The Curious Pilgrims

Prayer for Enemies

O God, the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty, and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for Social Justice

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The seven sacred teachings of Native Americans can teach us a great deal about the universe in which we reside. We live in a world that likes to classify, sort, and separate us. We have decided that some things are more valuable than others. We consider that some people deserve respect more than others. We have divided existence into the holy and the profane. Is this the original design? Is the survival of the fittest the way things should be? One of the most important tenets of the Native American view that we destroyed is that everything is connected. There is an interdependence between all things in the universe. May the Great Designer forgive us for our greed that gives power to the richest, the most powerful, and the greediest. May we learn that everything is related. Life is about relationships and dependence. Every aspect of the universe deserves respect, value, and appreciation.

Growing up on a farm in rural Mississippi before houses were air-conditioned, the two huge oak trees in the front yard provided shade and cool breezes on hot and humid days. After a morning in the fields, we had lunch in the shade. In the evenings, we sat on the porch and listened to sounds of dusk and night while we enjoyed the cool breezes.

We had fruit trees on the farm that gave us luscious apples and pears to eat and enjoy. The shores of the creek that ran by the farmhouse were filled with trees of every sort and type: pine, oak, elm, and many others. The trees and vegetation provided homes for all types of animals.

The world is made up of families and clans living in cities, towns, and rural areas. Diversity is God’s handiwork. Different types of trees exist together along a creek bank. There are no wars, arguments, or huge disagreements.

Why can’t people be like trees? Why can’t we exist in peace with different nationalities, ethnicities, races, sexual orientations, sex, and gender? Why do the rich want to control the poor? What makes white people feel superior? Why do the majority want to control the minority?

Why can’t we be more like trees? The world would surely be a much better environment to live.

Just a thought

Wow, my last post was September 3, 2023. Today is September 17, 2023. Two weeks have passed. It seems only yesterday, I was attending first grade and now I am 73. We live in Chronos time or a sequence of minutes, hours, days, and years. But we also experience kairos times or fitting times. Karios time occurs when we know it is the right time to make a decision or institute a change. We call it the right moment or the opportune time. The right moment happened today as I posted this. You see, it has been 14 days of Chronos time (where we get the word Chronology) from the last post to this one.

For many years, I felt like we lived in a period of Ichabod (Exodus 25). Ichabod means the glory has departed. This refers to the presence of God leaving due to the sins of those who forsook God. I hungered to find the place where God is worshipped in Spirit and Truth. I have an Elijah who hid in a cave away from everyone including God. Elijah felt he was the only one still faithful to God. God opened Elijah’s eyes and he saw thousands of others who remained faithful to God. I had that type of experience today. I went to a different church today. God opened the doors of heaven and showed me there are people who still seek to serve God.

What makes a church a church?

Christianity involves attending formalized communal worship services, usually on Sundays (or Saturdays for Sabbatarian churches). These gatherings provide an opportunity for believers to come together, learn from the Bible, and fortify their faith. The term “church” in “church service” refers to the assembly of believers, rather than the physical structure where the service is held. In Christianity, worship is a reverential act of honor and homage given to God.

If Worship is a reverential act of honor and homage to God, who is God?  Some see God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or three beings in one Godhead (The Trinity).  Some see God as Jesus only.  One may view God as Holy demanding that we follow a strict code of conduct that will guarantee a home in heaven or the eternal flames of hell when die.  One may think of God as love that will provide salvation for all. Every person who sits in a church service may not share the same view of who God is.  So, how do we worship God when we all have different views of who God is?

This question needs to be explored, for the gathering of people who come to worship need to know something about God and what it means to worship God.  Is God narcissistic? Is there more than one God?  The first commandment given to Moses states that God is a jealous God; and that God will not accept the worship of other gods.  What does that mean to the person sitting in the pew?

What acts of worship are appropriate? Does worship include the promotion of church activities? Some churches use technology in services to promote church activities and then take 5 to 10 minutes of worship time to promote the same activities. 

Each gathering of believers (a Local church) needs to define how the local church views God and how they will worship God.  This may mean changing the traditional methods of worship practiced in Christian churches that seem to be similar even though the church may belong to a specific sect of Christianity.

Who is God and how do you worship God?  Think about it.

Americans think of a building, a denomination, or a place of worship, whether Christian or not. This misconception has been passed down from generation to generation as fact. To change this mindset is a monumental task. Part of the problem stems from the translation of Christian Scriptures into English and other languages.

The word translated in the Christian Scriptures (The New Testament) occurs only twice in the Gospels. Matthew 16:18 states, “¹⁸ Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” The Greek word for church in this verse is ekklēsia.

Dr. Bernard Brandon Scott, the Darbeth Distinguished Professor of New Testament Emeritus, Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, states, “The basic meaning of the Greek ekklēsia is assembly or gathering. In ordinary Greek, it most often refers to the citizens of a city gathering to decide political issues and less frequently to an assembly of the devotees of a god. It is not a religious word.”

Dr. Scott also asks, “How should we view these gatherings? They were small, normally five to ten people, maybe at times as many as twenty. They were occasions for eating, drinking, and discussing. They bear no resemblance to modern worship services but more resemble church suppers. The move to formal worship did not occur until the third century.”

Dr. Scott observes, “Seeing ‘church’ as a small gathering, most often in a home, around eating, drinking, and discussion suggests a shift away from institution to small groups based on personal relations.”

Have we missed the design for relationships with God and others by building expensive, gaudy, ostentatious, and ill-designed facilities that often last for a period of time? Have we created a power described in Revelation as part of the evil trinity? Why are people, especially young people leaving organized religion hungry for a spiritual connection that is personal?

The organizations, sects, and buildings called churches should listen to the words of Jesus about organized religion. We will discuss that next time.

It’s a quiet day in my neighborhood. No cars are zooming by on the street. There are no sounds of people talking, walking, or shouting. It is a good time to meditate on God, the creator of us all, others I know, and myself, who I find to be a paradox of emotions and choices. Some choices have altered where I am, what I have become, and why I always attempt to make my voice known.

I have tried many times to blog, write a book, or share thoughts. I do it for a while and soon lose sight of why I try. I give up easily out of frustration, feeling what’s the use. So why try again. There is a prompting that pushes me to be involved even though I am an introvert. I enjoy being alone, for I often think I am far from what I should be, so who would listen. This is how Moses must have felt when God told him to go to Egypt and lead the children of Israel out of slavery. I am by no means a Moses.

So, today, I felt like sharing that I continue to learn and grow in my faith and relationship with God. I have withdrawn from organized religion in the United States disguised as a Church available under different labels, claiming they are the way, the truth, and the life. Something is missing in what I find in places called churches. What is it?

This is where I am on my journey. How about you? Where are you?