tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post4080218439014363524..comments2023-12-05T04:20:37.460-06:00Comments on The Journey: Why I Believe in Going to ChurchLizard Eaterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04506056116023122414noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-61847769789631405812010-03-11T20:25:03.283-06:002010-03-11T20:25:03.283-06:00I guess this post is kinda old now, but I still wa...I guess this post is kinda old now, but I still wanted to comment and say how much I enjoyed it.<br /><br />As a fencer, I also have sometimes fencing at a dedicated club with a dedicated group of fencers as being like what an ideal church community should be like.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I think there are some distinctions that break the analogy for me.<br /><br />For me, I notice a few things. One...practicing at a salle is actually really good for learning best practices for the actual deal (e.g., the tournament). It is unlikely to learn that best practices from other sources quite as easily, so there's a particular value-add to taking lessons, for example.<br /><br />On the other hand, what I really didn't identify with this article was this sense that church is a salle for life. I do not feel that church is where we practice and learn how to do life. Even when I grant that church can be a place to learn some best practices, I do not think there is much of a monopoly for church -- I think we can still cultivate life values successfully without churches.<br /><br />Thinking about this has led me to re-think the fencing analogy.<br /><br />When I started fencing, I was bad. For a while. At first, I thought I was bad simply because I didn't take lessons (e.g., didn't go to the "church" as often). But now, what I'm realizing is that the reason I did poorly at tournaments starting out is because even *practice* isn't the best training for tournaments. To get used to tournaments, I had to go to *tournaments*.<br /><br />I see life similarly. To get used to *life*, I have to engage with *life*.Andrew Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149921396698798441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-5618360474974269202009-05-10T21:17:00.000-05:002009-05-10T21:17:00.000-05:00Amen! What a great analogy. At King's Chapel today...Amen! What a great analogy. At King's Chapel today, the selected lectionary text (Hebrews 12) dealt with issues of discipline and improvement - your reflection sheds new light on the importance of self-cultivation (something for which I personally look to ritual).Erik Reslyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05025309686027704616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-55397672272590692132009-05-10T19:33:00.000-05:002009-05-10T19:33:00.000-05:00The Husband and Robin Edgar both reminded me -- ri...The Husband and Robin Edgar both reminded me -- riposte, not repost. Ugh ... and I even took French. How embarraskin', Popeye.Lizard Eaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04506056116023122414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7587459.post-35885110304960582152009-05-10T18:58:00.000-05:002009-05-10T18:58:00.000-05:00This is what I so miss. I knew that taking a job a...This is what I so miss. I knew that taking a job as a Religious Educator would mean I no longer had a church. I don't get to go to church. Last summer I took July off. As it turned out I worked on the first and last Sundays in July, but on the middle two, I went to church at other congregations. It was so wonderful. It's part of the reason I love GA. We get to go to worship. I don't know what the solution is to this, I don't know what ministers do, except they're only expected to preach 2 of 4 Sundays, right? <br /><br />It is the hardest part of my job. No reset button. No home base. No church. Soak it in while you still have it!Karihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04779463691582868798noreply@blogger.com