O boy, where do I start with this one....? I am gonna put this out there right now. This was not a great experience at all. Have you even sat in a room the entire time with your eyebrow raised, and thinking that everything you are being told is questionable or totally out to left field? That was this kind of church for me.
It is an older building, my guess is that it was built in the 70's and not much has been changed since. The main body of the church was laid with almost all yellow stain glass windows, giving the room a strange "supper yellow" glow, like one would see in old photos.Also, no cross at the front of the room. There was roughly 12 people at this service. Of all different background and age groups.
I didn't research a lot into this church, but from what I can gather it was started in Massachusetts and was in some way founded by a lady called Mary Baker Eddy. They also did a very persistent job of reminding every one that they have a "Public Reading Room" and its hours of operation.
Right from the get go, I knew this place was different. Lords prayer was barely recognizable. Totally different. God was referred to as "our Father Mother God". Which I thought was kind of nice, but I still prefer the method of referring to God as the earth or the sky etc. It kind of puts the image of God into a larger global perspective without the argument of gender bias. That is my thoughts though.
And then the real eyebrow action started. So if I had to put this all into a nutshell, I would describe this church as having the idea that; because man is made in God's image, therefor man is perfect and and we are put on earth to rule over and control anything and everything.
Don't worry it gets better.....
Apparently we should also not believe human theories on health, and there is no such thing as accidents and it is all under Gods direction.
"Man is not matter, man is spiritual."
"Man is spiritual and perfect!"
WTF?
I am not sure where these people were for Christianity 101, but even babes of wolfs know that we are not perfect, by far. I, or anyone else I know, certainly doesn't fit that description. That status belongs only to the big guy upstairs, and also his son ( mattering on your perception.)
Not only that, I feel that this way of thinking is not only questionable but dangerous. I could see this kind of philosophy easily being adapted to further such things as environmental destruction, imperialism and foreign invasion.
Strangely one of the first things that came to my mind was Mao's War against Nature in China.
This was was fed on the idea that "Man must conquer nature!" and put all of its forces under the control of the hands of man. And as you can guess that ended up going very, very, very bad.
As a wise Rabi once told me, God exists in many different forms in our world, and nature is "the green face of God." An Image to be loved, respected, and glorified.
Honestly the only thing I really enjoyed out of this service was the fact that we got to sing Beethoven's 9th symphony "Ode to Joy!" at the end.
And to end this I leave you with the words of the man himself;
Well I'm still down here. And today was not the greatest, not gonna lie. Today I faced the all-dreaded Pentecostal/Evangelist Church field trip. O Joy! Not. So me and my group got up, got dressed, and drove out. This place is set up very much so like your modern large scale church. This one resembled a school gym in a lot of ways. Full stage at the front, a lot of chairs set up on the floor and a raised seeting section higher up in the back. It also included a full display of different world flags on one wall.
On the wall, to the side of the stage, there was a projector showing advertisements for activities going on within the church and up-coming events. One of those up-cumming events. was entitled "Out of the devils Cauldron"hostessed by John Ramirez, quoted as being a "High Ranking Ex-Satanist" .
This is what his face looks like.
And his book.
I haven't looked into this very much. I am almost curious about what the guy has to talk about. But quite frankly I am shocked that this is even being advertised. I just feel like inviting a "High Ranking Ex-Satanist" to speak at your church about all the horrors of the world, is something you would much more likely see in America before you would see it in Canada. Our southern neighbors have always seemed to have had a strong appetite for over the top drama and terror.
But then that brings up the question of what is real Satanism? For those of you that may not be knowing, their are two types of Satanism in this world the real one, and the fake one. Seeing as I am not an expert on this I decided to consult the "Church of Satan's" official web page and left it open to the Q&A section.
Also, I always get a kick out the old up-side-down cross. Because it is not a "anit-christian" symbol at all.
But what really gets me thou, is how "Satanism" is not the full opposite of "Christianity" . This is one of the reasons why.
Lets flip to Mark 12. ( NIV)
28One
of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that
Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the
commandments, which is the most important?”
29“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.e30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’f31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’g
There is no commandment greater than these.”
