, one might be after one's bank lost a deposit or made a mistake in the balance on one's account. If only we had the same sense of terror at making mistakes before God. 2. Which brings me to my second quick thought: why is it that Westerners who say they dislike the ...