There is a Jewish custom that one does not think about God or sacred things on the toilet. As far as I know, however, the custom does not work both ways and it is permissible to think about the toilet in God's sacred spaces. So I will proceed with caution with my sermon.
As far back as I can remember, I have been aware of the battle of the toilet seat. My mother used to chastise my father and later on my brother for leaving the toilet seat up! At university, we lived in a mixed house in our second but we made sure there was a girls' bathroom and a boys' bathroom to avoid an inevitable conflict over the positioning of the toilet seat.
For many years, I only lived with female flatmates and was surprised and quite put-out every time a male visitor had the audacity to leave our toilet seat in its upright position. It is, it would seem, an unwinnable battle that began when the modern toilet was invented by Thomas Crapper in 1861 and will continue for as long as we continue to need toilets (which, I assume, will be forever).
