Yesterday morning I went to church.
There seemed to be no consequences. I wasn’t impaled on a bolt of lightning. The ground didn’t open up and swallow me whole. No crowd with pitchforks showed up to exorcise my demons.
Of course it was wise of me to attend a church that prides itself on inclusion. I wouldn’t have gone to one of those that preaches intolerance for any group, or exclusion based on skin color or sexual orientation. In fact, I was prepared to walk out if there’d been even a hint of that. I was a bit skittish.
Several people welcomed me, but I found a spot where I could sit alone just in case I needed to exit for any reason. At my age, nature sometimes calls urgently and with little warning. Thankfully nothing physical interfered with my morning of worship.
The message was delivered by a guest pastor, and it began with a liberal political statement.
Now y’all know I’m a liberal. I detest Donald Trump and everything he represents, but I don’t want politics mixed with my faith. And from the sudden feel of chill in the air I got the distinct impression that none of the other worshippers appreciated it either.
That’s a huge difference between the right and the left. The right seems to relish politics mixed in with their religious beliefs, while we on the left tend to believe in the sanctity of the separation between church and state.
In the end this morning’s message was okay. I wasn’t inspired, but I found some nuggets to take away.
1) Know your audience
Okay, one nugget: Dude, politics don’t belong in the sermon.
Don’t get me wrong, from the notices on the church bulletin board and the pre-service chitchat and morning announcements, I concluded that this is a progressive congregation that believes in service over dogma. They’re all about action. They just don’t want the ugliness of trump, et. al., to interfere with the worship.
Will I go back? Sure. The regular ministers will be returning soon, and I’m eager to hear their message. Hopefully it’s free of politics.
Peace, people.
Praying for Eyebrowz 
It is the reason why I stop attending church!
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I think the last time I’d attended church was four years ago, but I knew this congregation has a reputation of doing good things in the community and I could use some social justice allies. Just my luck to visit when the regular pastors were away.
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Good for you. I stopped going a long time ago. Speaking of knowing your audience, I do recall one picnic, though, where a guest minister showed up and kept asking people to come forward and no one did. Later, he was like “I don’t know why no one came forward” and I was thinking – well, you’re at a Church picnic of all church members. I doubt anyone here doesn’t know what’s going on already.
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Ha!
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hmmmm….eat this fried chicken, or go forward ?……sorry preacher…..pass the potato salad
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or….you could have “church” under a tree by yourself and just have a convo with God……plus, no pass the hat
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I do that all the time. I just felt the need for some camaraderie on Sunday. Just lost a friend to heart attack. We’ve got some close family members with health issues. I don’t often seek out others when I worship, but it felt right this time.
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whatever gets you through the fire
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That’s good that you found a place that probably shares the same convictions as yourself. But, yes, it’s best to keep the politics outside those four walls. Otherwise we only sink to the same level as the others. – Marty
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Agreed.
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