Prayer Tipping

Jentz was amazed at the ease and the frequency with which some of the students prayed at the seminary. Often they would begin to pray when they were in the middle of a casual conversation- something like when the lead actor breaks into song in a musical. All of a sudden the man or woman you were with would look down at the table and begin to mumble in a voice too soft to hear what was being said. In this particular context it caused you to feel left out because you both were enrolled in the same program and were on the same team. It was like they were taking spiritual steroids to acquire some sort of edge. 1

Spark Bryce, a seminarian from Arkansas,often pulled the arms out from under the most frequent offenders, causing them to fall forward into their plates. He referred to this as "prayer tipping." He said that back home they used to tip cows when they slept standing up, but that this was more fun. Jentz thought it was a fascinating feature to watch until Smiles Wheaton, a second year student from Green Bay, Wisconsin, hit his plate so hard that he chipped a tooth. 2

The seminary president required Jentz to share in the cost of the student's dental bills even though he had had nothing to do with the "tipping." He found out later that one of the students had turned in a list of those at the table who did not pray. All on the list were penalized and, in addition, were put on some kind of vague probationary status that was never explained to them. This meant that for all purposes Jentz had lost the support of the seminary and that he would be shunned by his peers for the remainder of his three year experience. Sparky failed to complete the semester. At last report he had become a member of a bluegrass band in Austin, Texas. 3

When Jentz shared this story with Brodrich Comstock, he man laughed as if he was coming apart. Jentz knew that for Comstock c such a prank would never become necessary. Comstock was a man who could take prayer to his closet or to the market place amd he was much respected for his spiritual grace.4

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