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There is a little discussion going on at our house about imaging. DH and I went to hear Temple Grandin speak a few years ago, she talked about thinking in pictures. In our discussion afterwards, it came up that DH cannot think in pictures.
Today, talking to DD, the topic of Church came up and she talked about the feelings of reverence she immediately feels when she thinks of this word. Because church culture has not been always kind to her, I was stunned at how happy and positive her thoughts about church remain.
DH has a head full of abstract thoughts when he thinks of the word Church.
I get gut wretching pain and panic when I think of Church.
Now I am curious of what others image when they think of the word church.
Anyone willing to share?
First – Temple Grandin envy. PM me with details please. Second – Church – hope.
I don’t see our churches in my mental pictures I see old European churches. I see bombed churches that housed wounded during wars. I see crumbling head stones representing lives that had dreams. I see large wooden beams of Catholic missions that dot California. I see people kneeling in prayer scattered among the pews on days when they need hope.
If you said Mormon church I would see really boring and lifeless. (the buildings I mean). Full worship and architecture somehow stand side by side to me.
If you said – Gospel – I see something much different.
People who accepted and loved me, even though I was quite different. People I love, even though we are quite different. I don’t see buildings; I see people – and I tend to see what I hope I can help create.
I go to church to try to help realize that vision, to some degree.
I also see the monastic profession I attended last Saturday for a wonderful woman with whom I work – and the southern black church I attended once in Alabama – and the tiny branch where I served on my mission – etc. I see two or people gathered in the name of God, trying to support each other.
I recognize and see the young gay man who no longer attends because of what he heard too much growing up, and I see what might be if those like me choose to stay and change that situation.
I am a pragmatist, but I also am a dreamer. The pictures I have chosen to see are those of my dreams.
amateurparent wrote:DH has a head full of abstract thoughts when he thinks of the word Church.
This is me, I think.Quote:Mom3 wrote: “church I would see really boring and lifeless. (the buildings I mean). Full worship and architecture somehow stand side by side to me.”
Mom3, you see a difference between church and gospel? How would you differentiate the two?
In my own head, I see The Church as all the rules and regulations and culture of Mormonism. To me, the gospel is the pure teachings of Christ — not of Paul — of Christ.
I get this resistant feeling inside. The same feeling I get when I realize I have to stand in line for an hour to get something. It takes discipline to push through it. Amateurparent – I think my separations are similar to yours. Quote:
In my own head, I see The Church as all the rules and regulations and culture of Mormonism. To me, the gospel is the pure teachings of Christ — not of Paul — of Christ.I guess where it begins to get gray or mixed for me is my love of other religions. I feel a strong gospel feeling when I attend or witness their culture. My guess is because I am removed from some of the routine of theirs, I project what my heart assumes they are feeling. When I sit with us I know too much, and I don’t always get that warm spiritual feeling I have when I am watching someone quietly light a candle in another church.
I’ve been pondering this for a bit. I think it depends on the context. If I hear the word church as in the Catholic or Methodist I envision a building. If I hear church as in “the church teaches” I get the dogma. The thing is, I don’t actually believe the church is either of those things. I don’t believe it is a building. I don’t believe it is the institution, either – but that in large part is because I don’t think the church as an institution in the LDS sense really exists. There is no institutional church in my view, and that is in part because the church leadership doesn’t teach a whole lot beyond the gospel (at least now). I actually believe the church is us, all of us, and perhaps in some convoluted way our collective beliefs.
Now you know where my ponderings get me sometimes.
When I hear “church” i think of the worship service or meeting where the congregation comes together, hears a sermon, maybe partake in a communal ritual, and socialized with others. This is how people do “church.” I love Temple Grandin, too! The Clare Danes movie was awesome. When I think of “church” (local) I think of the people, the community, the ward, people who are friends and like an instant extended family, willing to take care of my kids and to welcome us. I think of the crazies who amuse me and the kindred souls who bolster me.
When I think of the COB or “church” as a concept or the institutional church, I think of the rules, regulations, political agendas, and basically a lot of old, white men, most of whom look like they haven’t had a belly laugh in years. I think of CES, tasked with teaching yet knowing very little about anything. I think of the correlation committee, trying unsuccessfully to correlate our very thoughts. I mostly ignore that stuff because I can. It’s just not that relevant to my lived experience.
When I think of the gospel, I do think of the teachings of Jesus, the paradoxical truths in the parables, the scriptures, the act of prayer, the silences of thought between the social chatter of church talks, and the striving to do better every week, failing, and trying again.
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