Church….please don’t make me go…
I was thinking of Christmas Eve today. We went to my mother-in-law’s Catholic Mass on Christmas Eve, because it means a lot to her. That’s the only reason I went….hehe. I just loathe the Catholic Church….the stuffiness, hypocrisy and the money. I get absolutely no positive feeling at all from going in that building. M-I-L made a comment that she got a letter from the church asking about their tithing, since they’d fallen behind on their 10%, or whatever…. Absolutely ridiculous. If anyone ever did that to me, they’d never see me in that church again and they’d hear about it, too. Unbelievable…
The whole thing made me think back to my youth. I was brought up in the Lutheran Church, which is just as (un)inspiring as the Catholic church. I remember going when I was young and getting absolutely nothing out of it. No good feeling. Nothing earthshattering, ever. Just utter and complete boredom. It used to suck the life energy right out of my body and soul. It’s not that I didn’t like it, it just meant nothing to me. I’d rather have been home watching Laurel And Hardy or The Thunderbirds re-runs.
That was my beginning on the spiritual path, at least as religion is concerned. It’s no surprise from that story that I became an atheist in my twenties…..
you should become Presbyterian (USA)
we are the best denomination. tee hee. well we have a great contemporary service that you would love if you lived here, me thinks. it’s way more interesting than the traditional service. there’s a band (which i used to sing lead in) and the song the band picks is always a song on the radio that is relevant to the theme for the week. that way it kind of reminds people of the theme when they hear it on the radio. we did everything from Pink Floyd (”on the turning away”–which should be a hymn!) to Michelle Branch, Hoobastank (haha, the old people HATED THIS), Switchfoot, Train, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, McLachlan, etc. It’s awesome. Then they did 2 praise tunes which are played by the band, so they have way more energy. Everyone is casual, you bring drinks into the sanctuary. It’s really cool. But we also have a traditional service too. Anyway, I love my church and denomination. It is totally aligned with what I believe spiritually and religiously and it is my second home. Everyone is super friendly and cool at our church. There of course are politics sometimes, hypocrasy exists within every organization, etc., but it is about a lot more than that. And we do a lot of mission work, which is a big thing for me (I’m the mission elder, so I’m in charge of that committee). ANYway, this is totally not to entice you or get you there, but just to explain where I go. I am so glad I was not raised Catholic 
I did go through a period of time when I wasn’t sure what I believed and didn’t attend church at all… for quite awhile actually. But I definitely am glad I am at where I am now. And I feel like I needed to challenge myself to understand what I believe and why. And I still question things. I think that’s healthy.
jess said this on January 7th, 2005 at 10:37 pm
AHHHH! MY EYES! MY EYES!!!!! MY GAWD FORSAKEN EYES!!!!
Daisyhead said this on January 8th, 2005 at 10:50 pm
Jess, it’s not that I find the service itself boring (actually it is, but that wasn’t my point;-)) but the message. I just never could get with the old “died for our sins” stuff. That never ever resonated with me at all. What Christ taught is what’s important, but most churches don’t spend a lot of time with that and even if they did, if they have any doctrine whatsoever that states that their path is the only path, I’m out the door. I can’t get with that for even a moment.
I do appreciate your comments and understand what you’re saying, but the only “Christian” churches I can deal with are Unity and Unitarian/Universalist.
Dan said this on January 10th, 2005 at 9:33 am
ah, well i didn’t just mean the music and stuff is what makes our services different. and please don’t misunderstand, i’m not trying to get you to go there, i was joking in my first sentence. my own particular church, though it varies within denominations and from city to city (certainly in the Midwest things are a bit more conservative in some areas and on the West Coast you’re likely to find more liberal congregations), does not talk really harp on the “died for our sins” stuff. a few weeks ago the minister preached about the war and it was probably one of the best sermons i’ve ever heard. ‘course it was a little too liberal for some folks, but it was awesome and totally appropriate…
my MIL is a unitarian…i would go insane if i was a member
but to each his own, and i’m totally fine w/ believers/non-believers, etc. it’s a personal choice and journey and we all have to find out what is the best place for us to be at, i guess.
jess said this on January 11th, 2005 at 5:55 pm