Ash Wednesday Noon Service - Saint James Episcopal Church - Midvale, UT - March 5th, 2014

      Saint James Episcopal Church was the perfect place to spend my afternoon of Ash Wednesday. The church is large but simple, inside there are rafters, a simple altar and purple tapestries in honor of the coming of Easter. The congregation is the largest Episcopal community I've seen outside of Issaquah and Olympia and the Priests and Deacons are all older.

 

        Getting to the Church was an experience in and of itself. From where I'm staying it was an hour walking up hill, which lead to great reflection once I was there. I was able take time to explore the grounds and found the memorial to one of the members who died. There was also an amphitheater behind the Church and in front, "God is Love." A message that is very New Testament God and Christianity.

     The service itself was very powerful. I didn't have a program, but because of it being High Church, I knew what to say at the right time in regards to the congregation call and response and even the psalms were familiar. It was a silent service and there was no music, all psalms were read and there were many moments of silence and reflection throughout the service. Suffice to say it was my type of service. The priest who spoke, spoke about reflection and incorporated in that we face ourselves in our relation to others is key. The reading from the Bible was Matthew where Jesus said only the hypocrites trumpet their good deeds and that good deeds should be done in secret and that what rewards we get are in Heaven and that is how we should live.

    It was a powerful sermon and I definitely plan on visiting again. The focus on reflection and silent action spoke to me of integrity and that you have to be clear with yourself in order to be clear with God and that for many the time before Easter is when they do that, in reflecting and in facing ones shadows, being reborn in the light.

Canyons Church - Cottonwood Heights, UT - March 2nd, 2014

      After my visit to Mountain Springs Community Church, I made my way down the street to Canyons Church. Canyons is a Southern Baptist Church. Baptist Churches are the Churches I usually end up seeing besides Mormon Churches in the suburbs of Utah, so they are pretty widespread here.

     My experience at Canyons Church was mixed. First, I want to describe what the interior was like. The Church is very polished and fancy versus the Zen simplicity of Mountain Creek Community Church. The windows are stained glass and once your inside it is like crossing into a place where a concert venue meets a seminar. The music is also very much like a concert, the plus being that there is a lot of passion.

    When I arrived my first thought was the Gospel of Wealth - Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace was being discussed and to buy the book and DVDs...when I think the problems of religion I think selfishness and money...so that wasn't the best impression coming in, seeing that a decent amount of time had been put apart for that seminar.

    After the invitation for the congregation to take part in Financial Peace - Surprise! Time for collections. Need I say more.

   You're probably thinking it was negative experience from here on, but it wasn't. The actual sermon itself had merit to it. It was about working out spiritual muscles which ended up being live how God wants you to live by serving others. Your saved, now live it! That was something I could get behind and was a contrast to the focus on the self that had been talked about before. The sermon used many props - a cleaner the preacher had bought from a traveling salesman, a golf club, and water weights...and that were used to illustrate different points during the sermon on the lead up of the point to have a relationship to God by serving others.

    After there was the call to accept to be "Saved," and the last song. It was a mixed experience overall, revealing both the positive (service) and negative (Gospel of Wealth) that religion so often brings. I don't see myself coming here again but it was an interesting experience nonetheless.

Mountain Springs Community Church - Cottonwood Heights, UT - March 2nd, 2014

 

  Mountain Springs Community Church was an amazing experience, and a good reminder of how to live in general and virtue behind what I admire about Christianity when it is at its best. The service began with an early fellowship where there was coffee and I met a few of the people there. The church is small and made up of about 5 to 7 families that I could see. They were kind and open when I said I was just exploring communities in the area.

   Next the service began with opening music. The music was christian rock meets jazz, since one of the musicians was playing the Clarinet which added a calm organic feel to the songs and gave them a slightly different feel than most churches where I have heard Christian Rock played.

     Mountain Springs Community Church is a Reformed Christian Church, which arose out of John Calvin and strictly following the Bible. This in my opinion is mixed when meeting some old Testament passages and New Testament passages which aren't based in virtue or love (see people being condemned to Hell, tribes being annihilated in the name of God, etc.) but today I saw the good that is in the Bible (as their is in most religious texts).

     The sermon was about Isaiah 58:6-9, which is about how God calls us to do more than just follow the rules, that there is no point. That God calls us to justice and to serve the poor and save the oppressed. It was powerful and outside of God being a factor of why it should it be done, something I believe is just and virtuous. The pastor described the work the youth are doing with IMPACT in South Dakota serving the poor and how it is so easy for Christians and people to follow in to checklisting all they need to be good:

1. Go to church.
2. Serve my church.
3. Accept God into my life.
4. Give to the church.

    The pastor described how that misses the point though, that Isaiah was calling people out on doing that but that God wants more. He than tied it into Jesus's words of "What you did for the least of these, you did for me." (Matthew 25: 31-46).

    It is these words and action that are religion at its best. It is so easy for us in general to be unable to see beyond ourselves and ourselves can include our friends, family, partner and even community we consider ourselves a part of. Religion and in this instance, Christianity at its best is the call to be more, the call to see that who we are is a part of everyone else and it is in that action that we become our best.

   Afterword I discussed the sermon a little bit with the pastor and one of the middle aged guys there, it was a great experience and I plan to visit again and bring that action that was described in the sermon in to my life. 

