(no subject)
So Tiffany and I went to an Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic ceremony last Sunday in Cape May. From ages 5-9 I attended Star of the Sea Catholic school, and went to Mass every morning. This place was nostalgia-ville big-time. As in every clichéd instance of childhood nostalgia, everything was much smaller than I remembered.
As far as a reintroduction to Christianity, it was very pleasant. I enjoyed the Catholic aesthetic, especially the stained glass, the subtle power of the call and response sequences clothed in churchly reverb, the little monotone Latin priest-songs, the hymns, and even, most unexpectedly, the sermon. The basic topic was that "God is hope," and I rather like that equation. I like it better when it's flipped to "Hope is God," because one of my main interests in religion is its hope in an afterlife. Believing in an afterlife will make me feel better about death, which is clammy and horrible. I'm sick of thinking about how my consciousness is going to be annihilated. It's such a bummer. When I think about it too intently I almost have a panic attack.
And the best part was that there was minimal moralizing. I'm totally uninterested in the Church's opinion of human affairs, so I was relieved. And not a word was uttered towards "proving," which is the most intellectually repugnant religious activity, just as moralizing is the most emotionally repugnant one. God is hope, i.e. Jesus Christ I hope there's a God.
Sadly, the service was probably too mild for me to continue patronage. We're going to do a grand tour of South Jersey's Catholic services, which might be good for a few loops, but not more, I'd imagine. I want mystical ecstasy. I want to see some scary shit. There's nothing ecstatic about Catholicism, at least around these parts. But it was pleasant, so I'm happy.
And Maria, you're cordially invited to go to church, if that would interest you. If it's lame, we'll just walk out.
As far as a reintroduction to Christianity, it was very pleasant. I enjoyed the Catholic aesthetic, especially the stained glass, the subtle power of the call and response sequences clothed in churchly reverb, the little monotone Latin priest-songs, the hymns, and even, most unexpectedly, the sermon. The basic topic was that "God is hope," and I rather like that equation. I like it better when it's flipped to "Hope is God," because one of my main interests in religion is its hope in an afterlife. Believing in an afterlife will make me feel better about death, which is clammy and horrible. I'm sick of thinking about how my consciousness is going to be annihilated. It's such a bummer. When I think about it too intently I almost have a panic attack.
And the best part was that there was minimal moralizing. I'm totally uninterested in the Church's opinion of human affairs, so I was relieved. And not a word was uttered towards "proving," which is the most intellectually repugnant religious activity, just as moralizing is the most emotionally repugnant one. God is hope, i.e. Jesus Christ I hope there's a God.
Sadly, the service was probably too mild for me to continue patronage. We're going to do a grand tour of South Jersey's Catholic services, which might be good for a few loops, but not more, I'd imagine. I want mystical ecstasy. I want to see some scary shit. There's nothing ecstatic about Catholicism, at least around these parts. But it was pleasant, so I'm happy.
And Maria, you're cordially invited to go to church, if that would interest you. If it's lame, we'll just walk out.