"You're WHAT????"

Few weeks ago we ‘bumped’ into some friends from a former church who we hadn’t seen in a number of years. After the initial small talk had been dealt with, they inquired as to what church we were now attending, mentioning one in the nearby town as being the most probable. Our answer, that no, we were now going to a church some distance away, brought a look of shocked disbelief to their faces. Had we said we were going up to ski every weekend or up to a cottage to snowmobile, that would have been accepted with nothing other than a raised eyebrow saying ‘really, at your age?’.

This conversation has left me wondering WHY our driving to that church was more astonishing to them then spending the same time going skiing would have been. It says something about the society we live in, but also about the commitment expected of church-goers by members of that church, that it was seen that way.

Lent seems like an appropriate time to think about not only just what our personal commitment is to church attendance but also to why we feel the way we do about both our own commitment, as well as the commitment of others [and yes, I do think they are linked]. I believe we read our motives into the action of others.

In the last number of years my husband and I went for periods of weeks or even months without going to church. We did this because we couldn’t find a place where we felt ‘at home’, ‘at home’ with the words in the music and ‘at home’ with the words in the sermons. [As musicians and educators, those parts of the service resonate most deeply with us.] However at the same time, we felt something was missing from our life.

Finding a church where we feel ‘at home’ has resolved those feelings and so we attend whenever we can. And yes, I would expect anyone else who like us have been weekly attendees at church over a period of decades, would feel a similar loss in their lives and do whatever they could to repair that loss. Unfortunately the church we have found is over an hours drive away and so time constraints sometimes get in the way of our attendance as does the difference in weather conditions over that distance.

I can only posit that those people who are amazed at hearing we are driving that distance to church aren’t finding that the church they are currently attending is offering them something more that a ski slope or a cottage would. Perhaps it is only when that church is no longer meeting their needs, or is no longer there, that they will find out just what church means to them.

Comments

The Greatest Gift

“What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.” ~from ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ by Christina Rossetti Many of us will be singing, or have sung, these words at some time over this Christmas season. The first verse of the carol, ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ begins with words that echo many Christmases here in Canada: ‘In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,’ and so we usually find it included in at least one of the services held at this time of year. For me it has always fit in with the sentimentality of a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service. Yes, we can all give our heart to this young babe - after all who doesn’t find babies hard to resist~ The songs of angels singing in the heavens, a bright star in the dark winter sky, potentates arriving from a...

The Candle is Peace....

“ A candle is burning, a candle of PEACE, A candle to signal that conflict must cease For Jesus is coming to show us the way A message of peace humbly laid in the hay” ~words by Sandra Dean What conflict does our society see as needing to cease? Many see a conflict within their family, where peace can be brought about by expelling/silencing someone who is the cause of the conflict, who is unwilling to go along with the family’s expectations or who is unable to abide by them through mental illness or addiction. Peace to them means quiet because no one dares to challenge the status quo. “All I want under my tree Peace and love and harmony Wrap it with a ribbon please I'll share it with my family." ~Chorus from ‘With my Family’ by Rita MacNeil, 1993 Peace for the country happens when the powers that be are in charge, making decisions that are followed unquestioningly by the proletariat - no riots, no strikes, no protests there. ...

"On Giving Thanks"

Thanksgiving Is usually one of those ‘easy’ times for me. It is easy to be thankful living with abundance, in safety, with family and friends – so many things to give thanks for, so many blessings undeserved. Some years and for some people, it is not so. What would Thanksgiving mean to me then? How would I deal with it? I came across this prayer not long ago ~ For that which was For that which is For that which will be Thanks be to God And I began to wonder ~ Is the real meaning behind Thanksgiving not so much the ability to be thankful for those things we have in abundance? After all, that is easy. But rather to be thankful for everything we have been given or experienced in life, or are now experiencing: the highs and the lows, the mountain-top experiences and the valleys of death, the deserts and the abundant har...

“In sod we trust” . . . .

I noticed this slogan “i n sod we trust” on a truck from a nearby sod farm recently as I was driving through our town. It made me think . . .Yes, in this part of Canada, with our short growing season, we do trust in sod to have those perfect green lawns, THIS year. These lawns do not appear magically however. We feel they are worth the investment of our hard-earned dollars, followed by hours of watering as we encourage them to grow in the normally hot dry summers . . . to say nothing of using more of our hard-earned cash, to pay the ensuing water bill. Oh, yes, and we erect little fences around them to protect the sod from being trampled on by feet, both big and little. So, yes, we trust ‘in sod’ to give the lawns we desire, but it is not without the investment of both our time and money. This slogan, of course, is a play on the slogan we are all familiar with from USA coins: “In God we trust” – a slogan which seems like a mantra to many today....

