This morning, I was revisited by that wonderful feeling I had when we first began this journey: Nervous as Hell. Our church of the week was the Big Dog. The Mama of all Christianity. Otherwise known as the Catholic Church. I think the Catholic Church is probably the biggest one in our little valley (other than the Mormon church, of course). It was at least a lot bigger than any of the other churches we’ve been to so far.
My first impression was that it was a very nice building. It was very open, the font with the holy was big enough you could practically jump in and go swimming in it. For a minute I was actually a little worried that someone was getting baptized. Given, that would leave quite the impression.
My second impression was Where’s the Bathroom? I’ve had a bit of a cold for the past few days, and the idea of sniffling through an entire service sounded about as fun as riding on an angry moose (okay, maybe that was a weird metaphor…). Unfortunately, I never found the bathroom…or a tissue. So let me apologize on the behalf of all of the annoying sick people- we’re sorry. We know exactly how annoying our sniffling is, and I promise we’re not doing it just to bother you.
So, back to the actual church. I felt surprisingly at home during the actual service. Given, all of my trained responses I’ve learned from my own church were completely wrong, and there was some confusion about all of the standing and the kneeling and whatnot, but all in all I felt like I knew what was happening more than I expected. I really felt like this was the birthplace of all Christianity. Or, if nothing else, I could see that my own religion still has some similarities to the Catholic Church. Given, there are probably a lot of differences in the politics of the Catholic Church (like, we don’t pay attention to the Pope). However, I can see how the Episcopal Church spun off of the Catholic one.
However, this is the first church we’ve been to where I felt like we got the cold shoulder. I think we had two people say hello to us, and that seemed forced. This might be a little bit paranoid, but I felt like the warm helloes were replaced by unwelcoming looks. I felt a little bit like we were interfering on some prestigious country club, where you needed to be a member to even look at the place, let alone enter it. As I said, the unwelcome feeling might be the result of my paranoia, but the actual people made me feel a little bit uncomfortable. Part of me wondered, if I was Catholic and just visiting from somewhere else, would I have gotten the same discomfort? Or would I have felt like I found a church I belonged in? Isn’t hospitality one of the most important parts of religion? I feel like the whole purpose of religion is to teach you how to treat other people, and to build a community. The most important part of that, for me at least, is inviting everyone with open arms, even if they are strangers. Aren’t we all strangers at the beginning?
There is something the priest said that made me feel a little better: Fear not. He said he thought that every reading from the bible should begin with the words fear not. I can’t remember the rest of what he said, but I think those two little words carry enough weight to make up for anything else I could have said. I don’t remember what the context was, but I felt a little bit like for a second, he was talking right to me. Like he was saying, “I know you’re uncomfortable, but fear not.” Even if I never go back to a Catholic Church, I think I can keep that with me. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, God is with you. So fear not.
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