Wednesday, May 9, 2007

A reason to believe


Psalm 127

1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

2It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Religiosity

I was a cradle-Catholic, though never-ever a very good one. Even though I grew up in Catholic schools, and never really knew any non-Catholics, in 8th grade I decided to not get confirmed. I was the 2nd child to do that in the history of my teacher's career, which spanned MANY years. It was a rarity, and my mother didn't talk to me for two weeks after I told her.

Fast forward to high school - a public school, surrounded by religions. I was always drawn to the more extreme expressions of faith, such as the Assembly of God and any type of Pentecostal church. I attended one of our city's largest non-denominational churches with a Charismatic slant, ditching Catholic Mass to go there as soon as I could drive, without my parents knowledge.

I considered myself Agnostic for a while, since it was the cool thing to do, then ended up getting elected the president of our school's bible club the next year. I had NO idea of what to do with that, and no one was willing to help me. My flirtation with Christianity was brief that year, especially since I broke up with my boyfriend of 2 years, met someone new and got pregnant before graduation.

My new husband was a Lutheran, of the ELCA variety. We have, in our 7 years together, church hopped across the city. But now, after escaping from a Purpose Driven Church, we are finally back where we belong - in a Lutheran church. The One True Church? Probably not. But it's for us.