Things as they really are
Sometimes I think about things as they really are.
Many years ago, in a Trader Joe's in Arlington, Massachusetts, I was chatting with the mother of one of my children's classmates. We were newish to town and she was asking what my husband did. In some places, saying that your husband is a pastor is like a big scratch on the record. A pastor? I actually had another friend ask me, "So, what is he doing right now? I mean, as a pastor, what is he doing now? Is he praying?" Fair question, I suppose.
Anyway, the lady in Trader Joe's. We got to talking about church and how we went to church every week. She said, "Wow! I would love to bring my kids to see that sometime! I just want them to grow up knowing that there are actually people in the world who do that."
Who do that. Who do what? Who worship?
Guess what? We all worship. You worship. Maybe not God. But you worship something.
Another neighbor in the same town was bowled over by the amount of time we gave to going to church every single week. HOURS! We were at church until after lunchtime!
The more I thought about my friends' and neighbors' ideas about our church attendance, I realized that going to worship the one true God, every week, with other believers was (and is) the most real, most true, most essential part of my anything I ever do. And not just in a week, but in my life. But also in a week.
Acknowledging that I am a creature, singing with others, confessing my natural antagonism toward God as well as my discrete sins, hearing of the true nature of things as well as my place in the world, being reminded of how God feels about me, singing more, sharing a life-giving meal every week. This shows me things as they really are. This is reality.
Many years ago, in a Trader Joe's in Arlington, Massachusetts, I was chatting with the mother of one of my children's classmates. We were newish to town and she was asking what my husband did. In some places, saying that your husband is a pastor is like a big scratch on the record. A pastor? I actually had another friend ask me, "So, what is he doing right now? I mean, as a pastor, what is he doing now? Is he praying?" Fair question, I suppose.
Anyway, the lady in Trader Joe's. We got to talking about church and how we went to church every week. She said, "Wow! I would love to bring my kids to see that sometime! I just want them to grow up knowing that there are actually people in the world who do that."
Who do that. Who do what? Who worship?
Guess what? We all worship. You worship. Maybe not God. But you worship something.
Another neighbor in the same town was bowled over by the amount of time we gave to going to church every single week. HOURS! We were at church until after lunchtime!
The more I thought about my friends' and neighbors' ideas about our church attendance, I realized that going to worship the one true God, every week, with other believers was (and is) the most real, most true, most essential part of my anything I ever do. And not just in a week, but in my life. But also in a week.
Acknowledging that I am a creature, singing with others, confessing my natural antagonism toward God as well as my discrete sins, hearing of the true nature of things as well as my place in the world, being reminded of how God feels about me, singing more, sharing a life-giving meal every week. This shows me things as they really are. This is reality.
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