Emphasis Preaching Journal

For several years I've had the privilege of serving on the board of our regional Mental Health Association. Not long ago there was a bill before the state legislature that would have had very adverse effects on the provision of mental health services in our state. Our executive director called a news conference at our regional office and invited me to attend. When I arrived at the office, most of the reporters were already there. A banquet table was set up with microphones. There were four chairs behind the table.

I assumed the chairs were for the executive director, an officer of the state Mental Health Association, a local psychiatrist, and myself. We mingled a bit before the news conference, meeting the press and other interested parties. Then someone declared that it was time to begin. I took my place behind the table, only to have one of the most awkward and embarrassing moments of my life. In front of all those reporters, lights and cameras, I was informed that the chair in which I was seated was for the state senator, and that I had been invited simply to be a spectator.

I'll never be able to read this passage again without blushing with embarrassment at the memory of that story. "When you are invited by someone to a ... banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host."
--Kaul