And With All the Company of Heaven

Church is a funny thing.  Since I was raised going to church, I've never looked at it from the outside, but I imagine that it would seem that church goers always love going to church.  I do love being a part of a church- mostly.  Like 97% of the time.  Except the days when I think, who are all these people?  Weirdos!  (counting myself and my family in this group, obviously)  Why don't I just worship God by myself and not have to deal with anyone?  I might feel this way even as I'm dressed and heading to a service or some other event.  

Today is not one of those days.  Today is a day when I am thankful to be a part of a community, when I dropped off flowers in the church office to celebrate the ordination of a new friend, then headed straight to a friend's house to mourn with him over the unexpected death of his spouse, our friend.

Now that our piano is back in order, I kind of can't imagine how I survived the years without it  I'm not a good pianist by any stretch, but can really use it to lighten my spirit.  When we heard about Patrick's death on Monday, Trent and I were sad and shocked and not sure what to do with ourselves.  I ended up at the piano, banging out some hymns with a million mistakes and great gusto.  He's in heaven praising God, and that's one thing I could share with him from earth.

So today all my thoughts are on our church, the joys and sorrows that are tied up in our involvement in the community.  Tonight we'll celebrate joyfully with Alex, even as we miss Patrick, who would definitely have been either acolyting during the service or getting food ready for the reception afterwards.

In churches, there's constant talk about inviting friends and new people.  If we're honest about it, it's a hard sell:  You can believe in God by yourself and live your life or you could get up early on Sundays and spend time with people you did not handpick as friends!  The church will pester you for your money and time!  And things will not be perfect- you won't really agree with all the decisions that are made and people might drive you crazy.

But also- You can believe in God and worship him with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven and what else are you really going to be doing on a Sunday morning?  Sleeping?  Hiking?  Ugh.  You don't get to handpick the people at your church, but you will probably end up getting to know wonderful people you would never have met otherwise.  And your money and time will be used for the good of the world.  And things will not be perfect and you won't agree with all the decisions that are made and people will drive you crazy.  And you will drive them crazy, too.  Life will go on; we'll all love each other and be better for it.

I'm going to keep going, because I've got people to celebrate with and people to mourn with.  If I were from another denomination, I would probably say JOIN ME!!!  I'LL PICK YOU UP ON MY WAY!!!  But I'm a reserved Episcopalian, so I'll say, we're here.  You're welcome to join us anytime.  Call me if you need a ride.