Pretty simple eh? Love God, and love everyone around you. So one might guess that Satanism is just the opposite? Don't love God, and use people however you like? Well the first part is consistent. Satanist are clearly atheists. However the second half is not. According to the "Church of Satan" its members are not free to go out and abuse people however they like. The Church has clearly laid out a long list of rules for human interaction, including bans on behaviors such as sex with children or animals, abuse of others, sacrifices and many other things. My understanding is that they believe that man, his nature, and personal choices can and will dictate what is right and wrong.
I dont buy that. This is why.
Sometimes in out world the lines between right and wrong are blurry, or different from one society to another. That may or not be for the right reasons, but as long as the goal behind that norm is to "Love your neighbor as yourself" personally, I am cool with it. Some would argue, that human beings would simply be able to lay out some fair practical laws, free of all spiritual or religious influence, without making anything to crazy into something legal.
I also dont buy that. This is why;
I was once was having pretty much this exact same discussion with a person who was putting up an argument for the "rational atheist" and I remember him saying "Well we can all agree that murder is wrong right? No place would ever make that legal!" Guess what buddy? There is an entire country that already has. A place where there is such thing as a man that can turn in his own starving mother, watch her get executed and feel perfectly socially right about it. What is the name of this pit of hell fire you may ask? Two words;
NORTH F#&KING KOREA!
( yes that was technically three worlds but give me a break)
This book will BLOW YOUR MINDS!
Ted Talk on it too. And quite frankly, when an senior reporter says that this is literately the sadist story he has ever covered, you know it's bad.
Anyhow... where were we?...church service.. right....
So besides noticing this advertisement projected onto the side of the wall, my group (including our tow Muslim friends) got a chance to sit down and speak with one of the church leaders. He took some time to share with us a current social justice action that he is a part of. In this particular area of up-state New York, there is a noticeable problem with extreme under-funding of public schools. But why they are so underfunded is not as dry and cut as you think. In this area 9000 children attend the public school system, and 27000 attend private schools. And almost all of the children in the private schools are Ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Yep, these guys.
Now the school board in each area is composed of the people in the area, with the representation equal to the demographics of the area. So there are a very large amount of Jews on this school board. Who have made the choice to make extensive cuts to the public school system. This church, and other churches in the area, a few mosques and non- ultra-orthodox Jews have teamed up and are calling for the state to step in on the situation to achieve some equal representation for the public school system.
So now lets get to the actual church service. This is very much so your modern style church, contemporary music, lights, sound systems, full choir and rock band. Worship started out with song and dance, with the choir and band on stage leading the room.( ps. I appreciated the mini drum solo at the end there.) I noticed something the worship songs. There was this huge focus on "Jesus" and very little on "God" which I found interesting. Especially when Jesus spent so much time telling people to keep the focus on God. Then announcements were made. So keep in mind this place is an "Evangelist church" But in all honesty, this church acted nothing like any of the evangelist churches I have seen in Canada. Totally different animal.
This churches highest priority is to go out and evangelize as much as possible, and convincing people to become Christians. This is new to me. I know churches that go out and evangelize in Edmonton. But none like this. They are into it so much I feel like they have made it into a sport in a way. There were a lot of references to the amount of people they did or didn't convert, and a lot of celebration in their achievements. Or as I see it "high scores".
So after the music was over their were some announcements to be made. One of which was kind of a shocker. After going thru the list one of the last things that were mentioned, was that there would be a special meeting to pray for our Muslim friends during this time of Ramadan that they "may know the Lord".
*aka. That they may come to realize the "true" significance of Christ, and become Christians.
I may not be Muslim. But even sitting 4 seats away, I could feel the wind off of that verbal sucker-punch-to-the-gut that my friends received from that comment.
Ouch. Sorry you guys had to deal with that.
For those of you that may not know. Muslims know Jesus. And quite a bit about his mother, actually. Because Jesus is a profit, Muslims are required to know him and to believe in him.
Just not in the exact same way Christians do.
To further this, I thought I would send you two links.
But despite our standing differences, we still both love Jesus none the less! *peace and blessings be upon him!
Then we got all the speeches.
One young lady come up and spoke about her mission trip to Morocco. Which was cool.
