Secret of the Easy Yoke

i'm a lapsed catholic. went to mass when the 'monsigneur' (the 'head' priest') swung the encensoir to infuse the church with the smell of incense. the mass was in latin, it cocooned me as a young child in a secure feeling of safety, mystery, and the magic of ritual. <br /> after the catholic mass was modernized, and conducted in English, and the trappings of the 'mystery' fell away, i was still a kid, and i went to church, received all the 'sacraments' and attended weekly 'catechism' which is like bible study, for teens. <br /> i stopped going to mass when i graduated from high school. <br /> <br /> HERE'S WHAT i notice about this mesmerizing song about 'crisis of faith' in my opinion:<br /> we used to turn to one another at one point in the mass and were expected to earnestly take the hand of those to our left and right and say:<br /> "peace be with you" <br /> i always felt like such a phony doing that. <br /> of course i hoped in my teenage self absorption, that there could be 'world peace' but i was way too selfish and at war with a very dictatorial and philandering father to really care about whether anyone there was at peace. <br /> <br /> peace, be still. <br /> peace be with you. and also with you. that was the exchange. <br /> <br /> peace, be still is the way to go. still point, balance point. stillness. silence. solitude. society. <br /> society is tough. <br /> full of poseurs. <br /> hard to pierce the veil.<br /> <br /> better to be silent, as hedwig schmidt, the mother of hansel, (who assumes his mother's name) in "hedwig and the angry inch." (an award winning indie movie you all should see if you don't mind some camp and sexual identity crisis tossed in with great rock and roll) <br /> hansel is watching a religious tv show as a youth, and says to his mother in german:<br /> "jesus said the darndest things!"<br /> she gives him a smack on the head, not hard but corrective and declares with horror:<br /> "so did hitler! (da hitler auch!) <br /> better to be silent my son......"<br /> <br /> i currently live in Seattle. MY fourth month. I live in Ballard, a town where, when founded, for every bar built, a church had to be built as well. i live in a converted church warehouse with the weirdest married couple and their bevvy of kids from 4 previous marriages. they are the creepiest, 'nicest' people. <br /> <br /> my fiance and i have never been more wary of anyone in our lives. and my fiance knows the husband for over 25 years, most of which were spent without an active faith. <br /> <br /> let me tell you, i gotta get OUT of Ballard. <br /> <br /> my own personal jesus, he's there in the music of Pedro the Lion, Jesus Christ Superstar....and i find jesus in any song about redemption or self doubt. i think of his struggle in Gethsemane. <br /> <br /> i'm NOT an active church-goer. i'm not a 'joiner'. i was in the 'rave scene' for 6 years, and jeez, did it ever remind me of a bunch of glazed eyed christian fanatics. <br /> <br /> i did attend episcopal mass for about 6 months when i was 24, and i went to bible studies, to try to resurrect my faith in organized religion. the bible studies made me nauseous. all about how sex outside of marriage was essentially, having sex with satan. <br /> <br /> i pretty much wanted to vomit right then and there. <br /> <br /> god is within and around you. <br /> love is all. <br /> love. the way you treat each other, stranger or friend or beloved. <br /> human or animal.<br /> <br /> the way we respond to each others' posts so often seems puerile to me. <br /> <br /> this board is a blessing. <br /> <br /> so....bless up and peace OUT to all of you. <br /> i welcome wishes for a happy relocation from Sf to Seattle. it's been really tough on us so far. we're looking for our own rent to own house as i write. <br /> if any one is inclined to hold intention (or pray) for our success, i will do the same for you if you leave me a message. <br /> <br /> hey, this post wasn't meant to garner prayer or promote our home search. i just thought it couldn't hurt. <br /> <br /> it's sunday. <br /> rejoice over someone, something, share some love, and be glad. <br /> <br /> eyzovblu

"all about how sex outside of marriage was essentially, having sex with satan." That is not part of either the Episcopal of Catholic faith, both of which I have belonged and studied. It's not part of scripture nor the teachings of either religion. Ya wanna come clean of your true religious "faith" or lack thereof.

Additionally, "Peace be still" is NOT part of the Catholic exchange. You'll find it a hymn, but NOT in the mass. "Peace be with you" is standard in all Catholic secs.

If ya gonna pose, pick a different topic than the faith of believers. It's like insulting the children of a couple, which a secular humanist/atheist would hopefully never do. I just love the hypocricy of so-called "progressives"

Study your old, dusty bible better, n0anesthetic, a known atheist who parades as a Christian on this site to confuse people and insult organized religion. God was very clear in the Bible about worshipping in community. It's why there is the Eucharist...the sharing of the body of Christ no different than the Last Supper shared in community. God has everything to do with "religion." He built his church and appointed its first leader. And from there religious faiths spread. More work (and money given) for the poor is done in this country and others via the church than by foundations; charities; private individuals; governments, etc. Get the facts; study them; and be HONEST about them. Your bias is showing and it's shameful.