Paul describes himself as
" . . .a normal person wanting to live life fully, wanting to enjoy life, and wanting to make a small difference within this huge and wondrous world.I’m married; I have three young children and live in provincial New Zealand in a small town called Cambridge.
I’m interested in many things, but in terms of this blog I’m interested in the intersection between the Christian Faith tradition, cultural engagement, the everyday, and questions of what it means to be persons who are fully alive, and authentic. For many of us there are important dimensions of what it means to be a human person, dimensions and layers that are substantially undernourished by (post)modern life and living. Spirituality is one of these important dimensions, so I’m interested in questions of Spirituality, and in the apparent disconnect between church belonging (a part of my upbringing) and the popular cliché, “I’m spiritual, but not religious”. Certainly I’m not “religious” in the pejorative sense that that term is typically applied to people.
It seems to me that we live in a storied world. There are many many stories clamouring for our attention; many stories promising us the world and promising us everything, but I’ve yet to find a story like the Jesus-story, a radical turn-the world-upside-down story if ever there was one. On one hand it makes no sense at all, while on the other hand it touches the very deepest questions and struggles that diversely characterize our common humanity.
I have not belonged to church in the traditional sense for a number of years now. In that sense I’m a wayfarer, although one inclined toward the breadth and width of the Anglican tradition. Like many for whom church is at best irrelevant, I struggle too (as an ‘outsider’), yet continue to wonder what needs to change in order for the church to again embody and communicate an alternative story and ways of being human that again communicate “good news”. I also wonder about the resources the Christian tradition has to offer to those, like me, for whom questions about religion and spirituality are “stepping stones” and thus a means of exploration and adventure. Life, spirituality, religion and the deeper realities of being human are a lot more interesting and a lot more relevant than many people imagine. All kinds of reasons propel us on this journey. I have my own.
That said, not all are interested in the kinds of questions I ask or the paths I take, but many are. I’m not pushing anything; I don’t push anything; I’m simply offering something of my journey and something of what I discover along the way. Some will laugh, but others will be quietly thankful and will begin their own journey’s home, just like the prodigal son in a story Jesus of Nazareth told a long time ago"
Comments
I've had several major life changing experiences in the past few years, as I inch ever closer to 50. Divorce 4 years ago, and job loss, and my mom's death in the past two weeks have only pulled me in tighter to my Christian faith, and caused me to wonder how anyone can traverse these life moments without faith.
Going to church in the US looks much different than it did in the 60's and 70's when I was a kid.
Worshiping on old wooden dusty pews in the shadows of giant stained glass windows has become an endangered experience, best shared as a sentimental morning with your parents. That is not to say that I do not appreciate the old churches. They are often magnificent.
But the advent of Mega-churches serving out of auditoriums has made the old churches seem like antiques. Perhaps slightly less so when the older churches roll out their 11am "contemporary service"
It could be argued that these are Church-Lite, soft-pedaling a much more user-friendly tone and challenge than the church cultures of the past. Our grandparents heard weekly "fire and brimstone" sermons. The weekly messages we hear at today's churches ask us to help others, join a small group, and simply accept Christ as your savior, and Heaven is yours.
What if Grandpa's preacher was right, and today's society isn't trying hard enough to serve?
Having said all that, I have crawled my way back in my personal spiritual journey through a mega-church, and I still attend one. I get nourished, and often challenged there, but my faith does not exist in the church building, just as my hunger does not exist in a restaurant.
But I have to say that the mega-churches are attracting, and inspiring so many previously un-churched and non-practicing Christians, that you have to appreciate the seeking nature of these churches, which is turning the un-churched into passionate servers of Christ.
Perhaps, as cyclical as America is, older church services will "come back in style", and we won't have to tear down all the antique churches, or turn them into condos.
Sorry Jill....not so much a comment, as a questionably uninformed diatribe.
But then again, this is about conversations....jay
ps..Debbie says hi.