We
are aware that this might not be your first choice of where to be spending your
time today. Perhaps you are here against your will. “Mom guilt” is a powerful
force in the universe. Some of you may not even be sure if you believe in God
anymore or that our spiritual life is real, or important, or worth investing
time and energy into.
If
this is where you are at, I hear you. Because truth be told: Jesus has officially been confiscated; His
teachings twisted by corrupt politicians and wayward religious leaders for
years. As a result, even the utterance of the name “Jesus” in any public forum
is often received with disdain; perceived by most as distasteful and
inappropriate; sometimes even more offensive than the strongest of curse words.
Even I – the Director
of Religious Education here – sometimes find discussion about “religion” repellant.
Talk of church is sometimes such a turn-off that it makes me queasy. No lie.
Jesus, a hero by any measure (even for those who do not recognize him as God),
is badly in need of a new Public Relations manager.
But here’s the thing. I believe with
everything I’ve got that our relationship and understanding of God (aka: our
spiritual life) whether it is strong and healthy or wimpy and ill-informed effects
us more than any other aspect of our life. I believe that
tradition is to a community what memory is to an individual. I value being part
of the 2000 years+ long continuum of our faith tradition that continues to try
and figure out what God is all about and why we are here. I enjoy our
collective pondering of these big questions even though most days I think we
have about as much insight as an ant trying to figure out astrophysics.
Nonetheless, I find beauty and meaning here.
So, the way I see it,
it is my job is to make a good case for choosing to hang your hat here. That is
what I’m hired by this community to do. So let me throw a piece of spaghetti on
the wall and see if it sticks…
We
Catholics hold a very strong conviction that God wishes to communicate with us.
How and where? First and foremost, in what God has made; namely creation
itself; all of nature, animals, plants, the stars and the incredible expanse of
time and space of which we are a part.
Second,
we hear God in the bible, which is more of a library than a book. Don’t start
on page one or you’ll never make it. Rather, start with the Gospel of Matthew
or Luke. You can read either one in its entirety in about an hour – and then
you can say you have read the entire story of Jesus first hand, not filtered by
anyone else.
Third,
we hear God in the collective wisdom of the church; the living, changing, growing
tradition of our community. Doctrine can and DOES change, but not if everyone
with a brain in their head takes their toys and goes home.
Finally,
we hear God by listening to our own experiences and inner workings: our mind, our
will, memory, imagination, feelings, desires – all these are actually designed
to sense the presence of God in our lives. So if we listen to our deepest
longings, this is where God communicates with us. Our job is to get quiet (aka
“pray”) and listen for that small, still voice within us.
So, if this resonates
with you at all, call me or email me, Lisa Brown, at dre@ctredeemer.org
and give me a shot at doing my job (a billable hour at Starbucks? Yes please!)
Happy Easter P.S. There are worse motivations than pleasing Mom. Glad you are
here.
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