The Religious Heart of Taiwan - Dajia, Taiwan

  
 One of the things I learned about, and saw while I was in Dajia was the role religion played in the lives of the people. Beyond holidays there were shrines that I saw in use daily. The shrines had offerings and incense and placed at them and no matter what part of the day it was, I would witness at least a few people taking part in ritual at the Shrines or Temples.

       There are shrines all throughout Dajia ranging from no larger than a small box, to the size of an office, to a makeshift yurt where monks are invited and ceremonies take place. All of these I saw in my time there. 

                                           One of the small box sized shrines

         Some of the moments that stood out where where when I was exploring Taiwan at night. The first place was a small shrine where I witnessed a family laying offerings. At a shrine near the entrance Dajia I saw flowers being laid as the Chinese New Years was taking place, and the makeshift temporary shrines popped up all over Dajia depending on the day. It was at these shrines were I could see statues inside of Bodhisattvas, and a few times they were full of monks chanting.

                                                     One of the Temporary Shrines   
   Rarely, if ever, did I see someone visit a shrine or Temple alone. It was built around family, community and taking part in it with everyone there. It was a collectivism that I haven't noticed as much here in the States where ritual is mostly confined to the building and what social events there are are purely social verses honoring something greater (be it virtue, ancestors, etc.) that I saw in Taiwan.

     I look forward to returning someday and am grateful for being able to experience the religious center of Taiwan. As I was going to the airport I noticed something else - a Bodhisattva being driven around in a truck, with music playing. It was the middle of morning so no one would be at Temple most likely due to work, but the ritual of Temple was brought out, even if the way was pretty gaudy...though the intent was good I think of simply wishing to bless those in the area.

     

Return to Zhenlan Temple - Dajia, Taiwan - February 23rd, 2014

 

       My last day in Taiwan was also my return to Zhenlan Temple. Suffice to say, it ended up being just what I needed. The last time I was here it was so crowded and loud I could barely hear myself think...this time, there were people (families) but it was quiet and reflective...honestly one of the reasons I love hiking and being out in nature so much. In the place where there is silence is often the best place to find oneself and how it is connected to others.

    The only sound in the Temple was in the courtyard outside, where a musician played smooth jazz. Not exactly what I was expecting but the guy was talented, and the music mixed with the incense that I bought and used to pay my respects to the Bodhisattvas in the Temple (and Matzu who the Temple is built around) ended up making time feel as if it was slowing down. It was easy to find solace and the silence of the night and the stars, mixed with the silence in the Temple was perfect.

  After my prayers I explored in and around the Temple. I had just come from checking a small box shrine and another temple in town where I'd been thinking about the future, my time in Taiwan and where to go next. The trip wasn't what I expected, but I guess when traveling things rarely are. In the end the most we can do is make the most of the time we have and accept the constant change of life. I don't know when it will be, but I look forward to returning to Taiwan once more.

Lunar New Years Part 2 - Dajia Wunchang Shrine - Dajia, Taiwan - February 2nd, 2014

       One of the best things about getting lost is you'll never know what you'll find. In the case of today I was fortunate to discover the Dajia Wunchang Shrine. The Shrine was donated by a wealthy man in Dajia and it was originally both a shrine and a school built in the late 1800's, being eventually made a historical cite in 1985 by Dajia's local government. The location was on a corner next to a hamburger joint a new friend I made here is opening...so the location is inconspicious. This was one of the many ways it differed from Zhenlan Temple.

      Another difference was how uncrowded and peaceful it was. At Zhenlan it was too overwhelming to even say a prayer, much less buy incense...but here, incense was based on how much you chose to donate and there were only a few family present performing the rituals for the new year. It was here I got three incense and said my prayer as well. For virtue, fortune and luck...

     It was my first time being in a place where I could reflect on my time here so far and the possibilities of the year to come with all its trials and possibilities. Suffice to say, I plan on returning here again. It was the first and only place I stopped to stay at after Zhenlan Temple, though I did discover many more places I plan on visiting.

     The day ended with success and I found where I was soon after the Shrine. Here is to the coming year and the final days of this Lunar New Years.

Lunar New Years Part 1 - Zhenlan Temple - Dajia, Taiwan - February 2nd, 2014

       I think I like Temples and other religious places best when it is quiet enough to enjoy the silence. Due it being Lunar New Years and Zhenlan Temple being one of the main places for people to go to see Mazu (the Goddess of sailors, luck and fortune) it was not the case today. The Temple is large and beautiful but because of all the people it was really hard to take in.

   I came with a friend who didn't want to deal with the crowds, which I think was a wise decision. It felt like St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican where there was a constant stream of people and no time to fully take in anything. The noise and strong smells of incense didn't help.

   I do plan on returning here though, when it is left crowded. From what little time I was able to spend inside the Temple I can see why people come. There is so much history here and the Temple is one of the central points in Dajia making it not only a religious center but a cultural center too.

     Luckily the next stop in my journey around Dajia (and getting lost) I found the Dajia Wunchang Shrine (and a few smaller shrines I didn't end up visiting today) as well as a church that was closed (all locations which I plan on visiting later) which made for a very great end to the day.