Sunday, 2 June 2019
Shortly after I got settled yesterday, I was visited by someone who said he led church services on Sundays in the rec hall right behind my campsite and I was invited. I told him I probably wouldn't come but thanks for letting me know my options.
But this morning I thought it might be a nice Sunday sort of thing to do, so I went. And I was the only one there, which was a shame. Just one-on-one like that - I couldn't just blend with the crowd - I made it through the prayer okay, but when he started telling me God was speaking to me through the Bible text (he'd chosen the Beatitudes), I had to stop him. I've known the Beatitudes by heart since the 2nd grade, but I can't say I've ever heard God speaking to me through them (Jesus maybe, but not God), and there was just no point in having him think I was as committed to this stuff as he clearly was. Unfortunately, he then got really touchy and apologized every time he said something like he'd pray for me, and he said stuff like that often - and the apologies weren't any more welcome (or sensible) than the original stuff to me.
I think it was at this point when he told me that most Muslims were radicals, and I just couldn't let that pass. I said no, Islam is a peaceful religion and most of the followers were peaceful people. And he said again that the religion itself might be peaceful but most of its followers believed in a radical interpretation of the texts. So I pointed out that there are millions of them worldwide and they're absolutely not extremist and by the way what about all the people who do extremist acts in the name of Jesus. And he allowed as how that had happened in the past, such as the Crusades, and I said there are things like that going on today, but he said anything like that was just a few people in fringe groups.
So then I told him how disappointed I am in most people who call themselves Christian but don't do any of the things Jesus (Christ - as in Christian) said to do. It seemed that "Christians" spent at least half their time talking about the Old Testament, which Jesus wasn't all that big on, or they skipped the Gospels and jumped to Paul's writings (which aren't very Christian to me) or something - anything to escape actually having to live the way Jesus taught, which is really really hard. And I told him about the Amish-Mennonite Museum I'd visited in Berlin, OH, and the mural and the Amish history of actually following the word of Jesus in their daily lives, even when they were being persecuted for their heretical belief that only adults should be baptized.
Yeah, well, I wasn't thinking about this guy at all when I said all this, I mean I didn't know anything about him, but he got really defensive and the whole thing just deteriorated from there. I hadn't meant to say any of these things. I'd gone just to enjoy the liturgy and maybe some Bible readings or songs or something. Can't say I left feeling at peace. Considering he'd spent the first 10 minutes I was there telling me about some guy who'd attended a previous service he'd held who had an agenda and had hijacked the program with it, I'm guessing I'll be the topic at his next session.
On a lighter note, I was sure I'd seen a Varied Thrush today. I remember them well from when I lived in Alaska and was sure I'd seen one: orange chest, band across chest, decent-sized bird. Our back yard used to be full of them during spring migration.
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| Robin |
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| Varied Thrush |
Sadly, when I looked in the bird book I learned that the only sure way for me to see them again is to go back to Alaska. Too bad. Apparently what I saw was a Robin, which there are plenty of in the campground. Trick of the light, I guess. But the Robins are in full breeding plumage and their red breasts are really bright, which is nice.
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