current notes on spirit.
Two weeks ago I met -- WE met a wonderful person with whom we had a 3 hour conversation, about everything from relationship issues to education politics to religion. You know, all those things you're 'not supposed' to talk about with anyone, much less perfect strangers.
She started talking about this church she'd found. Trinity United Methodist Church was very friendly, she said, very welcoming, loving and open and honest and everything a church should be. They are a 'reconciling congregation,' which I'm still not what what it means.
As of late I have been exploring my own own spirituality a lot. I have been reading Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations With God series. They resonate with me on a deep level; I would even venture to say that I grok them. They relate information that I have viscerally known for years; they talk about things that as a child and at the time of my indoctrination into the Roman Catholic Church, that I did not have words for.
This variance between my deep knowing and what I was told was the wedge that ultimately drove me away from the RCC and Christianity at large. Indeed, I ended up rejecting all of Christianity based on these experiences and other atrocities perpetrated in the name of religion, some on my person, and others that I've read about.
So for the first time in 22 years, I went to church. It was not at all the same sort of church I grew up with! Why, though? I had been looking for some sort of spiritual community. And after all, everything in perfect rhythm, everything in perfect motion, right? It would be perfect for me to go, just as it would be perfect for me not to go. And I didn't have anything to lose in either case.
So yes, this church was everything my friend said it would be. I felt good there, even if the bible stuff did make me squick a little. But Paige is a fierce hugger, and it felt good to have community.
But do I really fit in there? After my 2d visit this week, I still don't yet know. People remain friendly and welcoming, but I have to wonder how long that will continue. After all, I want to live in Spirit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ... not just on Sundays.
She started talking about this church she'd found. Trinity United Methodist Church was very friendly, she said, very welcoming, loving and open and honest and everything a church should be. They are a 'reconciling congregation,' which I'm still not what what it means.
As of late I have been exploring my own own spirituality a lot. I have been reading Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations With God series. They resonate with me on a deep level; I would even venture to say that I grok them. They relate information that I have viscerally known for years; they talk about things that as a child and at the time of my indoctrination into the Roman Catholic Church, that I did not have words for.
This variance between my deep knowing and what I was told was the wedge that ultimately drove me away from the RCC and Christianity at large. Indeed, I ended up rejecting all of Christianity based on these experiences and other atrocities perpetrated in the name of religion, some on my person, and others that I've read about.
So for the first time in 22 years, I went to church. It was not at all the same sort of church I grew up with! Why, though? I had been looking for some sort of spiritual community. And after all, everything in perfect rhythm, everything in perfect motion, right? It would be perfect for me to go, just as it would be perfect for me not to go. And I didn't have anything to lose in either case.
So yes, this church was everything my friend said it would be. I felt good there, even if the bible stuff did make me squick a little. But Paige is a fierce hugger, and it felt good to have community.
But do I really fit in there? After my 2d visit this week, I still don't yet know. People remain friendly and welcoming, but I have to wonder how long that will continue. After all, I want to live in Spirit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ... not just on Sundays.