Church

Don't let the title chase you away, please. I read a lot, I mean a lot. I read fictions mainly, but a couple of weeks I got tired of reading fiction, was looking around the new released non-fiction and came across a book titled "Sunday in America" written by Suzanne Strempek Shea. Wow!!!!!! I cannot tell you how this one touched me, as much if not more than "Nineteen Minutes" that I blogged about several months ago. Mrs. Shea was brought up a strict Catholic. She was told all her childhood life that if she entered another type of church, she'd be going straight to hell. Been there, done that, so of course I decided this one was for me.
Mrs. Shea went on a year long visit to a different church each Sunday that she could across the United States and Hawaii. She visited faiths of every type. From A to Z in cities small and large. She visited churches that had famous people who attended them. Jimmy Carter, Joel Osteem, even our upcoming presidential runner, Barack O. (sorry not sure how to spell his last name, but you all know who I mean). She went to churches where there were thousands, and churches where there were three or four people attending. She heard the good, the bad, and the ugly. Wow!!!!!! I just can't stop saying this. She was touched by words spoken by ministers, and those who attended. She saw people in their best and in their worse. In the end though she came with a belief that I would like to live by and hopefully will help me find my faith again as it did her. After visiting church after church, these words were what she felt all of this traveling and listening and learning taught her. "We are always in God's house, wherever we find ourselves". It's nice to be with others, to be able to talk and visit. It's good to listen to the teaching of God's word by someone who has a bit more knowledge than we may have. But in the end, we really are with God everywhere and He is with us. That makes me feel good, real good. I haven't been to church for a long while. Yes, I went on Easter, but so did everyone else. I haven't been able to find or I should say have not let myself find a church to attend because of my fear of being hurt again as I did in the past. Do I really need to find a church? Do I need to attend a church to feel the presence of God? I don't think so. It would be nice to have others to talk to or sing with or learn with, but to feel the presence of God? No, He's with me now. He's with me at work, when I'm asleep, when I'm alone, He's with me always. So if you're having problems with your faith, with your church, or with God in general, pick up "Sunday in America" read it, savor it and then just love God, He loves you.