Laodicean Study
StoryIllustration★★★★The preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick had a roommate in college who decided he would prepare his lessons the “scientific way.” He purchased a chair with an extension arm that would hold his book at just the correct angle for proper reading. He added a lamp and aimed its light at just the right angle to his page. He acquired an eye shade that would prevent glare from tiring his eyes. He purchased a jacket and pair of slippers that would put him into the proper mood for concentration.
This student would come to his room after supper, exchange his coat and shoes for jacket and slippers, arrange his book, his lamp, his chair arm, his eye shade—and gently fall off to sleep.
Raymond H. Woolsey, Joy in the Morning.
The point
Harry Emerson Fosdick's roommate meticulously arranges every detail of his study environment but then simply falls asleep, humorously showing that proper preparation without focused effort is fruitless.