The Theology of Food

Theology is defined as ‘the study of religious faith, practice, and experience; especially: the study of God and of God's relation to the world’ [Mirriam-Webster online dictionary] A preacher began his sermon with the statement ‘There is no theology of food.’ which alone of all he had to say made me sit up and take notice. Not only take notice, but to begin to consider just why it sounded wrong to me and what exactly was my understanding of the connection between food and theology… because I felt very strongly that there was one! For the better part of two years I was part of a Meditation group that followed their weekly time of meditation by sharing a light meal provided by the various members of the group. Over that food, experiences were shared from our everyday life, ideas were voiced, and connections were made, all of which echoed our various understandings of just what it meant to try and live as a Christian in today’s world. This was theology, t...

The Reason for This Season?

Each year I have had a theme in mind for my blogs during Advent season, sometimes even having them written in advance.. This year however the well seems to have run dry. Advent is that season of the church calendar when we are called upon to prepare ourselves for the Christmas celebration that speaks of the entry of Jesus into history, and into our lives. As I sit here at the computer I find myself thinking of what I am doing this year, this week in particular, that will prepare me this participate fully in the Christmas event. How can I become more cognizant, more immersed, in what is called commercially, ‘the reason for the season’ ? This is what I hope to explore over the next few weeks and I would invite you to join me in that exploration. As the Advent begins I find myself getting out the Christmas decorations, thinking about writing the annual family Christmas letter, setting up playlists of Christmas music on my phone, filling Christmas festivities on my cale...

Resurrection

“And if the message of Easter is about [new life], then for us to fast from gathering for worship is our following the path of new life, new life for those who we might hurt by gathering together and new life for us by learning to live — not for self alone, but for others and for God – that's resurrection.” - Presiding Bishop Michael Curry I am writing this just days before the Christian Church traditionally celebrates Easter. With the rest of you I have found my life consumed by the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. We have all been called on to take responsibility not only for our own wellbeing and that of our family, but also for the well-being of everyone else in our communities. I have been struck over the last number of weeks of the number of Biblical stories I see being played out every day around us.. The Israelites hoarding the manna in the desert only to find it spoiled the next day are replaced with bare shelves in our grocery stores because certain things are ...

"The Usual Suspects" - The Shepherds

Just who were these shepherds that Luke has in his version of the Christmas Story? Why pick them? What was their role to be? ‘ In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has ta...

Whose Shoes?

We have all heard the saying “Don’t judge a man[ sic ] until you have walked a mile in his[ sic ] shoes” (American proverb) Yet I would posit we do it everyday and/or have it done to us. For example: A number of years ago, while I was using a personal trainer to strengthen my knee after an accident, I was participating in a day-long event during which the leader referred to women with personal trainers as being [and I quote] “rich bitches”. It just so happened that in this group of 9 or 10 women there was another woman who also had a personal trainer to strength her back against work-related injuries. Did it bother her? I don’t know. But I know it made me resentful and angry for the rest of the day and I still remember the comment, how unjust it was was and how it ruined that experience for me.. For the past 5 years, I had found myself in the position of needing bi-weekly appointments with an Esthetician having my nails reinforced with a layer of gel beneath the polis...

Just be Present!

“You don’t need a plan; you just need to be present.” ~Bob Goff (Bob Goff is a writer and an international motivational speaker. In 2016 he launched the Dream Big Framework, a curriculum and workshop designed to motivate people to accomplish their biggest dreams and ambitions) We have all come up against those occasions both in our own lives and in the lives of others, when we have uttered these words, “I don’t know what to do!” either aloud or silently. For some reason we seem to be hard-wired to feel that we must have the answers, must know what to do, or we aren’t being any help at all. Over the last 8 months I have come to appreciate those people who can just be present, without feeling the need to ‘do’ something. They are the ones who know instinctively what it is that they need to do. They are acting in response to the present moment, not a previously thought-out plan or agenda. It is actually a little like prayer. Prayer, they say, changes ...

NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

Search This Blog