Bulletin inserts with sermon fill-in-the-blank outlines transform my junior high son from a mere spectator into an active listener.

I was a mere spectator.

I am therefore a mere spectator of this machine.

As always, it was bad news for people lower down, but no big deal for us, mere spectators on the hillside.

Now the leading players in those dramas are set to become mere spectators, via 42in plasma screens on the wall.