Church and church services can represent a lot of different things to a lot of different people; of which, some of those so attending church may well find themselves in a situation in which the congregation or at least part of such, is supposed to echo back to the preacher, their affirmation of what is so being preached, periodically, through the repeated usage of the word “amen.” Not too surprisingly, such cries of “amen” are going to be more effective when those so inclined to mouth such, are congregated together, which thereupon makes for both a louder as well as a more unison sound, therefore making such affirmation of the message so being spoken, of more noticeable effect, so helped by the “amen corner.”
As much as people might seem to believe that everything so spoken in a speech or a sermon, should get from those so attending such, a natural and spontaneous reaction as the audience is so inclined to give; the truth of the matter is, just as in television programs which have canned laughter, that those that proclaim “amen” at specific spots, are helping to push across the message so being spoken, as well as engaging the audience so that their attention will not flag, disappear, or fade away. So too, when an “amen” is intoned at just the right time and at the right timber, it provides a nice emphasis to that which is being preached, making such more memorable and meaningful.
In reality, many of the preachers so preaching, aren’t really wanting to preach a soliloquy or a monologue without any verbal audience reaction, for they on the contrary, desperately want to know that their audience is actually listening to them, and therefore when the preacher hears an “amen” response, or other words to that effect, the preacher knows that what they are saying is actually resonating well with those that are their congregants, which helps to provide the impetus to drive home the message in a manner that is both more convincing as well as being more poignant.
In life, far too many people, believe that it is only the big moments that really matter; but rather it is those small and courteous affirmations from esteemed and valued others which serves the purpose of keeping many of us focused on the tasks that we need to get accomplished, that ends up being the necessary fuel that keeps us going whenever we begin to waver or fade from that which so needs to be done. That is to say, we all have different roles to play in life, and those that play the role of support for the message so being delivered, or the task so being done, should never be discounted in their worth and in their value, for we are all are in this together, and because of that fact, those that are part of the same team and do their part, have invaluable worth.
It could be said, that all of us, need an “amen corner” in our lives, and when that corner is not saying “amen” to what is so going on, we should therefore take the time to find out, why; for that then could well make all of the difference in what we so subsequently do.