I didn't go to church on Holy Thursday this year because I was scheduled for shows. I didn't think I would mind, but I did. Mostly because in the past year I found a church community that takes the feet washing to a new level. That may seem weird and uncomfortable to some people, but it's exactly the hands-on version of Catholic theology that I relate to so well.
"You're not a real Catholic," Jeremy said recently with an air of surprise, "you're like a strange Christian- hippie hybrid." *
I guess I am. It doesn't help (or should I say that it doesn't hurt?) that during Lent this year instead of revisiting The Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales, (as I have done in years past) I instead read:
- If God is Love, Phillip Gulley and Jim Mulholland
- If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus, Phillip Gulley
and excerpts from
- The Women's Bible, Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Throughout the years I have had periods in which I have taken great comfort and pride in the church. I have also had periods, difficult to shake, where I am embarrassed, ashamed, saddened and troubled by the church. But I've always retained my membership. I've never not been Catholic. The same is true now. Although, now I am more comfortable than I have ever been just defining myself as a Christian-Catholic Hybrid. **
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* This is because I told Jeremy I like to pray in the woods. He doesn't even know about the feet washing.
** If we have to have definitions. Which we don't. Because that's, like, just The Man trying to keep you down. Let's go burn our draft cards. And our bras. And the tip of this joint.
No comments:
Post a Comment