Then another fellow came up and spoke about his groups mission trip to Japan. That was interesting. They spent there time in what was know as the "Missionary Graveyard". This is a place where many had come to evangelize and all have failed. They ministered to students in school. Apparently they were even interested in possibly converting, however all of them declined. They told the missionaries that they were interested Christianity, but if they converted, their parents would literally kick them out.
Today we studied from the book of Joshua, on the topic of the conquering of the city of Jericho. We then learned about the recent discovery and excavation of the city. And the surprising amount of common findings between the archaeologist assessment, and the details of the old testament. They both fully agree that the city was pillaged, conquered and destroyed by an earth-quake.
Quote of the day:
"I am a disgruntled Jets fan and I want you all to share in my misery!" * Omg I have seriously never heard so many sports references or sports style talk in one church service.
On another side note, the city of Gath was recently discovered. Home town to the famed "Goliath".
* The bible actually gives a exact description of Goliath's actual height. Apparently he was roughly 9 feet tall.
* I was reading Samuel 2 and discovered that Goliath had a brother!
One last quote I found very interesting was: "We are the most dangerous when we think we can do everything on our own power. God makes us stumble out of grace, to help us turn back to God."
I have mixed feelings about this statement. Weather us falling is the doing or the will of God, or not, you can't deny that I does humble a lot of people. It is regularly reported that in Canada, church going is highest in times of economic depression.
Still in New York, and O Man is this place BIG!!! And when I say big, I am talking Christ City size. (see Church # 27) here are some shoots from the outside.
I regret not getting a better photo of this. But the front of the church had revolving doors, except the panels were literately made out of old church doors. So we walked inside to find everything in a gray stone finish, with a very modern stainless steal and glass topped snack bar right in the middle of everything. The direction of the main hall was not instantly apparent. But after moving down a few hallways, we found it. While we were walking, I noticed that there was more then just one hall in this cathedral. I was able to pick out others, including a very cute mini chapel (which I am sure is used for many weddings.)
Random Fact! Did you know that traditionally, the length of the train on a wedding dress, was dictated by what size of church the bride was getting married in? Train sizes are often named as descriptions of different church sizes.
We arrived at the main hall, and found a place to sit. It was BIG. And quiet elaborately decorated. There were bells ringing. Real ones. Approx 350 people of mixed race, with mostly middle-aged and senior people. But what really confuses me, is the denomination of the church? From what I understand they are a hybrid between the American Baptist Church and The United Church of Christ. But I was unable to distinguish the building or the service, from the Anglican services that I have seen in the past. (see All Saints Anglican Cathedral) Seriously. I couldn't tell the difference.
As you all know i am a big fan of stain-glass. There was a lot of it at this church, but it was very fine and the images were very small. One panel I was sitting close to actually had image of Johannes Gutenberg and his invention and use of the printing press. I think this was being depicted in a church because of Gutenberg's attempt mass-producing the Bible to make it affordable and accessible to everyone.
The body of the church was beautiful, and the front of it, I am sure, would have been phenomenal, if it were not for the fact that it was covered for construction. Hopefully one day I will be able to witness the finished project.
This church has gone all out. They have an amazing lady that leads the worship with an opera voice that makes me feel guilty for walking in the door without paying for the show. On the far left-hand side of the room, there is also a singe language translator that dose a fantastic job of interpreting the sermon and the music. All of the ushers, and male volunteering members of the church, were dressed in full black suits with white carnation corsages.
The sermon itself was definitely impressive. It reflected on Independence day, and what it means to be christian in the USA in this day and age. He explored the meaning of "E Pluribus Unum" which is one of two of the United States motto's. It generally translates out to "One from many"or, "Out of many,One". The state of Pluribus being small and divided, and Unum, as being united as one. He made the point, that now "We seam to have a lot more 'Pluribus' then 'Unum' these days." And honestly I think he is right. Especially in the United States.
This speech was loaded with great points;
-We need to watch what we say
-Don't sugarcoat
-Don't beat around the bush.
-Don't be harsh
He also declared that we can not judge all Muslims based on the terrible actions of a few violent extremists that claim to be acting in the name of Islam. And that we should "stand shoulder to shoulder with our Muslim friends." in their struggles.
"Tell the truth in Love".
One of the best things I heard today is that we need to; "Not just Tolerate but Respect others."
( He also noted that the Westboro Baptist Church, is a clear example of people failing to do this.)
