I went to usher for my old choral group this weekend (it was gratifying that they asked if I were coming back, but I'm not eager to return to being yelled at on Monday nights until 10pm). There was a lot of jazz in the concert, which was held at a local Catholic church. So my eyes were full of the crucifix, and the Virgin Mother, and the stained glass, while my ears were full of diminished thirds and musical puns. It was initially jarring, and then somehow, it was suitable.
I went to meeting for worship this morning, and heard a fellow member talk about how life-affirming was the period of April and May in the Delaware Valley; another spoke about the need for justice. And it came to me that religion is the place we take the stuff that makes us most human, whether it be compassion, art, gratitude, or sorrow for sin, or the hunger for justice. I was moved to speak on that. Since I don't believe in God the Father, Son, Holy Ghost, or whatever, I've been hard put to come up with a reason why I've been moved to go back to church... but I think this is it; it's that church is the place where we respect, celebrate, honor... whatever verb fits... that about us which is human. It is hugely important, and at the same time it is very nearly nothing at all.
I got the impression from another member's response that he didn't think that my thoughts, or most of the others in the meeting today, fit with his idea of religion. I'm sure they don't. I've not found another place to take them, however, and, until I'm told otherwise, to meeting is where I will take them. (Another member indicated privately that she thought I had spoken her mind, so I'm sure there are more sides than one in this discussion... and the Quakers pride themselves on inclusiveness, so I'm not worried about giving them a bit of a stretch.)
The concert was great, by the way. You wish you had been there.
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