Grrr...Emilie left this comment several days ago, which YOU, BLOGGER, did not post!!! (I got it in my email.) Ah well, here are her very thoughtful thoughts (!!) regarding my last post:
Oooh, Barb, I have been following that "My Faith" series in the Washington Post for a number of weeks — I love it! I wish more newspapers would jump on that idea ...
Anyway, the book you're reading sounds really interesting. I love the quote from James Joyce, too: "Catholicism means here comes everybody." I think, in a fundamental sense, that is so true. (Sadly, many people have quite a different impression, and sadly, that is due to the behavior of many within the church itself.)
I often play with the question of why I am Catholic, especially considering that I pretty much left the church for most of my 20s. So much of is that it's in my blood, just as being an American is something I can't really walk away from. Remembering that the hierarchy does not own the church — that it's an evolving collection of the imperfect collection of humanity to which we all belong — helps me stay sane, too. I think it's amazing that after all these centuries, with members who range from radically liberal to ultra-traditional, we all manage to find common ground as part of one big church. An umbrella. A big tent where there is (or should be) room for everyone.
And your point about the church being a means to an end rather than an end in itself, is key: I see the church as a way, a structure as it were, to help me connect with a greater divinity, who probably does not care much about the little wrangles that get us so wrapped up here on earth.
I ramble. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts!
4 comments:
I saw the response in the blog, for what its worth. Hope your week went well. It's too late to think about Catholicism, especially from the outside, so I'll think about it for now.
There was something weird going on with blogger--I couldn't access the updated version of my blog from my dashboard, for some reason. I had to run my cc cleaner and redo my password, but finally things seem to all be there, in the right order!
Liz--it's okay if you don't feel like commenting on Catholicism; it IS hard for an outsider to make sense of it sometimes, especially when most of us Catholics have a hard time understanding ti most of the time ourselves!
For what it's worth, I could see my comment posted on your blog, too. Hmm ... I wonder why it didn't show up for you.
I saw it too! How strange.
Although I'm not Catholic, I thought the essay was very thought-provoking!
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