This has been an interesting month in regards to people evangelizing to me about their faith in Issaquah. The first involved an older woman who had lost her social security, and the second involved Mormon Missionaries. I'll also leave a little blurb for facebook friends who have evangelized this month too.
The older woman is a woman I've seen at the Issaquah library when I go there on lunch breaks during work. She always greets everyone (including cars) with a "Have a great day," She is definitely kind and unique. The time she did what I would call missionary work or experience is when she gave my coworker and I poetry about Jesus. She told us, "Food for thought," and then left. Apparently others have had this experience with her too as far as her expressing her faith in any social situation or environment. If you drop by Issaquah and the library you'll probably meet her.
The second experience was also at the library, except outside of it since it was closed. I had just gotten off work and was reading "The Adventures of Telemachus," a great book and one of my current favorites now by Louis Aragon when two Mormon missionaries dropped by. We talked about mythology for a while and they attempted to try and get me to talk about the Church, my reasons for leaving and unbelief were not a conversation I exactly wanted to have so I told them if I had any questions I'd just ask my Dad's family who is almost all Mormon (not to mention just recall memory from when I was growing up and do research). So they asked if I wanted a prayer and who for...My life is great, I don't need anything really. I have an amazing support network, I currently don't have any physical or mental ailments and there are people who honestly deserve others thoughts and actions a lot more than me. So I asked them to pray for the Philippines and those going through the Tsunami and other disasters. It was there the two young guys did the prayer and I used to remember too (and think of best action to take to help those going through that suffering). After they gave me a card the Bellevue Festival of the Nativity, hosted by the Mormon Church (may go for nostalgia, nativity shows were a staple growing up in Elementary school during the Holiday season). They went on their way.
The third thing I've noticed is evangelizing by friends. Most are of the Catholic and Evangelical Christian variety, with a few Mormon family members also doing a post or two, and the majority of the time it is the person doing it by facing the reasons they believe and the honesty in facing themselves, or part of the work they are doing within a community. It is not always the case though, sometimes it can involve targeting of a group such as going against the gay community or sharing links of those who are...and I have trouble seeing how that can be love in any way. In the future I'll do another post explaining why I believe Gay Marriage is a right and how it is just as ethical and gives as much to the common good as any other stable consensual relationship built around a community.
In the end I don't see it as bad. Missionary work can be harmless as long as the one doing the work accepts "no" as an answer or leaves room for other view points and can see the humanity in another person and respect them for who they are, and who uses the opportunity to do service within the community they are in. Any person can live with virtue, and if you're putting yourself out there with your religious beliefs, virtue is the best thing you can do too.
We all advocate are points of view in different ways, the key is how you do it and what you do. Is what you are doing taking the rights away from another? Are you coming from a place of self and ego or awareness of all members of the community? What you do and how you do it are part of what it means, to live with virtue.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Sunday, November 3, 2013
All Saints Day - Saint Mary's Catholic Church - Mt. Angel, OR - November 1st, 2013
All Saint's Day is a day the Saint's are commemorated and remembered, predominantly in the Catholic tradition. It is a day that Catholic's are also supposed to attend. Going into this visit, I didn't really know what to expect. The Church is in a small conservative catholic town but I've been surprised in my visits before, the catholic churches I've known also tend to be just as likely to have more liberal leaning priests as conservative leaning priests. So there is that.
The music at the service was beautiful and overall it was a really wonderful service. The one thing I didn't like though was how narrow the prayer was. Usually there are at least a few mentions of people outside the church and wishing them the best beyond them being recruited to the faith. The service today failed to get beyond the community of the faithful at all, beyond bringing more people in.
The sermon itself referenced Pope Francis's sermon on this day which was polar opposite. Francis said that there are Saints among us and in our lives and that we may know them. This broad interpretation of Sainthood was spot on in my opinion since it captured how anyone can live virtuously and inspire others to good. Anyone can be selfish, just as anyone can be loving...how we choose to live along those lines is usually mixed but we can do what we can to get it as close as possible to living with love and virtue towards our fellow human beings. This is to me what makes a Saint. The example of Christ is used a lot, which I think is understandable, but I also see good people who would also be saints in the non-religious variety or of other faiths. Francis's speech captured that I think.
Francis's speech was also a contrast to the priest who was distant and formal, and how historically politics can be a big reason for making people saints...not so much the actions they lived in their lives. Though, sometimes it can be a mixture of both.
Overall it was a great visit and a day of contrasts. To end, who do you consider a Saint and why? What makes a Saint in your opinion?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)