Church:

Why is "church" such a dirty word sometimes?
Amazing how negatively people can respond to that word, based on their own experiences or perceptions.
It ought not to be that way. How did Jesus intend His Church to be in this world?

"It is true, of course, that what is an unspeakable gift of God for the lonely individual is easily disregarded and trodden under foot by those who have the gift every day. It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed. Therefore, let him who until now has had the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God's grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren." The quote was sent to me by my friend Cheryl who unearthed it in Life Together by Bonhoeffer.

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And from ---Kathleen Norris in The Cloister Walk

"'...There's an empty tomb somewhere in this room this morning. I invite you to come forward now.'

And people got up to speak of living two years with AIDS, nine months free from drugs. Then a man came forward who, Williams says, had a skittish look in his eyes 'that told me he was still in the tomb...still tied up in the grace clothes of crack cocaine.' The man told the congregation that the drug counseling at the church had been enough to keep him off drugs for days at a time...and a cause for celebration in the body of Christ, who welcomes all who seek him. Blessed be those who throw the church doors open wide."

Norris is a best-selling poet and essayist. She became known for her writings about Christian spirituality, especially after she became a Benedictine oblate and spent two extended periods at Saint John's Abbey in Minnesota, USA.