*facepalm.
As a Canadian I have gained some interesting insight into this American
"Pluribus" situation. America is strange in the fact that it is in very
few ways a "UNITED" nation. All the different states insists on having a
lot of independent choice in their laws and actions, and many states
want nothing to do with others. It is understandable how It is very
difficult to make any unified progress in America, when so much of the
country is extremely divided and not willing to find a middle ground
with others. A lot of "My way or the Highway" attitude here.
America has powers to dictate on issues of the death penalty, abortion,
gay rights, gun laws, State by State. Canada is a very different story.
We are a united nation (*Quebec is complicated). We may not all like
each other a times (one province and another). But we are not Putting
up guns and pitchforks to fight the other off. Canada is a family that
doesn't always like each-other, but we never let it get out of hand,
because we live in the idea that we are ONE. And when we deal with big
issues, we do it on a federal level.We address it once, get everything
out in the open, come to a decision of the issue, that decision becomes
law across the entire nation, and we are DONE.
That is just how we roll.
Communion was given today and I noticed something very surprising about it. Just before the congregation started moving towards the front the church, the leaders made it clear that taking communion was something that was accessible and acceptable to all. Not just Christians, not just people that have been baptized under a certain denomination. Everyone.(At the same time I am not too surprised by this considering the church service was also being led by people of different genders, different ethnic backgrounds, and ordained members of the LGBTQ community.) Which is a new and radical idea even to my mind. Should non-Christians take communion? And even if offered, would they do it? Well I can tell you at minimum that I know one practicing Muslim who has accepted communion. And her feedback on it was interesting. For those of you that are less familiar with Muslim practices, the month of Ramadan is a wholly Islamic month in which Muslims focus their efforts on charity, prayer,community sharing, studying their wholly text, and fasting. At the end of their daily fast, they break their fast by consuming a date
To Muslims this is a spiritually significant act and is often done slowly and silently.
The person i know who shared this knowledge with me said "Hey! I am have taken communion before!" she expressed that the feeling of it was very similar to "taking a date". I think we both found the commonality very interesting.
Maybe we are not so different after all.
The service its self was very Unique. It was extremely liberal and progressive, but still very timed and structured. Personally I thought the heavy structure took away from some of it for me. But some people really like a structured service. All matters on your personality I guess.
And as soon as the service was over, once again, I saw something I didn't expect
.
I am still baffled on why I see the most profound things, at the most odd times.
I looked over to my right to observe the room for some good photo ops as the service progressed to an end. That is which I did find, check out the giant flying gold Jesus.
Then I saw something that really struck me. A young family. There was African American man and woman in their mid to late 20's. The man was wearing a white t-shirt with a grey hoody over-top of it. Except he cut the sleeves off the grey goody. You could faintly see the black print of the tattoos down his arm, somewhat blended into his chocolate complexion. The woman was wearing a red shirt with jean jacket covered in rips ( done strictly for fashon). They were holding a small 1-2 year old child. You could see in their eyes how much they carried. How worried they were, that their child will hopefully not make some of the poor life decisions they made. Or maybe, they are pondering how to give their child a better and safer home then what they had. They may also be in fear that they dont have all the knowledge or skills to create this better environment. Regardless, it was clear from their eyes that they care. A lot. And maybe instead of speculation what should be focused on here is hope. Hope for the better, that comes with the renewal that Christ brings. I pray that the eternal hope, love, redemption and kindness of God reaches the hearts and minds of this young family and helps they make them into a safe family with a bright future.
Still in the USA. And this would be the second church I have been to while on my journey here. Strangely enough, this was a church I was trying to avoid. Not necessarily because of the church, but because of the walk. The trail that leads from the center, that takes you to the church, happens to go right thru the middle of the dark forest and then the grave-yard. Because that is just the best way to start your Sunday.
So in an attempt to avoid that, I decided to walk the other direction, down the street to Another Methodist church that happened to be near-by. However I could not find any resources online to tell me when the service started. So I went with my default guess. 10 am........ And I was wrong. I approached the church at 9:52 and the singe said services start at 9am. Well Shit. So I went in for the last 10-15 min. The service finished. The minister approached me and told me that he was also ministering at another Methodist church down the road, and that their services started in half an hour, and that he would be happy to give me a ride.
