Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sunday Reflection: faith of the outsider
Spending time at BYU this week has put me again in a strange and useful position: outsider. As a Baptist In Waco, I am part of a majority. As a Baptist in Provo, Utah... Not so much. As usual, my bit pf time as an outsider among those of kind spirit and strong conviction was a time of spiritual growth. Those moments in the minority put us in the position of crystalizing our faith, as we define or defend it to others.
It is also wonderfully humbling. In Park City, I have often gone to a tiny Catholic Church on the mountainside. The time comes for communion, and I step aside and refrain, as I must. That humbling event is deeply moving to me. It reminds me of how Christianity is not an easy faith, and is not supposed to be, and that the complexities of it have always humbled we believers. The truth is, as I step aside in deference to a Catholic orthodoxy that is not my own, that may be the time I am most truly being a Christian.
It is also wonderfully humbling. In Park City, I have often gone to a tiny Catholic Church on the mountainside. The time comes for communion, and I step aside and refrain, as I must. That humbling event is deeply moving to me. It reminds me of how Christianity is not an easy faith, and is not supposed to be, and that the complexities of it have always humbled we believers. The truth is, as I step aside in deference to a Catholic orthodoxy that is not my own, that may be the time I am most truly being a Christian.
Comments:
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i truthfully adore your own posting taste, very remarkable,
don't give up and keep penning considering it just that is worth to read it.
looking forward to browse through far more of your own stories, have a good one!
don't give up and keep penning considering it just that is worth to read it.
looking forward to browse through far more of your own stories, have a good one!
# posted by 
: 10:05 AM
: 10:05 AM 
Don't worry Osler, if you want to attend a Catholic church here in Dallas, I'll gladly go with you and refrain from communion as well. Though I'll be doing it because I'm an old-school Catholic that often doesn't feel worthy to receive it.
Many Catholics today forget that it is supposed to be a gift from God and take it when they please, having never confessed their sins since first communion and not really evaluating their lives to decide if they are deserving each time.
If they feel worthy to receive then by all means they should go, but I don't always have that feeling. When I do though, getting communion does have a remarkable effect on my week.
I like the fact that you explore your faith through other religions and that you are respectful of the beliefs that you encounter. I think we could all agree on a lot more if people took the time to learn and in turn all become more Christian together.
I trust you know that this blog is a vehicle for that in many ways.
Many Catholics today forget that it is supposed to be a gift from God and take it when they please, having never confessed their sins since first communion and not really evaluating their lives to decide if they are deserving each time.
If they feel worthy to receive then by all means they should go, but I don't always have that feeling. When I do though, getting communion does have a remarkable effect on my week.
I like the fact that you explore your faith through other religions and that you are respectful of the beliefs that you encounter. I think we could all agree on a lot more if people took the time to learn and in turn all become more Christian together.
I trust you know that this blog is a vehicle for that in many ways.
# posted by : 11:53 AM
: 11:53 AM
"I truthfully adore your posting taste. Considering it just that it is worth to read it.
Looking forward to browse through far more of your own stores."
Really, who writes these things?
Looking forward to browse through far more of your own stores."
Really, who writes these things?
Micah, the Chinese likely write them. Well, the Chinese and the Russians. A lot of the time they're just spam messages posted to any website that allows user-generated entries without any oversight. On some sites, some of this text can be made to launch a script on a click, or provide a hyperlink to some website that will infect one's computer with malware. However, on blogs, you just end up with this gibberish. I get them on my blogs on about a 6-1 ratio of spam-to-actual-content, but I have unfiltered posting turned off by default to prevent just such a thing from happening.
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