Tuesday Morning at the Cathedral

"Now I'm going to tell you the most important thing about our meeting. I hope you find it encouraging. Essentially it isn't out of curiosity that you chose to come here. You were brought here because God is doing a work in your life."
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Early Start

There's a point early enough in the morning where you can feel a pounding impact to every note of your alarm. It's 7:30 AM, my meeting is at 9 AM, and I have way more than an hour and a half worth of reservations about meeting with a Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults director. Sleepily, I rose out of bed and peered through my window into the overcast sky. It was one of those days where I felt sheltered by the looming clouds, one of those days where I felt it may be possible that there is nothing else in the world besides the town I live in. For a moment I pretended I awoke in Seattle.

I got ready for the day and drove to the Cathedral. It wasn't until I arrived and saw the size of the campus that I realized I had no idea where my meeting was to take place. My trial-and-error attempt at finding my destination proved successful, though, as a pleasant Reverend clad in pajamas directed me to the office of the RCIA Director. Apparently the parish offices and parish private residencies are completely different things. Arriving at the office, I was greeted by a man who offered a warm smile and some hot coffee. Before asking why I chose to meet with him, he presented me with his personal testimony of faith. Following his personal testimony he asked me for mine and for my purpose of meeting with him. "I need to take my personal faith more seriously. This is my first step in learning more about the denominations of Christianity and where I fit into the church of Christ." He looked at me knowingly and began to share why he chose his denomination of faith.

The Meeting

"The catholics have been doing church for 2000 years. No other denomination is tied to as much time-tested scholarship, theology, and tradition." I looked at him inquisitively and urged him to go on. This sparked a conversation that lasted well over 2 hours and was so full of information that I can barely remember most of the points that he made. What does stick with me is that everything he spoke of made sense. What I mean by that is he would offer solid answers for important topics that I originally thought were mysteries or just clearly did not understand. Does this mean that I agree with all of these viewpoints? No, or at least not yet. What it does mean is that the conversation sparked an interest in me to begin to actively search for the answers throughout my journey of Christian faith, where ever it may lead. At this point, I have a new set of questions to find answers for and new answers to question.

The first thing that really caught me off guard in our conversation was when he said Catholics do not take scripture literally. I politely listened as he went on. Further on in the conversation he got back around to the topic, saying that he noticed the look in my eyes when he said it. "What did you think I meant when I said scripture is not to be taken literally?" "I believe the Word of God is infallible, but I think it means that we have to view scripture through context in order to better understand it. Things like time and the place it was written." A smile formed on his face as he nodded. He told me that important things that need to be addressed when studying scripture is the time it was written, who wrote it, who it was written to, and why it was written, among other things. I agree that it's important to take the Bible's words in context, but I am still not sure if I agree that one should not take the Bible literally. At the very least, I think that a different term can be used for the point he was trying to convey.

We spoke on many other important topics that I would love to journal about here, but I feel those things can be shared at other times as I gain more understanding about such topics. Also, it is very time consuming to fully recount a two hour conversation on a journal post. All in all, I believe that our conversation was very insightful and offered me a very strong introduction into some of the core beliefs of the catholic church.

At the end of our conversation he made an offer. He told me that an Inquiry class for believers of other faiths who are interested in learning about catholicism was beginning next week Monday at 7, and let me know I was free to join. I told him that my intent at this point is not to join the catholic church, and if I did begin an Inquiry it would be with the intent to compare and contrast it with what I learn from other denominations. He responded by letting me know that I can leave the Inquiry at any time and I have no obligation to continue attending once I find my answers. I agreed to join the Inquiry. He gathered my information and handed me instructions on the Examen. We respectfully parted ways as I walked out into the blustery city streets and past the posting of the mass schedule. "Mass is in an hour today," I thought to myself, "Might as well."

A new emotion rose within my spirit. My spiritual journey just became very real. I'm stepping out in fear and faith.

Final Thoughts

With a total of 68 million people who claim membership with the Catholic Church, it is the largest denomination of Christianity in the United States. That also makes it the biggest target among other denominations.

I will begin a new Tuesday morning series of posts about my Inquiry class and how it compares and contrasts to what I learn about other denominations.

Take Care,

Daniel

Purpose Statement

I have recently found that the views I adopted during my lack of faith still have a presence in my life. My former bitterness towards the Christian Church as a whole had somehow morphed itself into a lack of respect for the importance of denominations of faith and the different types of churches within those denominations.

I used to think that denominations divided the church. Now I feel that they bring similar believers together.

In order to support this view, I want to learn more about the body of Christ as a whole. I want to learn about what makes up different belief systems and denominations of Christian faith. I am a strong advocate of the philosophy of learning by doing, so I am going to go about doing this by setting up meetings with church leaders and pastors as well as by attending church services. I will take note of the structure of services, doctrines, statements of faith, methods of worship, etc. I'll pose questions and reflect on everything I learn. The purpose of this journal is to share my experiences through this unique, crucial journey and to have a place where I can keep a personal record of my experiences. Ultimately, I want to construct my personal statement of faith.

"Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers, go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit."

-Pope Francis

Take Care,

Daniel

Preface - Coming Back to Christ

There was calmness in this moment. The heavy summer air deceived the dreary room into a sense of peacefulness as I watched his breath slowly raise and lower his hospital gown. Each breath looked like an obligation. I studied his features and pained myself to remember his spirit prior to his progression into dementia. He always displayed a sense of youthfulness and wisdom through his sharp wit and depth of character. Now he could no longer form coherent sentences, mainly expressing himself through sporadic shouts when he was able to. I thought about those nights where I would quiz him about life, learning about the moments that stuck with him to the end. They were always such subtle things, simple and profound.

I glanced at my watch as my thoughts quickly fled from the moment to my work. I had other patients to take care of, this moment would have to pass. I turned to prep the lift as my own worries began to surface. I thought about paying for school, moving to Michigan, starting a new life. I thought about God, how I had cut off our relationship for the past two years to try and form my own views. I thought for a moment He might still exist. Thoughts started to flood my head and offered a distraction from the heaviness of the room. I turned back to my patient to see his eyes fixed to mine. The warmth in his eyes was back but with a sense of sadness and fear that I can't forget. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Daniel, I'm so tired of holding on."

The words felt like voltage through my body. I hadn't heard him say anything coherent in months. I tried to use this short lucid moment to reassure him but I found that nowhere within myself was anything that could give him hope. I watched the warmth in his eyes fade back as I stood speechless.

I knew in that moment I was empty, finally understanding my own mortality. I vowed from that moment on to take life at its fullest, to embrace every opportunity, to shun fear, and to attempt to live a truly unique life. My plan inevitably failed as the emptiness only grew. It wasn't until I was led back to Christ that I finally claimed a more substantial goal - To live life fully for God's purpose and to work to become an imitator of Christ.