Beware! A long post about Christianity!
Apr. 4th, 2005 08:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jianantonicHey there sports fan! It's opening day! I am immensely excited and plan to sit on my ass watching baseball for a good portion of the day.
There's still nothing interesting on CNN - they're still just overcovering the pope's death. Speaking of the pope, Jeremy and I talked about church yesterday. I came to some interesting realizations. It all started with a discussion about how our kids would be raised. I say if they want to go to church we'll take them, and if they don't, we don't have to. They will get a huge religious education at home anyway, because Mommy and Daddy talk about spirituality more than anything else. (Jer and I have started calling each other Mommy and Daddy in reference to the cats.) We talked about how going to church did nothing for me as a child, although I think Brethren kids are different. By and large, of all the Brethren people I know (and I know oodles of them), most of them attended church voluntarily and regularly all through their childhoods and now adult lives. So I guess it's helpful to find a kid-friendly church. But there's no doubt our children will learn a lot about religion in everyday conversation around the house. I'm glad we're like that.
Another thing I realized about religion is that I never knew anything about denominations when I was a kid. Occassionally I went to churches that weren't Episcopal, and when I did, I was like, "Mom! They forgot to do communion!" Not that I knew the importance of communion at all, it's just that I knew it's something we did every Sunday, and more importantly, it meant church was almost over. I didn't know our church did things differently from any other church - if they did, it was just oversight to me. The only way I distinguished our church from any other was that it was the "don't touch the railing church." The communion rails were brass and my mom was on the altar guild (or altagill as I called it) team that polished them every week. I'd come with her to altar guild, and if I got fingerprints on the brass, about a zillion old ladies would shriek in horror. Again, not because the altar was sacred or anything - because it was brass. So I didn't even know that I was growing up Episcopal. I thought Christians were Christians and the only reason people went to different churches was that no church was big enough for EVERYONE. And when I did learn that I was Episcopal, and I learned what Catholics were, I used to shun Catholicism like mad. Little did I know, Episcopals pretty much ARE Catholics, they can just get divorces and have sex even if they're clergy. Even though I went to church every Sunday of my childhood, went to Sunday school, and participated in youth group, I never knew some of the (most of the) most basic things about Christianity and the structure of the church.
I got to thinking about my parents' religion. They are devoted to the church. They go every week, and volunteer through church programs regularly. My dad is an usher, works grounds maintenance on Saturdays, serves dinner at the Salvation Army on Fridays, and works almost daily with Habitat for Humanity. My mom is the leader of her altar guild team, works in the nursery, goes with Dad to the Salvation Army every Friday, and volunteers in the Schoolhouse Thrift Shop almost full time. They tithe 10%. All of these extra curriculars are organized through the church. And yet, I never thought of my parents as religious people. I don't think either one of them has ever so much as read, let alone studied, any parts of the Bible. They certainly never have outside of Sunday school. I don't think even they know the difference between Episcopal and anything else, because they've never been to anything else. They honor God by wearing their finest clothes and jewelry each Sunday, but especially on Christmas and Easter. Honestly, I think my parents go to church and do all their volunteering not because they're Christian, but because that's what they're supposed to do. They are the old Virginia aristocracy. They are expected to attend church on Sundays and host gatherings of churchgoers at their home during the week (which they also do). They go because they always have gone. What does it mean to be a Christian? You go to church!
Now, I'm not saying my parents aren't Christians, or that they're bad Christians. I just think they are ignorant of what it really means. They certainly never taught me, and neither did anyone else. In all my years of churchgoing, this is basically how it broke down:
I was baptized, through no choice or recollection of my own, as an infant. Apparently this meant I was saved.
People told me "You love God." Apparently this meant I was saved.
People told me I had to go to church, because I'm a Christian. Apparently this meant I was saved.
People told me I'm a Christian because I go to church. Apparently this meant I was saved.
When I was 13, the youth minister called me and told me it was time to get confirmed, because I'm a Christian and I'm at the right age. Apparently this meant I could be saved.
When I was 19, I started taking religion courses and finally started to learn about the religion I'd long since abandonned. Apparently, none of that crap meant I was saved, or otherwise. It just meant I wasn't free on Sunday.
Now, I'm a Christian. I'm not Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist, or even Brethren. I'm just someone who studies what it means and tries to act on it. I read the Bible, I read other stuff, I talk to people who know more about it than I do, I talk to God, and I grow and learn daily. It doesn't have to be Sunday to think about God, and you don't have to be in church to learn and grow as a Christian. There are some churches (okay, lots of them) that I'd argue make you less of a Christian. I don't think Jesus gives a rat's ass if I had a few drops of water sprinkled on me or if I take part in the rituals of the eucharist and all that hooha. I think Jesus would like to see me try my hand at being a good person - but even if I fail, I think Jesus and God and all those higher powers that make these decisions are benevolent enough to "save" me anyway. The whole concept of salvation is a whole other epic journal entry of itself, so I will abstain for now. I will just say that I am at peace with what I consider my religion, and I love discussing it and learning more each day. There is one person I have to thank more than any other for what I consider to be the best change of my adult life, and that is Jeremy. This, among many other things, is what makes him my favorite husband ever:)
Peace.
