So where do we go to church?

I am tired of continually being asked by people “So where do you go to church now?” or, conversely, “Where are you going to church on Sunday?” Now I know this is basically our own fault, because every Sunday has found us in church for the last 50 years.

The church we go to regularly on a Sunday morning, was built in the last decade, has a large paved parking lot with plenty of parking for folks like us with handicapped stickers. It is right next door to a Tim Horton’s and every Sunday you can see the people walking into that building with their cups of Tim’s in their hands. Should they prefer something cold, than there are vending machines inside for that. The parking lot, driveways, and sidewalks are ploughed and sanded well before we get there in the inclement weather. The building itself is climate- controlled year round, and has only the newest and most up-to-date equipment, including an elevator and washroom facilities on each floor, is bright and clean, and attractively decorated. It is full of people from babes in arms to seniors. There are many different skin colours, languages and accents, but nobody seems to notice. Several different groups meet at the same time, each with appropriate leadership and space.

By now you have probably guessed that most Sunday mornings find us at the local gym!

Here we come together with others not only to work toward our own goals but also to encourage and applaud them as they work toward that which is important to them. In this community we share with each other not only our hopes and goals but as well our fears, our vulnerabilities and our challenges. Many lessons are learned at the gym among them respect for both self and others, how to get along in a community, and shared vision. The staff lead by example both teaching and answering questions on how to use the machines, but also taking time to engage the participants in conversations that both encourage and challenge them.

AND we see these same people regularly throughout the week as we come together striving to meet our goals. No one cares where you are in your journey towards physical fitness, just that you are on the journey with them.

“So what are the characteristics of a religion? According to Joseph Price of Whittier University in California, something constitutes a religion if it establishes a worldview. It isn’t just how regularly someone engages, it’s what is taken away by that person and whether the activity really leads to the reconfiguration or cementing of a way of life.”

My time at the gym has established a worldview, one that honours this one life I have by working to make it as healthy and productive as possible, to make the absolute best out of what I have been given to work with. It allows me to take away that which both enriches my life and the lives of others. And so perhaps when you hear someone say that something other than 'church' is their religion, there is more than a grain of truth in it.

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