This week I was in Olympia, finishing up the last evaluation conferences for college. As of now, I am all set to graduate. While I was down in Olympia I set up visiting one of my friend's Church. She is a member of Saint Benedict Episcopal Church.
On the way to the Church we talked about life, religion, school and my post graduation plans. It was wonderful catching up with her again. She is like a Great Aunt to me and I care about her friendship andperspective deeply. Like me she's a bit of a searcher in regards to understanding God and the Universe, and both of us come from divorced families. I've done a few contracts with her and the campus minister which is what our friendship arose out of.
The sermon was powerful. The deacon, an older woman preached on the story of the blind man who Jesus heals, and the ending comment he makes about the blindness of the pharisee...which she explained had to do with all of our blindness. The deacon preached from personal experience of growing up with prejudice against gay and transgender people (the Priest is a lesbian at Saint Benedict's and for a while there was conflict in the congregation over it, leading to some people joining the Anglican Church nearby). Many of the people came back, echoing the Deacon's own story of overcoming her blindness towards her fellow human beings through God and getting to know people whom are gay. It was a powerful sermon and was one of the best ones I have heard anywhere.
The service happened on the fourth Sunday of Lent, and reflected this. The main Priest did the Children's Sermon and preached to them about silence as one of the Lenten guides. "What is the color of silence? What does silence mean?" These questions the kids had great answers too. For the color silence, most answers were black and one answer was white. For the answer to the second question, "Expecting, anxiousness" essentially possibility. This was something that I had only seen at Eastshore Unitarian Church with "The Story for all Ages." It was nice and a good way to get kids involved in the service before they went to Sunday school.
It was one of the best masses I have attended and embraced the Lenten themes so beautifully. Beyond the liturgical practices of saying the ten commandments, a psalm, and the Eucharist. "The Prayers to the People," was done in which the prayer to God for the members of the faith and the world were done. The people in the audience answered by solemnly singing, "Kyrie, kyrie, eleison." During service I felt that creative connection in which images came with connection...characters from stories and creatures from mythology. I've come to understand when this occurs I feel the most connection to place, and maybe something more? I don't know. I always question since it has happened in more then one faith community.
After the service I met many of my friend's friends. It was great getting to know many of them and how they are involved with the church. Talking to so many people about part of my story, and hearing their stories was a gift. The greatest gift of this blog is the experience with the unknown and people. The good and the bad. I say the bad because there was a guy around my age who said when he'd see me next I better know Jesus. Whether it was joking or not, it was polar opposite of the reactions I received before, and reminded me of the Catholic Exorcist at the Newman Center who believed the Church had done no wrong.What I know is that I can act with that arrogance as well. The experiences that are uncomfortable are just as relevant times for self reflection as the times of peace.
It was a wonderful visit and I look forward to returning when I come back to Olympia to visit again. I have realized now...if ever I converted to Christianity and became a believer, I would be an Episcopal. This is the faith that is most likely to have gay marriage soon and is one of the greatest faiths for helping other believers overcome the prejudice and fear in the name of love towards gays by many Christians. We all have the power to help others overcome that prejudice, but it's the believers who speak the language of experience that can help others understand, and use the language of what Christian's know as the "Word of God" to do so.
On the way to the Church we talked about life, religion, school and my post graduation plans. It was wonderful catching up with her again. She is like a Great Aunt to me and I care about her friendship and
The sermon was powerful. The deacon, an older woman preached on the story of the blind man who Jesus heals, and the ending comment he makes about the blindness of the pharisee...which she explained had to do with all of our blindness. The deacon preached from personal experience of growing up with prejudice against gay and transgender people (the Priest is a lesbian at Saint Benedict's and for a while there was conflict in the congregation over it, leading to some people joining the Anglican Church nearby). Many of the people came back, echoing the Deacon's own story of overcoming her blindness towards her fellow human beings through God and getting to know people whom are gay. It was a powerful sermon and was one of the best ones I have heard anywhere.
The service happened on the fourth Sunday of Lent, and reflected this. The main Priest did the Children's Sermon and preached to them about silence as one of the Lenten guides. "What is the color of silence? What does silence mean?" These questions the kids had great answers too. For the color silence, most answers were black and one answer was white. For the answer to the second question, "Expecting, anxiousness" essentially possibility. This was something that I had only seen at Eastshore Unitarian Church with "The Story for all Ages." It was nice and a good way to get kids involved in the service before they went to Sunday school.
It was one of the best masses I have attended and embraced the Lenten themes so beautifully. Beyond the liturgical practices of saying the ten commandments, a psalm, and the Eucharist. "The Prayers to the People," was done in which the prayer to God for the members of the faith and the world were done. The people in the audience answered by solemnly singing, "Kyrie, kyrie, eleison." During service I felt that creative connection in which images came with connection...characters from stories and creatures from mythology. I've come to understand when this occurs I feel the most connection to place, and maybe something more? I don't know. I always question since it has happened in more then one faith community.
After the service I met many of my friend's friends. It was great getting to know many of them and how they are involved with the church. Talking to so many people about part of my story, and hearing their stories was a gift. The greatest gift of this blog is the experience with the unknown and people. The good and the bad. I say the bad because there was a guy around my age who said when he'd see me next I better know Jesus. Whether it was joking or not, it was polar opposite of the reactions I received before, and reminded me of the Catholic Exorcist at the Newman Center who believed the Church had done no wrong.What I know is that I can act with that arrogance as well. The experiences that are uncomfortable are just as relevant times for self reflection as the times of peace.
It was a wonderful visit and I look forward to returning when I come back to Olympia to visit again. I have realized now...if ever I converted to Christianity and became a believer, I would be an Episcopal. This is the faith that is most likely to have gay marriage soon and is one of the greatest faiths for helping other believers overcome the prejudice and fear in the name of love towards gays by many Christians. We all have the power to help others overcome that prejudice, but it's the believers who speak the language of experience that can help others understand, and use the language of what Christian's know as the "Word of God" to do so.
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