I apologise in advance if this is a bit heavy :) I'm feeling kind of thoughtful presently ......
We attended my youngest daughter's confirmation yesterday evening, presided over by the Bishop of Guildford. It was a lovely service, despite being about an hour longer than I thought it would be (at a full two hours long) and only being able to sing one of the hymns. One I recognised and was relieved, then the organist proceeded to play a tune that I didn't recognise and which didn't even seem to go with the words! It wasn't just me, I could sense the whole congregation wondering what was happening. It's lovely that she has decided she wanted to take this step. This is her 'thing' and not led by us. We are not church goers, although I was brought up going to church every Sunday.
I think now though I am more spiritual than religious in the traditional sense. I feel that we are supported and watched over by something other worldly, but I'm not sure that is the Christian God. The Bishop's sermon was based on a story from the book of Job, when Jesus was in the back of a fishing boat asleep during a storm. The fishermen feared for their lives and woke Jesus to help bale out the boat. He woke up and spoke to the wind and the waves saying "Peace! Be Still!" And the storm receded. There is something in that story that resonated with me and that is that if you have faith and you are able to still your fears and trust in something greater, then things will often turn out ok.
I read Frugal in Suffolk this morning where the post was about trusting the 'Flow'. It seems that many of us choose to lead our lives as kindly and as simply as possible and place our trust in the right thing happening. I choose to live my life based on a strong set of morals, whether you class them as christian or not is down to you, and I find support and comfort not just in those around me, but also in the sense that I am a small cog in the greater mechanism of life, needed, crucial even, but not stand alone.
Feel free to totally disagree - it's just my feeling :)
I very much agree with your views.
ReplyDeleteAlways risky talking about belief, but I hope I didn't offend anyone! :)
DeleteYour way of explaining it was better than mine!
ReplyDeleteWe could do with a"flow" of traffic now as our road is STILL closed!
That must be sooooo frustrating! Hopefully they'll get it fixed soon. Funny how your post fitted in with my thoughts this morning! Great minds? :)
DeleteI have very similar views. I have a social conscience and I am mindful of others. I believe in something but not sure what. But like many people have called upon Gods help from time to time even if it was to pray I hadn't left the gas on when I went out!
ReplyDeleteI was brought up as an Anglican but have meandered into regular attendance at Quaker Meetings... I think it's great when posts touch on 'the deeper things'. Jx
ReplyDeleteSimilar views here too now.
ReplyDeleteI was brought up going to church by my own choice most weeks with my Nana, who was a regular churchgoer. As soon as I got to 11 years of age I was pestered to move forward to confirmation, which immediately got my back up. After being nagged by the vicar and other church members I stopped going. I had a faith and showed it in my way and even at that young age I did not want to be pushed into something I deemed as unnecessary.
Oh and I was kicked out of Sunday school years earlier for pulling away someone's chair just as they were about to sit down, but that is a whole other story ;-)
I regularly went to church, Sunday school and bible class until my teens. I was even a Sunday school helper for a while. When I was 16 it was time to become a member of the Church (this was in Scotland so I'm not sure if it's similar to your confirmation). I knew I wasn't ready to take that step as I was at an age where I was questioning everything. A senior member of our church visited our home to talk to me about my decision not to join and I felt under pressure which resulted in me turning my back on the Church. I do remember one of his reasons for joining was that I would be able to have a church wedding (not on my list of priorities at that age).
DeleteI was just remembering last night and telling my son this story. My sister and I were sent to Sunday school on our own each week - my parents didn't go to church. My step dad loathed chewing gum and bubble gum and said it looked common when people chewed it so there was a total ban on it. Anyway, one Sunday, we left the house in our beautiful Sunday frocks (matching of course, being sisters!) with the collection money. But instead of going to Sunday School, we went to the sweetie shop and bought bubble gum. My sister blew the most enormous bubble which burst and got stuck in her fringe. We just couldn't get it out of her hair and returned home to the biggest hiding we'd ever had. And I got an extra one for being the eldest and should have been in charge of my little sister!
Hope you got through today as best you could? Been thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteHope you got through today as best you could? Been thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteHope you got through today as best you could? Been thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteThinking of you and hope all went well x
ReplyDeletehope all is good GBU!
ReplyDeletemodus