It's been a long time since I've posted anything. Life has been difficult.
Several months ago I had a falling out with the church I had been a member of. So, I have been attending another church that I seemed to fit in better with. There are two ministers serving this church. I get along very well with one of them and the other one is only mildly annoying on occasion. It has been an education and I don't mean that in a negative way. Mostly. I have learned a lot more about who I am and where I want to go.
But that's not what I really wanted to write about. Sometimes there are things I just really need to write down so I can quit carrying them in my head and heart. A few weeks ago one of the members of the church I used to be a member of committed suicide. She was very active in the church and quite well liked by everyone who knew her. Suicide rarely happens without a lot of warning signs, so I'm wondering if no one at the church noticed or if they just didn't care enough to do anything. Either way, it has left me rather shook up. It's a small church, about 180 members, so it's not like she was lost in the crowd. Between this and my studies, I am starting to understand that this sort of problem may be endemic to the culture of the faith I belong to. I find this to be unacceptable and I intend to work very hard to change this. I wish it was practical for me to simply change denominations, but this is one of the few that will have me. So, I'm going to be obstinate and stand up for the values I believe in. Maybe I can make a change in at least those I'm around.
In other news, the minister of the church I was a member of has decided to move on and leave the pastoral role to work in promoting social justice. This is probably a wise decision, some folks just aren't cut out to provide pastoral care.
In any case, this has caused me to think much more deeply on the issue of "what is a church?" and I've come to some conclusions about how very important it is for a church to provide a lot more care and support than I've been seeing lately.
That's about it for now, hopefully my next post here will be about more positive things.
