Pat Mahurr
Pun intended
Off the subject, what does that mean??
I've seen people do this for more than 30 years at various churches. Is it one finger if you have to pee and two for...
Seriously, what does it mean?
Mary Mary at the BET Awards
- Thread starter ajoyfuljoy
- Start date
Off the subject, what does that mean??
I've seen people do this for more than 30 years at various churches. Is it one finger if you have to pee and two for...
Seriously, what does it mean?
Renovating
Well-Known Member
Pat Mahurr
Pun intended
Respectful? I guess. It's one of those things that I do because I see it done, but I don't get it.
In meetings at church (and elsewhere), if someone has a question, they may also raise that same one finger to draw attention to themselves. To me, that's what the one finger, does. It says "look at me, I'm leaving."
royalty84
New Member
This is what I've learned about the practice. Don't know how true it is:
"During slavery, blacks have limited opportunities to worship. When they could, even then the masters would still interrupt service and send for certain people. Those people, out of respect for the service, would hold up a finger (usually the pointer- NOT THE MIDDLE ONE) to symbolize two things:
1) They were sorry for interrupting the service and wanted to show respect.
2) They hoped to return in "1" moment (symbolizing the finger)- even though that "moment" usually outlasted the service."
Whether that's true or not, I *Personally* think it's unnecessary, and all you do is draw more attn. (plus crazy looks) to yourself, b/c in reality, who walks around w/ their pointer finger up? But to each his own!
Aw Man! Did I just participate in the hi-jacking of this thread?
"During slavery, blacks have limited opportunities to worship. When they could, even then the masters would still interrupt service and send for certain people. Those people, out of respect for the service, would hold up a finger (usually the pointer- NOT THE MIDDLE ONE) to symbolize two things:
1) They were sorry for interrupting the service and wanted to show respect.
2) They hoped to return in "1" moment (symbolizing the finger)- even though that "moment" usually outlasted the service."
Whether that's true or not, I *Personally* think it's unnecessary, and all you do is draw more attn. (plus crazy looks) to yourself, b/c in reality, who walks around w/ their pointer finger up? But to each his own!
Aw Man! Did I just participate in the hi-jacking of this thread?
Last edited:
queenspence
New Member
Pat Mahurr
Pun intended
This is what I've learned about the practice. Don't know how true it is:
"During slavery, blacks have limited opportunities to worship. When they could, even then the masters would still interrupt service and send for certain people. Those people, out of respect for the service, would hold up a finger (usually the pointer- NOT THE MIDDLE ONE) to symbolize two things:
1) They were sorry for interrupting the service and wanted to show respect.
2) They hoped to return in "1" moment (symbolizing the finger)- even though that "moment" usually outlasted the service."
Whether that's true or not, I *Personally* think it's unnecessary, and all you do is draw more attn. (plus crazy looks) to yourself, b/c in reality, who walks around w/ their pointer finger up? But to each his own!
Aw Man! Did I just participate in the hi-jacking of this thread?
Interesting! I had never ever heard that before! Are we the only ones who do this? Thanks for posting.
Aw Man! Did I just participate in the hi-jacking of this thread?
Sorry. I thought Momi and N&W had already proclaimed it dead, so...
Nice & Wavy
Well-Known Member
No, my post was a jokey-joke. I never proclaimed the thread dead at all.
Thank you Royalty 84 for sharing about what I meant in my post. You were right-on!
Laela
Sidestepping the "lynch mob"
Interesting, I've always wondered about the origin of that... that doesn't happen in my current church, but back in the day I ALWAYS noticed the person slipping out. It was distracting, to say the least... sometimes it was entertaining, esp. when the pastor noticed and let it be known to the whole congregation... 
This is what I've learned about the practice. Don't know how true it is:
"During slavery, blacks have limited opportunities to worship. When they could, even then the masters would still interrupt service and send for certain people. Those people, out of respect for the service, would hold up a finger (usually the pointer- NOT THE MIDDLE ONE) to symbolize two things:
1) They were sorry for interrupting the service and wanted to show respect.
2) They hoped to return in "1" moment (symbolizing the finger)- even though that "moment" usually outlasted the service."
Whether that's true or not, I *Personally* think it's unnecessary, and all you do is draw more attn. (plus crazy looks) to yourself, b/c in reality, who walks around w/ their pointer finger up? But to each his own!
Aw Man! Did I just participate in the hi-jacking of this thread?
