Sometimes I think so. And sometimes I think I need to start looking for the bugs that I know this pastor from Canada has managed to sneak into my house, so he can listen to my conversations and blog about them like they were his own thoughts!! It's almost eerie sometimes. I'm quoting some big chunks from his last blog entry, because HE has unknowingly (I think!) quoted me almost verbatim from a couple of conversations I've had this past week. I'm editing out a little of the personal stuff about his family, but...those of you who've talked to me recently--how familiar does this sound?
I just don’t know how to “do” church anymore. In fact, I don’t want to do church anymore! I’m done. I’m not done with my friends, the people I am among, the people who call me their pastor. But I’m done with doing church. You don’t do church. If you’re doing church, then you’re not doing church. And I’m not trying to be Zen. This isn’t a koan. It is fact. You can’t do church anymore than you can do family.
Can you imagine if I woke up Saturday morning and announced to Lisa and the kids, “Okay, we’re going to do family today!” They’d think I’d finally lost it. They’d groan and complain and hate us for forcing them to play a part in a play they have no interest in. But what if I got up Saturday morning, like we sometimes do, and we started the fresh ground coffee, started grilling the bacon and mixing the blueberry pancakes? What if we set it all on the table and just sat down to eat when it was ready? What if we then decided to go to the mall to spend some of the money they’d made that week on cds and clothes? Then we happened to notice that there was a movie playing at the theater, so we took it in. Then we went back home and everyone dispersed and went their own way to maybe reconnect if we’re lucky just before we go to bed? What if that happened? We weren’t doing family at all. Not even subversively!
This is how I see community. We get together and be what we already are without trying or pretending or even planning. Sometimes it is ideal. Sometimes it sucks so hard you die of boredom. I’ve seen this over and over again. I mean, if Lisa and I planned an ideal Saturday like I mentioned above, it just wouldn’t happen, mainly because the kids wouldn’t be the least bit interested in fulfilling our plans for them. If it happens, great! If not, whatever! Maybe another time. Maybe not. But we’re still a family. I just refuse to “do” it.
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2 comments:
I too loved this post. I do believe as well that church should just happen, not be planned. I really think we should go back to the church of 35 AD. They did not even have a new testament to read, study, or draw sermons from. It was all just a daily community that got together and lived it.
PS - Check the fire alarms, that's where I think you will find the bugs.
Cool post :-)
"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Matthew 12:50
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