Perpetual Change

Church

I apologize for the disjointed-ness of this post. I failed in editing to bring out the continuity that existed in my head between these thoughts.

This is the first spring that I have been in the USA since 2004, and it has come with many interesting revelations. One being that I indeed love the weather down here, but indeed miss the seasons. I am not sure that I will ever be able to fully reconcile these facts. I did start some tomato and pepper plants if anyone is looking for one.

In my discussions with an older friend the other day, we were commenting on how long it takes to build up a good thing... and how quickly it can be erased and eradicated. This was in regards to some projects with the church that we did while I was in high school.

Then I came to find that in 2000, the previous pope beatified a Saint Maria whose visions asked the church to declare a day to remember God's infinite Mercy - the Sunday after Easter. I had not heard of this day before this year, but it may be celebrated in a different way in the East, particularly because the Eastern churches tend to have a much greater focus on God's mysteries... one of the greatest being Mercy. But how can you extend mercy and offer reconcillation to someone that is not sorry for their deeds? And what happens when this is a leader? I have also learned in detail about some of the great transgressions of church leaders in the area recently.

I took my parents to a Ruthenian Catholic service for Easter. It was great, with all the traditions that I knew from Ukraine, complete with the blessing of Easter baskets. Easter has been a trying time for me in Ukraine the last few years, but always a time that makes me stronger. This year seemed a bit different, but this Easter service seemed to set off a chain of events that I am struggling through now. I believe the church is a very human construct. I think that is the great benefit of organized religion - that it gives us a shared community of support. I don't believe any one is better at this than another, though I do believe some are better at inspiring goodness in the practioners than others. Usually the better the religion at this, the more it demands of its 'layity' and 'priesthood'. I recently came upon notes I had made on a letter from Brother Alois; he was a modern reformer of organized religion and had given great inspiration to people all over the world. My notes commented on how organized religion is the community of communities. It is where all generations gather and where people do not choose one another. The church is Gods' family; its communion draws us out of the isloation that we are building into our modern existence.

In the letter Brother Alois says, "the 'fear of stranger' [in our modern world] still needs to be turned into friendship and reconciliation and trust." He goes on to explain that in many aboriginal languages the word stranger and enemy are the same. Two years ago, the amount of people living in urban areas, worldwide, became the majority; that is the first time in human history. The anonimity of urban life is a peculiar anomaly of the modern world; you often don't know the people that you see and interact with every day. Store keepers and fellow highway drivers. People running or dog walking. The man in front of you at the post office, the woman behind you at the grocery store. I think this has much greater impact on society than we realize. Though, I would also think that it would make us crueler to one another, and with the exception of the horrible habits people call 'driving' in south Florida, it seems the world has generally become a more fair and ethical place.

Now how do we get these qualities into our leaders.

posted by jjs @ 2:20 PM