Tuesday of the First Week of Lent Mass - Cathedral of the Madeleine - Salt Lake City, UT - March 11th, 2014

       My experience at the Cathedral of the Madeleine was troubling in some of the best and worst ways possible...it kind of encapsulated everything I like and dislike about religion which made of a fascinating experience. For a bit of context there is currently a Western Conference on Canon Law being hosted in Salt Lake City so there were tons of Priests and Bishops at the Cathedral...most were from the west coast but one had come over from Lebanon. Because of this there was almost a conference and concert feel about it at the beginning, mostly because the Bishop who looked like Richard Dawkins thanked people at the beginning and the end, and pointed out how great the music was. This was one of the things that took me out, it made something that was supposed to be transcendent and greater than self like any other public event where there are a lot of important people present. 

      To the Bishops credit though, his sermon was wonderful, and the reading was the one where Jesus first tells his followers to say the Lord's Prayer. This prayer is a call that our words don't matter that God already knows everything anyway, so it is about how we choose to live...what we do with the time that given to us. This sermon nailed the theme of service and sacrifice of Lent and was great.

      The sad thing was during the service people were taking pictures...yep, it strikes me as the kind of thing you don't do...I mean a Church service is supposed to be more important than a concert or a movie right? Folks were taking a picture of him during the service. I took pictures, but I waited to before and after...if I were up there speaking I wouldn't what lights blinking in my face or people taking pictures of the place I'm preaching...isn't the content of the words more important than the beauty of the place?

     For positives that brought me into it...the music...the choir was angelic, and that would not be an understatement. They were all ages and all the songs were sung in latin, giving it an even greater feeling to it. The psalms also were beautifully sung and focused on important things like justice.

      The most important thing that took me out of it were two things - one was how people aren't welcome to camp outside the Church (there are a fair amount of homeless in Salt Lake City) and the other was the homeless man behind me. Here was where he'd come for rest and to be safe...I hope when he eventually got kicked out that he had somewhere to go...the church provided a place for him during the service and with the Samaritan Society next store...but the church itself was not a permanent sanctuary. Shouldn't a house of God be that? What can we do to help? What can I do to serve?

Ash Wednesday Night Mass - Saint Thomas More Catholic Parish - Sandy, UT - March 5th, 2014

       What an experience and way to end the night. To start with, finding the parish was a bit difficult, though now that I know where it is, I don't see myself getting lost again. When I arrived the readings had already been read...since it was the High Church though, it didn't matter as much since they were the same readings at Saint James Episcopal Church.

   Before I get into how the sermons differed though, I want to describe the Parish. The Parish is huge, this is where the Masses take place, but their is a whole other building that I wasn't able to get in the picture due to the lack of light and batteries dying on me. The Parish is simple like the Episcopal Parish, yet grand like any Cathedral. You can see it the design outside and it is inside as well. The tapestries have detail (a purple crown of thorns on a purple tapestry) and a Virgin Mary done in an elongated style (same with the risen Jesus). The Parish is a large congregation, when I arrived I wasn't able to find a seat until a few minutes in. The congregation is also diverse ranging all over the place in age and ethnicity. This is true of most Catholic Churches I've attended I've found.The music was amazing. There was a choir who all different age ranges and the music was traditional mixed with modern (a saxophone player was a part of the band).

    When I received the ash for the second time today, the words were "Repent and follow the Gospel," which was a very different emphasis than "From Dust you came and dust you shall return." The Catholic one had more emphasis on guilt for needing God versus the Episcopal emphasis on mortality and needing God. Both were good in their own ways and add as long as either doesn't consume. Being consumed by any emotion is extremely unproductive in regards to any sort of growth or helping others.  

    Now for the sermon, the sermon emphasized penance and remembrance of Jesus's time in the desert. That we should live on less and give more (as an interpretation that fit perfectly), and that we should not glorify ourselves (which again makes sense as far us not feeding our egos).

    Since I'm not a Catholic I didn't take the Eucharist and left after the song. It was a powerful experience and the Church is definitely worth another visit.

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.