Nice old guy.
So we drove over to the church I was initially avoiding, passing the graveyard as we drove down the road. We arrived at the church, perched at the top of a hilly incline. There were a few people parked around it and filing in. Most in their "Sunday Best", (I soon discovered that there was a baptism going on that day). The church bell sound is a automated recording, that rings out with different tunes on the hour 7-days a week. It is clearly heard from a distance away, but not overly loud when you are inside the actual church. The building appears to be old, but maintained. There is approx 50 people here. More of a family mix, ( I suspect that these numbers are directly influenced by the event going on today).
I must say, I have experience more them my share of MERICA, since coming here. The town I am currently in, was apparently the location of some major historic battle? And there is some kind of an army army base? Needless to say almost every house in the area dons the star spangled banner, if not some other array of Americana. The church is no exception. It also has and American flag at the front of the room, on a vertical flag pole topped with a gold eagle looking proudly upwards. The date is June 28. Only a few days before American Independence Day.
The service started, and one of the first things that was announced, was my presence, what my name was and that I came from "CANADA". I got looked at like I was the most exotic thing these people have seen in a while. Who knew Canadians actually existed?
The service started in song, which was kind of difficult because I think the music peace they picked was a bit too advanced for the average Joe to catch on. The minister then took request for anyone that was in need of prayers. After the names were listed off, He then acknowledged that the July 1st Holiday was coming up
Yes we sang this.
"God Bless America!"
Is a common phrase used in these parts, and I suspect it will be more so as we head towards the holidays,. The church leader said that maybe it is time to re-examine this phrase and think of it differently.First off, yes America is blessed, not the next thing we should look at is "What can we do to bless America and the world?" And secondly, maybe we should spend less time asking God to bless this country more, and reflect, and be thankful, for the blessings we already have.
Personally, I would like to see more of this way of thinking, in the U.S.A.
Quote of the day: "The healing hand of the great Physician."
There was a baptism that happened today. For a Little 5-7 year old boy? Roughly? I have no idea. This young boys family stood around him at the baptism front as the church, and his family made pledges to show a good example and commit themselves to his spiritual growth. I may have missed this, but at no point did I see the church leader address the little boy, and ask him if he accepts this sacrament. After a long speech, he wet his hands with the water in the font and touched the young boys head 3 times saying the blessing. After it all was over the little boy ran back to his seat, and garbed his hand held gaming device, nearly clueless to the significance of what just happened.
Honestly. I have feeling of compassion right now for people that argue that baptism should be done only to fully grown, comprehensive, adults. I still hold my position that infant baptism is not invalid.
The scripture that was focused on today was from 2 Corinthians 8:7-15...Wait! that's not right......
The church leader totally dropped the ball on this, but the story we learned about today was not in 2 Corinthians 8:7-15. I discovered the actual location of the scripture in Mark 5:21-43.
21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.22 Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet.23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.26 She
had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent
all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” 35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” 36 Overhearing[c] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” 37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly.39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”40 But they laughed at him. After
he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the
disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was.41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.
There was discussion about the woman that suffered from internal bleeding. This condition would have been a really ugly situation in this time and place, due to the lack of medical advancement. And compounded on the fact that the old Leviticus laws state, that a woman who is "bleeding" can not be touched. Therefore she would have been rejected and secluded. This is where I Cant help but admire Gods love for us, show thru Christs example. Jesus find the people that there is no hope for, and gives them a new life.
The Church leader spoke about how she had visited may doctors that had taken her money and left her no better off. He related this to the endless medical lawsuits against malpractice that occur here in the states. Something I think people forget about sometimes, is not only, the spiritual revolution of salvation that Christ started, but the Social salvation work he also did. After the woman was healed, she was likely just hoping she could sneak away. Jesus instead called her out, and she feel to the ground, and told everyone what just happened. This almost seams confusing at first. This woman's condition was embarrassing! Why would he single her out and announce it to the world, that she had been healed of this? Why make a Public Service Announcement? Answer: So she can start over. To lift the social stigma. She is clean again. Safe to touch, to go shopping, to go meet with friends, to have a job, get married, to be free. And it is not just on the truthful authority of her word, but the word of God. Christ forced people to socially to rethink their ways and norms. Jesus really changes everything. Side Note: This is only time that Jesus uses the word "daughter" in the bible to refer to someone.
