A Hubble Space Telescope photograph of the universe evokes far more awe for creation than light streaming through a stained glass window in a cathedral.
Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer
My personal faith journey began in a Methodist church in a very small town in middle Georgia. The light streaming into the sanctuary through the stain glass windows literally painted a picture of worship for the young child in me, but to tell the truth, I don't remember what biblical scenes they depicted. Later, church was further defined by a chancel choir, fully robed and stoled, accompanied by nothing but an organ. Robes and stain glass windows.
For years, church didn't seem like church to me if there were no stain glass windows or choir robes in sight. Talk about narrow-minded! Maybe that's why it's called a journey, starts and stops as we move toward our destination.
This year, I've participated in worship at a community mega-church, complete with with rock music, raised hands, and flashing lights. And I've attended mass in a small catholic church, replete with incense, wine, and Eucharist. Talk about polar! Not necessarily bad, just vastly different.
Maybe I've been slowly inching towards this epiphany for a while. There are some things I feel passionately about, no gray areas. It's my belief system, and I share it when it seems appropriate. But it's my belief system and I don't expect everyone else to share it completely. In my world, I've learned that I can love people whether we share the same exact confessions of faith or not.
I've also been learning that worship can look different from what I prefer and still be worship. So can patriotism, and education, and family, and many other foundational paradigms. I've been learning it's not my job to judge and compel, it's my job to love, help and accept others as much as I would like the same from them.
What are you learning more about and to accept? Are you like me, sometimes confused, sometimes convicted? How has the process changed your perspective?
For years, church didn't seem like church to me if there were no stain glass windows or choir robes in sight. Talk about narrow-minded! Maybe that's why it's called a journey, starts and stops as we move toward our destination.
This year, I've participated in worship at a community mega-church, complete with with rock music, raised hands, and flashing lights. And I've attended mass in a small catholic church, replete with incense, wine, and Eucharist. Talk about polar! Not necessarily bad, just vastly different.
Maybe I've been slowly inching towards this epiphany for a while. There are some things I feel passionately about, no gray areas. It's my belief system, and I share it when it seems appropriate. But it's my belief system and I don't expect everyone else to share it completely. In my world, I've learned that I can love people whether we share the same exact confessions of faith or not.
I've also been learning that worship can look different from what I prefer and still be worship. So can patriotism, and education, and family, and many other foundational paradigms. I've been learning it's not my job to judge and compel, it's my job to love, help and accept others as much as I would like the same from them.
What are you learning more about and to accept? Are you like me, sometimes confused, sometimes convicted? How has the process changed your perspective?
John 4:21-23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
RSS Feed