Plenty of good pews still available

So what would be a good use for Spokane area churches next Sunday?

Water safety classes? Fly-tying seminars?

OK, it’s not like they’re going to be literally empty. Independence Day has fallen on a Sunday before, of course. There are those who remember seeing actual service-attendees right there in the pews on the Fourth of July.

But let’s not kid ourselves. The Northwest isn’t famous for church attendance to begin with. More than a few houses of worship switch to reduced summer schedules to reflect reality.

And seeing as how next weekend will be a three-day affair for many, chances are good that boatloads of congregants will be otherwise engaged.

Here is the church.

And here is the steeple.

Open the doors and see, well, an opportunity maybe.

Perhaps, with a little scurrying, Spokane area clerics can promote the idea of going to church on Independence Day as a symbolically significant act, which it would be.

Just think. You live in a country where you can more or less attend any church you damn well please.

Or not attend.

Or cast your lot with a religion that doesn’t call its meeting place a church.

The point is, it’s up to you.

Going to a church service next Sunday wouldn’t have to be an expression of belief or a pious act of faith. It wouldn’t have to mean you stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the leaders of that sect on matters of public policy.

It could just be a quiet thank-you.

You can fill in the names and lofty ideals yourself.

Sometimes the brightest, loudest fireworks are the ones launched in our hearts.

Slice answer: “Those reviewing my Internet search history would be somewhat confused,” wrote Lila Erickson of Prichard, Idaho. “I use the Internet primarily as a last resort to look up obscure answers to the daily New York Times crossword in the Spokesman.”

Today’s Slice question: Can you remember a time when you couldn’t stop laughing?