In Which

This post doesn't really belong in this blog but I feel compelled to finally write about it because it's something I do every Sunday morning. I attend church. The pastor is a nice guy who grew up on a farm in Nebraska. He has a big heart and every Sunday morning presents us with a sermon on which he has worked fairly hard. I noticed many years ago that he has an unusual way of inserting the words 'in which' at various points in his message. It occurred to me that at some point in time someone informed him that he couldn't end a sentence with a preposition. I also guessed that the person suggested he use 'in which' as a way of avoiding the preposition trap. What I think the person DID NOT do was suggest other ways to solve the problem such as even a simple 'for which', 'through which' or 'by which', etc. You get the idea. As the daughter of a stickler for correct English usage who was also big on using the forwhichthroughwhichinwhichbywhich solution, I find the pastor's 'in which's' to be quite disconcerting. For instance, 'It is not unusual for a man to give that in which he can't'. WHAT??? 'Jesus' sacrifice in which we were saved'. Oh, Lord...my ears want to shrivel up and fall off my head. He does it constantly, so much so that I unwittingly count how many times he uses it in his sermons. He averages about three or four times a pop. If the sermon is not tremendously engaging, I find myself counting the number of times he uses 'in which' improperly and musing at how he can make sense of his sentence content. But then again, I know he fully understands what he's trying to say and we generally do too. This is just one of those little things that are like a burr in my skin, a little pet peeve that I wish I could let go of. OOPS! Excuse me, a little pet peeve of which I wish I could let go. There, Dad would be happy with that one. It's this peevishness that sometimes keeps me from fully understanding the sermon. I guess I should pray that God give me the grace to overlook this minor flaw in my pastor.