In Reply to: Re: I see it differently though posted by Farmer on December 09, 2009 at 06:58:55:
Farmer, I appreciate your sharing how you relate to people as people, that profound knowledge can come from blue-collar workers and not just intellectuals. I think we have much in common there.
A lot of what bugs me about church gatherings--and again I don't mean to offend anyone because I know I am a difficult person and our needs are all different--is the stagnation, the constant going around in circles over and over the same theme. I think once the ground rules are established, there is so much to more to discover and learn, if people would let themselves move on to new points.
On one hand, just trying to grasp the basics and live up to them may involve a daily "labor." Every so often we need to remind ourselves of the simplicity of the gospel, of things like love, forgiveness and mercy. We need the basics to shape our lives, and AA members have learned they need to live one day at a time and stay with the basics.
On the other hand, once you have established the ground rules, there is safety and liberty in the spirit to explore and expand. (I was reluctant to even state this as with our background, it can be mistakenly equated with of "Law of Love" type license to majorly screw up.) I share MG's sentiments that the Voice of God can be present in a lot more places than church/Christian gatherings.
Closed formats bother me. I am not in any way saying I am superior, but I am at a point in my life where listening to sermons in churches does far too little for me. Sometimes it even feels like I am going backwards. It's just that I've heard the same old "safe" and basic themes over and over, and there is so much more that could be shared/learned if pastors/priests would open up themselves a little. But opening up is frightening, threatening to an establishment, and preachers seem to fear they will be accused of departing from the word, so they play it "safe."
Stagnation also manifests itself in church music. Most people would think it was the opposite, but there was much more expansion of "church" music from the 1600 to 1900s, than there has been the last few decades. Although it was largely limited to organ music, compositions written for church performances (where the entire church building is part of the musical instrument and reverberates as a sound chamber) were far more progressive up until 80 years ago. Nowadays, with the limited general choices available, I appreciate Gospel most. But even then, it's the same old slick overused dominant-11 chords and the cheesiness of it all. Apart from Gospel, church music seems hung up on piddly Ionian Major scales.
Living your spirituality in a safe, fixed format has its negative consequences. It can occupy your time and your mindset so that it becomes all there is. I feel that all too often, churchgoers are way out of touch with what is happening outside their world, and as a result, not really doing what they can for others, or helping the wrong way so that it really makes things worse. In my volunteer work I have also run into the worst, worst, worst, most disgusting, selfish, ignorant recommendations about what to do with starving populations in Africa, and they came from steady churchgoing Christians.
Some of the ugliest racist comments I've heard uttered have come from Christians. Often they are so ignorant they say something "innocently" like they don't know that they are saying anything wrong, but the implications are horrible.
It also bothers me that in the West, some of people with the worst attitudes, philosophies and practices in regards to the environment, are Christians. (I believe I may actually be able to get ahold of the stats to support this.) They seem to believe in marching forward boldy and callously to conquer and subdue, in multiplying and being fruitful no matter what the condition of the panet is. They support plundering, consumerism and pollution, and simply await the new earth they're supposed to get after destroying this one.