There's still nothing interesting on CNN - they're still just overcovering the pope's death. Speaking of the pope, Jeremy and I talked about church yesterday. I came to some interesting realizations. It all started with a discussion about how our kids would be raised. I say if they want to go to church we'll take them, and if they don't, we don't have to. They will get a huge religious education at home anyway, because Mommy and Daddy talk about spirituality more than anything else. (Jer and I have started calling each other Mommy and Daddy in reference to the cats.) We talked about how going to church did nothing for me as a child, although I think Brethren kids are different. By and large, of all the Brethren people I know (and I know oodles of them), most of them attended church voluntarily and regularly all through their childhoods and now adult lives. So I guess it's helpful to find a kid-friendly church. But there's no doubt our children will learn a lot about religion in everyday conversation around the house. I'm glad we're like that.
Another thing I realized about religion is that I never knew anything about denominations when I was a kid. Occassionally I went to churches that weren't Episcopal, and when I did, I was like, "Mom! They forgot to do communion!" Not that I knew the importance of communion at all, it's just that I knew it's something we did every Sunday, and more importantly, it meant church was almost over. I didn't know our church did things differently from any other church - if they did, it was just oversight to me. The only way I distinguished our church from any other was that it was the "don't touch the railing church." The communion rails were brass and my mom was on the altar guild (or altagill as I called it) team that polished them every week. I'd come with her to altar guild, and if I got fingerprints on the brass, about a zillion old ladies would shriek in horror. Again, not because the altar was sacred or anything - because it was brass. So I didn't even know that I was growing up Episcopal. I thought Christians were Christians and the only reason people went to different churches was that no church was big enough for EVERYONE. And when I did learn that I was Episcopal, and I learned what Catholics were, I used to shun Catholicism like mad. Little did I know, Episcopals pretty much ARE Catholics, they can just get divorces and have sex even if they're clergy. Even though I went to church every Sunday of my childhood, went to Sunday school, and participated in youth group, I never knew some of the (most of the) most basic things about Christianity and the structure of the church.
I got to thinking about my parents' religion. They are devoted to the church. They go every week, and volunteer through church programs regularly. My dad is an usher, works grounds maintenance on Saturdays, serves dinner at the Salvation Army on Fridays, and works almost daily with Habitat for Humanity. My mom is the leader of her altar guild team, works in the nursery, goes with Dad to the Salvation Army every Friday, and volunteers in the Schoolhouse Thrift Shop almost full time. They tithe 10%. All of these extra curriculars are organized through the church. And yet, I never thought of my parents as religious people. I don't think either one of them has ever so much as read, let alone studied, any parts of the Bible. They certainly never have outside of Sunday school. I don't think even they know the difference between Episcopal and anything else, because they've never been to anything else. They honor God by wearing their finest clothes and jewelry each Sunday, but especially on Christmas and Easter. Honestly, I think my parents go to church and do all their volunteering not because they're Christian, but because that's what they're supposed to do. They are the old Virginia aristocracy. They are expected to attend church on Sundays and host gatherings of churchgoers at their home during the week (which they also do). They go because they always have gone. What does it mean to be a Christian? You go to church!
Now, I'm not saying my parents aren't Christians, or that they're bad Christians. I just think they are ignorant of what it really means. They certainly never taught me, and neither did anyone else. In all my years of churchgoing, this is basically how it broke down:
I was baptized, through no choice or recollection of my own, as an infant. Apparently this meant I was saved.
People told me "You love God." Apparently this meant I was saved.
People told me I had to go to church, because I'm a Christian. Apparently this meant I was saved.
People told me I'm a Christian because I go to church. Apparently this meant I was saved.
When I was 13, the youth minister called me and told me it was time to get confirmed, because I'm a Christian and I'm at the right age. Apparently this meant I could be saved.
When I was 19, I started taking religion courses and finally started to learn about the religion I'd long since abandonned. Apparently, none of that crap meant I was saved, or otherwise. It just meant I wasn't free on Sunday.
Now, I'm a Christian. I'm not Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist, or even Brethren. I'm just someone who studies what it means and tries to act on it. I read the Bible, I read other stuff, I talk to people who know more about it than I do, I talk to God, and I grow and learn daily. It doesn't have to be Sunday to think about God, and you don't have to be in church to learn and grow as a Christian. There are some churches (okay, lots of them) that I'd argue make you less of a Christian. I don't think Jesus gives a rat's ass if I had a few drops of water sprinkled on me or if I take part in the rituals of the eucharist and all that hooha. I think Jesus would like to see me try my hand at being a good person - but even if I fail, I think Jesus and God and all those higher powers that make these decisions are benevolent enough to "save" me anyway. The whole concept of salvation is a whole other epic journal entry of itself, so I will abstain for now. I will just say that I am at peace with what I consider my religion, and I love discussing it and learning more each day. There is one person I have to thank more than any other for what I consider to be the best change of my adult life, and that is Jeremy. This, among many other things, is what makes him my favorite husband ever:)
Peace.
