Week 02
of 52 - Presbyterian Church
Thoughts
during week before visit:
Freedom
is usually just a choice (at least in
Organizations
should be viewed as "owned by us," and not the other way around. I always thought it absurd that missionaries
where I served were willing to be owned by the Church 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week. Imagine being told by someone - that you are not allowed to swim - on your own time. (Of course, if one has given up his freedom
24 / 7, there is no "own time.")
These are adults being treated like children, when we ought to, so much
as practical for each individual, treat children as adults. Joseph was a teenager, when he could look his
minister in the eye and say, "I'm right - I believe you're
wrong." That's my kind of teen! (So long as he or she is responsible.)
The
Visit:
I visited
the Presbyterian Church corner of Juniper and
It
turns out that both meetings are the same - same talks - same speakers - same
substance. It's only the music that is
different.
I'm
going to attend both to get the flavor of each.
Between
the two meetings, they normally have something like a Sunday School
- but this week will be different - because of Mother's day. The men are preparing a meal for the mothers
(And for everyone, I suppose.) I'll
attend that also. (Wouldn't
miss that.)
This
particular church has allowed us to use their parking lot four times for four
wedding receptions that were held in our home.
"Sure you can use the lot - of course."
Sunday
-
Attended meetings at
A
mother came up and told a story with children gathered around her. It was the story of embroidery - rough on the
back - beautiful and finished on the front.
It was about how we sometimes view our lives - rough - and how God sees
his work from the front side (His side.)
Nicely done.
Again - only in the first meeting.
The
second meeting had no children (None - not one!)
The
second meeting included some word-for-word things - recited by all. A prayer of confession, for
example. After the scriptural
talk, the minister said, "These are the words of my mouth," and the
congregation said, "Thanks be to God." After the benediction, the program shows that
we were all to say, "I know that my redeemer lives."
The
messages of the minister were exactly the same in both meetings. (Corinthians Chapter 7 - about marriage and
divorce - what's allowed - why, etc.)
Also about families and how one partner can bring the blessings of God,
even when the other is a non-believer.
He told
a story - this was most interesting - and I took no opportunity to discuss it -
He was busy afterward with the members.
The
story was about a little girl talking with God.
It was her turn to come to the Earth to live her life here. She was worried - scared. She asked God what it would be like. God said she would have a special angel to
help her along the way. She asked what
the angel's name was. God said,
"Her name does not matter - you will call her 'Mommy.' "
Do they
believe, as Mormons do, that we lived before we came to Earth? Did Presbyterians recently begin believing
this - or have they all along? Or is
this just a metaphoric story that is not literal to them? I had the thought that if it were metaphoric,
time would make it real to them, and they will believe it actual. That's the way metaphors work in
organizations.
People
do not like to have their metaphors reduced to similes. To keep this from happening, they come to
insist that they are not metaphors, but actual truths. Catholics insist that the wafer becomes the actual
flesh of Christ, when anyone suggests it's a symbol. Mormons insist that God is actually a mammal (Very advanced
humanoid being) - when anyone suggests that His fatherhood is symbolic and that
mammals have existed for a relatively short time in the history of the universe
- that they couldn't exist without the organized environment first - that the
universe had to come before mammals.
As soon
as someone says that a metaphor is a metaphor, it has been reduced to
simile. This person has said, for
example, that the child who is eating so fast is not actually a pig -
but like one. This is highly
resisted among groups with common beliefs laid out for their acceptance. They want that wafer to be the flesh
of Jesus. (We scientists could do a
Between
the two meetings, they had brunch for Mother's Day. This took the place of their normal Sunday School. The men
seemed rather proud of their accomplishment.
I did see some mothers helping, however. Considerable freedom is exercised to do what
makes sense in differing circumstances.
There appears to be no central guidance (dictation) as to how the meeting
should be designed. I thought the
thought that there are advantages to both of these scenarios. (Ours and theirs.) It must be clear to those who know me that
freedom is a most important value - and I must admit, I like this freedom
better sometimes than I do our required conformance. However, I thought, I have seen so little - a
year with this, and I might be eager to come back to the organized and
structured environment. I might also
find that there is much conformance here - while we are the ones with
the freedom. (We like to dance,
for example - Baptists don't. I don’t
know if Presbyterians do or not.) We
wear makeup (mostly the girl Mormons, though I've been "reducing" my
gray on occasion.). We love to
laugh. We don't applaud in the formal
meetings - they do! They clapped with
much more enthusiasm in the first meeting, however, and only about half of them
clapped at all in the second. We keep
that "half-clapping" from occurring in our chapel meetings when there
are many visitors - by announcing at the beginning that there is to be no
applause. (It's interesting to me that
laughter is allowed - but not applause.
And even laughter is allowed only during talks - no funny music is
allowed. I thought it a wonderful
exception when Brother Hill sang solo - had to stop - made a little
announcement - and got laughter. I loved
it! Brother Hill, you're a giant. Who would think it would be Brother Hill who
would break ground on such an issue?)
During this Trip Around The Sun, I will think
of many of you - what wonderful people you are.
Leona
attended the first meeting with me - then on to finish her prep work for her
primary lesson. I'm glad she attended
the first instead of the second - It was a "Slam-Dunk" for the better
of the two. I really believed all those
senior citizens (look who's talking) in the second meeting would have loved
both the bell choir - and the children.
(Who wouldn't?)
02 of 52 Trip Around The
Sun – Presbyterian