William Goodin in his book God Laughs, Too tells a hilarious story that he heard from a seminary president. At this president's seminary, when candidates are ordained into the ministry, they have one thing to do in the service. At the conclusion of the worship, the candidate stands, walks up the steps into the chancel, turns and gives the benediction. That is their first official act as an ordained pastor.

One candidate stood, approached the steps, and ascended the steps. But on the first step, he got tangled up inside the hem of his robe. Now, it would seem that the obvious thing to do would be to step back out of the robe . . . but he didn't. The poor candidate kept climbing the steps . . . all the time walking up the inside of his robe. Each step made him smaller as he was forced to "duck walk" up the inside of his own robe.

Finally, at the top of the steps, looking like nothing more than a dwarf in a white tent, he turned around. His robe couldn't turn with him, since he was standing inside it. Turning his body placed the left arm of his robe right in the center of his chest and the right arm between his shoulders. All he could move was his wrist, which he waved as he gave the benediction. When he was done, two ushers came forward, picked him up by the arms, and carried him off like a piece of furniture!

The image of that poor seminary student trying to maintain his dignity while being hobbled by his robe reminds me of people who go through life hobbled by the past.