If you were to search the archives for “Church Voice”, you’d find quite a number of tales. There’s something about the particular combination of various social, parental, and priestly pressures on little kids that causes all sorts of bizarre things to happen.

Not long ago, I was in church with my five year old. He was being extraordinarily attentive – even singing along with the songs. I was extremely impressed.

When the passing of the peace arrived, however, things returned to normal. This is a part of the service where you are supposed to shake hands with everyone around you and say “peace be with you.” Of course, lots of people relax and say other things, but when the people around you are strangers, you really can’t go wrong by saying “peace be with you.”

The big guy usually gets shy for this. He hides his head against me or says “hi” and attempts to wave instead of shaking hands.

This time, however, he went for it. He nodded solemly to each person, shaking hands and saying in a very clear voice “Priest be with you.”

Oh well. That’s close enough, right?