I was reading bedtime stories to my grandson last night when the strangest thing happened. We were ending with a passage from My First Book of Mormon Stories, the charming little section about Samuel the Lamanite. This is what I read (in spite of what was actually written upon the page):
"Some of the people believed him (Samuel) and were very happy that Jesus would soon be bored."
"Why are you laughing so much, Grandma?" were pretty much the next words spoken.
I'm afraid I have no idea.
About Me
- DDT
- Provo, Utah
- DDT, my actual initials. Also a controversial pesticide that has saved millions from malaria, typhus, and bubonic plague. Kills mosquitoes and fleas, but possibly excites cockroaches and bedbugs.
Freud would have called that a parapraxes or "slip of the tongue." It means your unconscious is trying to tell you something about you REALLY feel. I wonder if Jesus ever gets bored. Boredom isn't a sin, right?
ReplyDeleteWorried about the implications, I found myself very carefully avoiding calling it a Freudian Slip or even a "slip of the tongue" as I wrote the post. I think it was more a concern about what it might say about my own state of mind. I'm sure Jesus is bored with me and my sin cycle, but the idea that he could be bored with us all ... or with his role ... well isn't that absolutely unthinkable?
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine used to tell her kids: If you're bored, it means you're boring. One thing for sure: Jesus is never boring, though some people's thought about him certainly are. And of course, there's the "happy about it issue" in that little quote.
Anyway, what really astonished me was how hard I laughed at this ... dare I now call it a slip ... and kept laughing for days whenever I thought of it. Not just smiling, but laughing out loud, which I rarely do. Another clear sign of a real "Freudian" issue, no?
Of course, sometimes a slip of the tongue is just a slip ... no unconscious involved ... as when, the very next day, I asked Katie about her "yogurt" (meaning yoga) class. Perhaps it's all just manifestation of impending dementia.