The Year Winds Down

Quote du jour: A person will worship something, have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts, but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

We're winding up the church year, with the grand finale of RE Sunday (more about that in this weeks calendar notes)on the 17th, but before we heave a sign of relief and check the box next to "church year 2008-2009" I had to share the above quote from dear old RWE. What we worship, we become. Wow. So simple and so true. If we worship a narrow parochial point of view, then we become narrow and parochial. I suspect he was not speaking of theology though, but rather how we spend our time, our energy, and ultimately our lives. I'm not talking about the variety of human experience we either need to attend to - like FOOD and LAUNDRY - or wish to experience, but rather what we WORSHIP.

Some people worship a perfect body to the extremes of plastic surgery and starvation. There are people who worship their various illnesses, defined by what's wrong with them, leaving out a whole lot of what's right with them. There are people who worship their childrens athletic potential. They parent for it, program around it, and eventually reduce their child to a single dimension rather than the complex messy human s/he might be. There are people who move from desiring and acquiring object after object, becoming a closed system of consumption, working, spending, working. (They are about the dullest conversationalists I can think of.) And as we watch the global situation unfold while feeding our appetite for shoot em up movies and bloodied video games, is it any wonder that we have increasing wars and violence?

It's not all bad though. Becoming what you worship can be a great thing. Do we worship, REALLY worship the planet we live on? Or the potential of every human being? Or the mystery of life? If I could become what I worship - I'd love to become a more environmentally active person, or a tireless advocate for leveling the planetary playing field, or a voice for the sacred.

So by now you may be wondering where I'm going with this and what, if anything it has to do with RE Sunday. Fair enough. I paraphrase Ralph Waldo What we attend to, whether anyone knows it or not, is what we are becoming. Only you know your motivations for attending church and involving yourself in the teaching ministry here. Only you know what annoys you about church and what you find transcendent. And yes, both aspects can exist in the same heart at the same time. But at the end of the year, take a few minutes and think back on our time together. Think back on the teaching ministry you've been part of. And among those memories, some will be of snowstorms and frustrations (oops that's mine) and some will be of cute kids and earnest adolescents and silly songs and profound insights. We could worship the snowstorms, disappointments and inconveniences and make those our church memories or we could worship the sunnier moments and bask in them all summer long.

So in closing, because I'm putting together a worship service on this year in Religious Education for RE Sunday, I am asking you all to respond to the question "What did I learn at church this year?". The question is for all kids and teaching adults. You can respond in the comments section or by emailing me privately. It's anonymous. No attributions will be made and yet, everyone will learn what you learned. See you in church!