Going To Church
Mar. 12th, 2012 10:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mlerulesSo, yesterday was only my 5th ever time attending a regular religious service (as in not one for a transitional life event: baptism, confirmation, bar/bat mitzvah, wedding, or funeral/memorial service). (Unless something else's slipped outta one of the slots in my steel sieve-brain. Hmm, I'm gonna give my dad a call later today, as I seem to recall years ago him taking me/us to temple somewhere in SF for some social stuff that might've included something somewhat more religious that I might not've noticed as such at the time.)
My first time was in the summer of 1983, when living in NH w/boyfriend D and his bro T chez his 'rents. Driving around one afternoon, we stumbled upon a tent revival. Having nothing else to do, we went in and watched a fascinating sermon/service punctuated by folks being called by God and filled by the holy spirit, speaking in tongues, writhing on the ground, and the like. Fascinating. We sat near the back and eventually bailed before becoming the focus of attention.
Later that year, on 12/25/83 to be precise, after D & T & I had moved (each separately) to SoCal, I ended up at a Roman Catholic mass. D&T's mom was in town b'c T was in (or had shortly gotten out of - cannot quite remember the timing) a coma. She really wanted to go and having us along was important to her, so my BF and I accompanied her. 'Twas far more formal than the tent revival, but I suppose the Spirit(s) was(/were ;-) still present.
Sometime in the past decade, when I still lived in SoCal (so over 5 years ago), I accompanied some friends to an Episcopal service in Lompoc, CA one Sunday morning, as they were friends w/the priest. More recently, I attended a good Solstice service led by a Pagan priest friend o' mine at a UU church up in WA (honoring the 7th? plank/Earth-based religions).
Just yesterday, I went to a United Methodist Church service down in Springfield, OR (outside Eugene) w/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jaylake and the_child. I quite liked the music and the opportunity to sing along all together. The sermon/topic was about the Holy Spirit. 'Twas interesting, 'specially when the kids trooped in from (presumably) Sunday school for a sermonette at their level which included (marvelously enough) making balloon animals as an analogy for the wind/air/Holy Spirit filling one and breathing life/holyness/whatEVER into a person.
I don't believe in God, but I do believe in PASSION, in being filled w/a desire to...to create, to write, to paint, to do something to bridge the existential gaps 'tween people, to widen appreciation of the commonality 'tween folks, to share joy (and thereby expand it), to share grief or pain (and thereby lessen it), to shine lights on paths, to create community, to make something bigger (and better) than merely myself.
Where do I go to fill myself up w/this desire, to imbue myself w/this holy spirit? Nature. Music. Sometimes it's a solitary pastime. Other times it's in a group, but not a group w/that as its focus necessarily.
Okay. I'm inspired to go out in the wind in an bit and see what blows my way (and what cobwebs get blown away in the process).
Realizing that I do indeed have energy (spirit ;-), 'cept it's not always obvious and sometimes gets tamped down. I want to figure out how better to release it, regain it, refresh it, and put it to good use (good works)...
My first time was in the summer of 1983, when living in NH w/boyfriend D and his bro T chez his 'rents. Driving around one afternoon, we stumbled upon a tent revival. Having nothing else to do, we went in and watched a fascinating sermon/service punctuated by folks being called by God and filled by the holy spirit, speaking in tongues, writhing on the ground, and the like. Fascinating. We sat near the back and eventually bailed before becoming the focus of attention.
Later that year, on 12/25/83 to be precise, after D & T & I had moved (each separately) to SoCal, I ended up at a Roman Catholic mass. D&T's mom was in town b'c T was in (or had shortly gotten out of - cannot quite remember the timing) a coma. She really wanted to go and having us along was important to her, so my BF and I accompanied her. 'Twas far more formal than the tent revival, but I suppose the Spirit(s) was(/were ;-) still present.
Sometime in the past decade, when I still lived in SoCal (so over 5 years ago), I accompanied some friends to an Episcopal service in Lompoc, CA one Sunday morning, as they were friends w/the priest. More recently, I attended a good Solstice service led by a Pagan priest friend o' mine at a UU church up in WA (honoring the 7th? plank/Earth-based religions).
Just yesterday, I went to a United Methodist Church service down in Springfield, OR (outside Eugene) w/
jaylake and the_child. I quite liked the music and the opportunity to sing along all together. The sermon/topic was about the Holy Spirit. 'Twas interesting, 'specially when the kids trooped in from (presumably) Sunday school for a sermonette at their level which included (marvelously enough) making balloon animals as an analogy for the wind/air/Holy Spirit filling one and breathing life/holyness/whatEVER into a person. I don't believe in God, but I do believe in PASSION, in being filled w/a desire to...to create, to write, to paint, to do something to bridge the existential gaps 'tween people, to widen appreciation of the commonality 'tween folks, to share joy (and thereby expand it), to share grief or pain (and thereby lessen it), to shine lights on paths, to create community, to make something bigger (and better) than merely myself.
Where do I go to fill myself up w/this desire, to imbue myself w/this holy spirit? Nature. Music. Sometimes it's a solitary pastime. Other times it's in a group, but not a group w/that as its focus necessarily.
Okay. I'm inspired to go out in the wind in an bit and see what blows my way (and what cobwebs get blown away in the process).
Realizing that I do indeed have energy (spirit ;-), 'cept it's not always obvious and sometimes gets tamped down. I want to figure out how better to release it, regain it, refresh it, and put it to good use (good works)...
