Does anyone here remember nine o’clock devo? I mean the real thing? I do.

Freshman year Sunday was nine o’clock. Sure, there was church and football and open house and naps and homework…but Sunday wasn’t Sunday without it. Whatever we had going on…vibrant or tired, happy or not, busy or free…when the clock struck nine you knew where to find us.

I remember once we came in from Dallas and pulled into the parking lot at 8:40. We didn’t even take our stuff upstairs; we just took off for University.

Most weeks we’d show up at about 8:45, and there would be no seats left in the auditorium. So we’d pick a nice spot on the wall and by the time things got started, people were two and three deep from the front door to the back wall.

And the singing was incredible. I know the juniors and seniors remember that even as recently as last semester I had some really uplifting experiences there. So what’s gone wrong?

The only changes I’ve seen are the new campus minister and song leader. And, as important as they are to getting the devo going, I don’t think any of us ever showed up to hear them. And of course we had complaint after complaint about the standout singers, but there have always been bad singers. What’s new?

I’m at a loss. All I can say is that I’m not going anymore because it’s become a waste. But I don’t really want to give up on it. What about the graduating seniors who didn’t miss it for anything: do you want to let it die? Or the people who have, in the past, felt God and drawn something great from it: do you want to see it dwindle and become just another devo? I’d like nine o’clock to be what it was, but it’s not up to me.

“I eat because I’m depressed and I’m depressed because I eat.” The obese Scotsman in Austin Powers has the problem pinned. We leave because it’s bad, and it’s bad because we leave. The only way to save nine o’clock is to give it its life back. And that’s us.

Charles Jones
junior youth and family ministry major from Lewisville