All jokes aside about gay men or good Catholics on their knees, I am not so good at it these days. Gravity of course helps but it is the getting up from that communion rail that is a bit slower and more cautious these days. A knee brace certainly helps. If I had been ordained today and not years ago, I would still be laying on the Cathedral floor, I'd need something nearby as leverage to get up off that marble floor. One of the things about God and church. . . .and Lent, is that it is a common journey. Of course we all have a different journey but it is a commonality that we all share.
While we each muster our our strength for our own cocoon , challenges, growth and tasks, even simply getting up from the Communion rail, Christianity is all about others, community and acknowledging that God loves the 'other' at least as much as God loves me. So when we worship in any form, at the rail, in the pew, in the fields or on a mountaintop, it is not just about me, me, me! We are all connected and to grasp our faith, whatever faith that is, we must know we are all brothers and sisters.
I intentionally mentioned worship on the mountaintop because there are countless instances where I have found God in those 'thin spaces' if you will, outside of a formal Church setting. In hiking in Utah, hammering nails for Habitat, biking in the farm country back roads or sitting on a jetty, I find God is awesome and ever present. Of course you have to open your eyes and listen, that might be a blog for another day, I digress. The point is that with all the problems of formal Religions and the church politic, many people are seeking God in these alternate scenes, those thin spaces that seem to speak loudly to our soul. I am all for that. Lord knows how disillusioned if not angry I have been with the Roman Church of my youth. But here's the rub, that is a fine excuse at face value to ignore a church or communal worship but it neglects an absolutely huge dimension of our faith that I alluded to above.
We are not alone. If I seek those thin spaces on my own, I am not participating in a community that needs me and that I so desperately need. The "I don't need to go to church to be holy" crowd is patent bullshit. It is so much a limited truth as to be almost an outright lie. We need each other. We need to be there for each other as a support. And in case you aren't there yet, know this especially, others need your presence. Do not ever demean or dismiss the value of your presence in Church. You cannot be replaced by someone else that will be there. That is simply a cop out.
As much as I find it difficult to get down on my knees to pray, I really need to simply get my ass into church. While other forms of worship are certainly valid and will connect you to God, this Lent is a special time for all of us and our presence is almost required for the good of the entire community. Even if you do not have a community that you routinely call your own or where you feel welcome, do not dismiss the value of your guest appearance and the gift of who you are to the rest of the congregation, to creation. God does not make junk as they so. Evangelize by your presence.
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