I was able to speak to the church leader after the service, and I took a moment to ask about the other flag at the front of the room that I did not recognize. He lifted it up and told me that it was the "Christian Flag"...... hold on......what?
What really got me is when he said "This flag (Christian Flag) supersedes the other(American Flag)." WOW. I must say this guy has impressed me. He has also given me hope that maybe people like him, can influence some of the more arrogant and self-righteous citizens, to take a step back and examine themselves.
So I left the church passing by a big black truck with "Vietnam War Vet" stickers on the back of it and headed home.
Thru the grave yard......
It was funny, but until now I had never truly gasped the temptation of the "forbidden fruit" so fully until I saw this bush.
This grape bush/tree/vine was one of the most beautiful and healthy I have seen in my time here (wild grape vine grows everywhere around here). Most grow out of reach. Not this one. And it had fruit! Plenty of it! Looks good huh?
Until I realized that these lovely tasty grapes, were well fertilized on the ground of dead bodies loaded with toxic embalming chemicals that have seeped into the ground from old cracked graves. Things suddenly got a whole less appetizing.....
And it ends up the walk was not that bad, I just kind of powered thru it!
And then finished my way home thru the creepy forest.....
God Save Me! *facepalm. Yes it is official! I am south of the border in New York State for the summer, doing an interfaith program at a retreat center. I am lucky in the fact that there are a lot of churches near-by. (I often hear the church that chimes the hour, when I am working outside.) One of the coolest parts about all this would have to be, the fact that I now have access to certain denominations that would normally be much more difficult to find back home. Before I even left for the service, I was informed that that church "might not have any service at all". Apparently the church was going to, was going thru a period of "upheaval". I decided Not to ask or get into details. I suspected another case of "dieing church" syndrome. There were only 12 people at this service, mostly seniors. This place literally looks like a little stone castle from the outside. Which is cool. When you first enter you immediate you see the ropes the connect to the church bells. Personally I find it cool that they still have it set up that way, most churches have a system that rings their bells automatically. As soon as I sat down I was greeted by some of the church members and leader ship. Including one middle aged fellow that came over to shake my hand. As we started talking , and I told him about my project. He said "we are small, but we are different." I definitely got some interesting facts out of today. "The book of John was written in the year 100 AD". I checked into my study bible on this, apparently everyone has their own idea when The gospel of John was written. My study Bible says 80-95AD however other scholars argue that it could be as early as 50-70AD.
"Up to the year 300 Christians and Jews worshiped together." This is a piece of information that I have also had confirmed a few times. Including once since I have been here on my interfaith program. I have learned a lot about Jewish belief, worship and ritual since coming here. And in all honesty I can see how that could work, as odd as it might be.
We got a speech on some of the history behind the practice of holly communion. Fun fact! The first food and drink that was ever consumed on the
moons service, was an astronaut saying a prayer and taking communion,
that was prepared for his trip.
"Everyone is on an equal playing field, everyone takes communion together. Everyone rich or poor are welcome in Christ." Taking communion it's self at this church was very interesting. The female minister brought out a very large loaf of braided bread, broke it. Then, instead of hand delivering the wine and bread to each individual, She encouraged each one of us, to come up, individually, and drink the wine, and take a piece of bread. She stepped aside and left the table leaving the front of the church empty and open for anyone who wished to come up. There was a great hesitation. No one wanted to move too quickly, and the room sat silent for some time. Eventually the people in the room started moving slowly, one by one to the front of the church. They approached the table, carefully tore a modest sized piece of bread and then dunking it in the wine before consuming it, and quickly returning to their seats. I think this experience was very powerful and more "real" in a lot of ways then what I have experienced prior. I have taken communion many times before, but this was different. I have only seen a pastor actually rip a large loaf of bread in half once before, and this was definitely the first time we had ever been asked to go and tare a piece of bread off for ourselves. And it all honesty. It was hard. Really hard. I think I know why some people went so slow, (including myself). Because when you went up to the front of the room, you were not just a number in a line up, that faces the priest/pastor for a quick moment to be hand fed. No, you had to go up alone to the table, look upon the rest of the room that is baring witness to your action, and then if you are willing and able, accept the body and blood of Christ. I witnesses many people literately freeze in mid action, while reaching for the bread. It was like they had never put so much thought into process even though they had done so many times before. That was pressure. I can only imagine the weight that the disciples felt. Living under Roman oppression, being abused, living in danger, wanted men, hated by the government, on the run, and then having their leader announce that he was going to murdered,by one of their own, and that they needed to carry on without him. Now take the bread and wine. Could you do it?
