A tale of two Sundays at church

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints often wear underwear with a special significance:

“The garment of the holy priesthood reminds us of the veil in the temple, and that veil is symbolic of Jesus Christ. When you put on your garment, you put on a sacred symbol of Jesus Christ. Wearing it is an outward expression of your inner commitment to follow Him. The garment is also a reminder of your temple covenants. You should wear the garment day and night throughout your life. When it must be removed for activities that cannot reasonably be done while wearing the garment, seek to restore it as soon as possible. As you keep your covenants, including the sacred privilege to wear the garment as instructed in the initiatory ordinances, you will have greater access to the Savior’s mercy, protection, strength and power.”

https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/04/14/first-presidency-letter-garmet-of-the-holy-priesthood-temple-recommend-statement/

Two or three years ago, I used an ammeter to test one of my specially-produced undergarments and found that when slightly damp (such as would result from a person being a bit sweaty), the fabric carried an electric current.

Two Sundays ago, I noticed that when I was in our church building and wearing the garment, I kept feeling an unnatural feeling that everything was "normal" and "OK." I had to consciously strive to remember things I knew of a negative nature because of the strength of this normalcy bias, a feeling that appears to have been outwardly imposed on me. ("Normalcy bias is the tendency to underestimate the likelihood or impact of a negative event. Normalcy bias prevents us from understanding the possibility or the seriousness of a crisis or a natural disaster." https://www.scribbr.com/research-bias/normalcy-bias/)

Last Sunday, I decided to test whether my garment could be involved in creating that odd normalcy bias. The only way to reasonably test that hypothesis was to wear the garment inside-out to church for the duration of our two hours of worship meetings. I was surprised to notice the near-complete lack of the normalcy bias I had felt the previous Sunday. I felt like my thoughts were more my own and that my prayers were more genuine.