One of the most frightening parts of an evening like this, for the listener and for the giver: “Testimony”! This in the Christian tradition is where a person gives examples of the ways they perceive God has worked in their life. I have so many, dozens, of these stories – of gifts given, and snares and mistakes saved from. Some of these happenings are astounding. I would have a very hard time believing them if I hadn’t lived them. I’m no statistician, but as I see it, given these events and their outcomes, to think that it was a matter of chance and not Devine work would be unreasonable. That is, with the facts before me, concluding the absence of a God who responds to my requests and watches over me even when I’m not would, on many levels, not make sense – it would actually defy reason. But I’m not going to take that approach and discuss things like that tonight.

Instead, I will offer a few thoughts on a practical and routine matter of faith, sharing for a bit about What I Like About Going to Church. I know many of you have shared and thought what I will say.

So, here goes: What I Like About Going to Church:

Getting to church is a miserable process, prone to fits and starts, roadblocks and mountains to climb, resistance and parental “proclamations”. I know this is an odd way to start a talk on What I Like About Going to Church, but it’s integral part of going to church, and so must be included.

First, there is the waking up earlier than we might on what is often our only day to sleep in. We’re sometimes sleeper-in types. We often shoot for the 9 a.m. service, usually barely making the 10:30. Sometimes we miss 10:30, slide right past the noon Mass, and struggle to make the 6:30. That’s how it always is. But it’s always worth the struggle.

Then there are the Divine sidetracks (not Divine themselves, but sidetracks to Divinity):

• #1) Shower Charade – Everybody wants a shower. These can be a real time hog. Facing that hog, we usually run the other way and skip showers altogether. That’s why we often arrive to church looking like we just rolled out of bed. We did!

• #2) Silicon Distraction – we don’t do computer gaming during the week, so our boys need their fix big time on the weekend. They get their fix at home, and with the help of some well-connected family and friends. On Sunday mornings, I see in their eyes the pull of the computer, but they’ve gotten good – very good, actually – at turning away until after church. A time for every purpose. Thank you, boys, and good work.

• #3) Sock and Shoe Scramble – This results when it’s ten minutes before we are to leave and I ask, “Everybody ready to go??”, receiving adamant yeses and head nodding. Then, ten minutes later, as we head for the door, some realize that their feet are bare naked. Wild scurrying ensues, the sock and shoe hunt. This usually puts us on track to enter church with the procession, not such a bad thing, joyous even.

• #4) Soccer Sidetrack – This is a lot like a chemical reaction. As the boys exit the front door, two or three soccer balls in the front yard catch the corner of their eyes, and a three-way game erupts in full fury. With the addition of ‘airborne sound waves’ by their father, the game fizzles almost as quickly as it ignited. This spontaneous event though is just enough to put us on track to enter the sanctuary just behind the procession, slipping up the side aisle while the procession moves up the center. A quick bit of respect, a prayer of gratitude, and we’re no worse for the wear.

All of these moments I think of as the “Storm before the Calm”, because, eventually, we get to church. When my sons were little, the challenge was keeping them in the pew, rather than climbing over and under it (they did very well, but that Divine help was instrumental, I’m sure). Later, the challenge became how to fairly divide their attempts to spend Mass in my lap (eventually, this became a three-part plan: one gets the bible readings part, the next the sermon part, the third the communion part, leaving the only point of contention being who goes first – It worked quite well). Now that they are no longer interested in my lap, it is simply the matter of all of us sharing why we came in the first place: the most peaceful, least distracted, least divided hour of our week – basking in the wisdom and in the presence of God. Sharing this time is my favorite hour of the week, because it is our closest hour of the week – closest to each other, and to the One who made us. I wouldn’t miss it for anything. I know a time will come that we will share this a lot less frequently. And so I cherish every minute of it today.

It has been wondered if it is possible to raise a moral person outside a religious context. It is certainly so. For the longest time, I thought the most important thing religion does is guide people in moral directions, with a person’s faith being the real-time GPS. Mid life now – or later, as one never really knows – I see my earlier view of the role of religion and faith misses the most important thing Christianity does: help people know who God is, and connect them with clarity and certainty to the God of the universe, who loves each and every one of us as if we were the only one. Though we have many quests in life, some of them of desire and others of necessity, I’ve come to believe none other than the faith quest is as likely to bring lasting joy and permanent peace, something we all want no matter what our perspective – and something God wants for each of us.

Over the past six weeks, I was called into a ministry of sorts I didn’t seek and on some level would rather have avoided: Helping a family member at her request die with spiritual peace. Those who have done this know it is a humbling experience – and a great privilege. With this particular woman, it was a relatively easy job, because of the depth of her commitment to Christ and the effort she put into living that commitment. She did go onward, last Monday, with tremendous grace and peace. My sense is she did so because she was confident in how she had tried in life to live God’s will for her, and, where she had failed, that her close relationship with Christ would saved her. It appeared she had not a doubt in her mind where she was headed, and who would be there to welcome and guide her home. That is one of the many great gifts her committed faith in Christ was to her, a gift made He for any and every one of us. And to that, I say, Amen.

RAR, November 13, 2008