Today was one of those days where I cried a lot...again. I had a stranger come up and hug and kiss me. Just another day on the job I guess. I was able to talk to one of the fellows that first introduced himself to me, and we talked for some time. I told him about the recent turn of power in Alberta, and the end of the 44 year rule of the PC government. He told me that he can relate, and believes him, and many other young people felt just as hopeful when Kennedy got elected in US. Back In the day. As we were leaving he mentioned that another group was coming in after them. I asked if it was a different church congregation? He said no. It was actually a group of Zoroastrians.
WTF? Ok, explanation time. The Three Wise Men were believed to be Zoroastrians, because of their commitment to reading the stars and seeing the singe that God sent them. From what I can understand this faith has strongly affected the development of the Abrahamic faiths and pre-dates Christianity and Islam. I have a link to a F&Q page for those that want to know more. Zoroastrians Q&A Until next time. Peace. Shabbat. Shalom.
Not the first time that I have been to this church. I was here for the prayer service for John Calvin's situation , which sad to say, is not going so well. See the link. John Calvin Gets notice of Deportation.
There were 60 people mostly seniors.
This service, was a service of song. It was the 6th annual "How can we keep from Singing!?" event. There were multiple visiting choirs, with all kinds of performances, everything from traditional worship music to skat singing, to African rhythms. One of my favorite quotes of the day has to be ;"All good things start with a cowbell!"
There was a speaker that came up and gave us some information about a group she leads, called the "Braille Tones" which is a local choir for people with disabilities.
We also had another fellow come up and tell about his experiences in Africa. He recalls a day when him and his African group members went on a all-day church trip, to be involved with a fund-raising effort, done as an auction. He said that they auctioned off some of the most unusual things he had ever seen. Everything form a glass of cold water, all the way up to a live turkey! He said "Where they found a live turkey in West Africa? I will never know!"
I remember that music is a good way to get thing off your chest. Quote of the day; "So if someone steals your wallet, go home and belt out some Etta James!"
Fact of the day; If you take the word "paradise" and break it down into root words. It translates to "open garden".
But even from the first time I was here, I was intreaged by some of the panels in the window, including a mystery panel.
So as you can imagine you have all of your regulars.
Most of these guys are Apostles, some are Patron Satins.The objects displayed around them give you clues and indications to the stories of their lives.
A panel devoted to a memory of a person that passed away.
But like a lot of stain glass panels, they often have fine details that make you take a second look. And in this panel there is a tiny Orthodox style church in the far back setting.
I asked the pastor why this was and she simply said that "people dont always stay in the places they start out in". But I guess they wanted to recognize some of this persons spiritual past in this piece of art, which I think is cool.
This piece got my attention. I knew who these two women were, and the story behind them. Well before I even read it in my bible. Ruth and her mother in law, Naomi. And how I knew about all this was from an article that I read. Meet one of my favorite online resources for wedding planning! Off-Beat-Bride. com! has everything and anything a person could need who wants to do their wedding against the norm, or just make it fun! This is the story of two women that got marred in a christian church, with a christian focus and didn't have to sacrifice love for faith. The scripture that they centered their vows around was this bible passage;
"Ruth said to Naomi, 'Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from
following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I
will die — there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me,
and more as well, if even death parts me from you"
And then the mystery panel.I didn't get a close enough picture but if you can see, there is a scroll with gold writing and gold flakes that have fallen onto the floor? Anyone has an idea what this symbolizes? Give me a shout out!
The United Church is famous for being excepting and kind to all including LGBT community members. Another interesting aspect of inclusion I found was multi-language prayers in the back of one of their books.
Sometimes as privileged white North Americans, we need to stop and think of the others around us, and maybe use our power to help the rest of the world feel included more often. Just saying.
