Most Embarrassing Moment

Thinking about the experience in the prior posting reminded me of what actually is my most embarrassing moment:

A few years ago I would not have published this story for public consumption but enough time has passed that some of the sting has worn off to reveal its humor. In 1997 we lived in Nashville, Tennessee and attended the Otter Creek Church of Christ. One particular Sunday when Sarah was out of town I was assigned to help with the Lord's Supper. This required me to stand at the front of the sanctuary with five other servers and distribute the wine and bread. The praise worship time at Otter Creek was wonderful. Brandon Thomas had led us in a few songs and I was deeply moved. As he ended this particular section of the service I kept my eyes closed and was continuing to pray. I slowly opened my eyes in an utterly silent pre-communion moment to see that all five of the other servers had already taken their place at the front of the sanctuary. I had missed my cue. This situation would have been a bit embarrassing by itself without adding to it but I did. Now I don't consider myself to be a cussing man but apparently I was on this day because as I stood to join my fellow servers I blurted in a slightly muffled volume "Oh s**t." It is difficult to describe the physical and emotional sensation of complete and all-encompassing embarrassment. Infinite hollowness. Floating above the ground. Full-body needle-prick sensation. Profound regret. These things describe but don't fully convey the feeling. I knew that anyone within a five-foot radius heard me. Brandon Thomas let me know that he was able to read my lips from the other side of the sanctuary. As I served the Lord's Supper I was realizing the bizarre sense of irony of cussing during the communion service.