Prayers

If you believe a certain religious sect, the Apocalypse begins tonight and those of us who consider ourselves believers will not be here tomorrow.

So, what am I doing to prepare myself for this great event? I am doing laundry, running errands and most importantly, writing prayers. I am liturgist tomorrow. I suspect my congregation of great friends and wonderful Christians will be in their normal seats in the pews.

The hardest part of being liturgist is writing the prayers. I know what I pray for and for whom. But you try to strike a balance between the generic and personal. You, at least I, try to say something that touches the soul... that makes someone think, "Yes, I pray for that too."

Whenever I remind myself that I am not worthy and I share this thought with my minister, he replies, "No, you are not. Do it anyway." What a gift!

The next time you are in a house of worship and someone says, "Let us Pray," remember that someone put some time and effort into crafting a community prayer. And, the greatest gift may be the ability to worship together.

"Sort of'' Christians

Today is Easter Sunday and my little church was filled. It was a beautiful service, abundant with a baptism, children in their Easter finery, welcoming new members and communion. Our minister delivered a great sermon -- touching, funny and heartfelt. For a small church, we had lots of activities to recognize this magnificent day.

During Sunday school, we got into a discussion about the people who only show up twice a year. Ooops! It's Christmas Eve. Ooops! It's Easter. Better suck it up and go to church! As it happens, we are studying Romans and the whole not passing judgement thing.

I pass judgement all the time. Bad hair, bad outfit, I can't believe your kid did that -- you name it. Even if I don't say it out loud, it is screaming in my head.

There are people who say us church goers are a bunch of hypocrites. Yes, we probably are. And I do love the sentiment that church is not a temple for saints but a hospital for sinners.

Lots of people love to tell you that they can worship anywhere -- the fishing hole, the golf course, wherever. Of course they can. But, do they?

I don't go to church because it's the only place I can worship. I go to church to be with my fellow worshippers and take the time to reflect on this magical/sometimes horrible/astonishing life. I go to church because I have learned at this age, I need it. And someone misses me when I am not there.

I have no judgement about the Christmas Eve and Easter Christians. I just hope the seed is planted that makes them want to come back more often.