Just when I’m almost certain that church-the-building is one of the last places I’ll encounter God’s grace, I receive evidence to the contrary.
Being a mystic* type, I’m okay with having my assumptions about church and faith challenged empirically. This is what happened when I got into gear for the 5:30 PM liturgy on Friday.
I almost didn’t go because of the life-threatening heat. (I blame beehive hairdos of the 1960s and the massive amounts of hairspray they required for this climatological disaster.) Also, I’d taken a late afternoon nap and could not imagine getting dressed (appropriately), getting into the car and driving anywhere. I got dressed (semi-appropriately), got into the car and drove to the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.
Because punctuality has taken on new meaning in the years since I’ve become Roman Catholic, I was on time enough to trail in after the mini-procession. And as if I’d been doing so since the Cradle Catholic childhood I didn’t have, I slid into a back pew. Unobtrusively — or so I thought until an usher’s tap on my shoulder launched me into full-bodied Uh-oh Mode.
Go ahead and fill in what happened next . . .
[To be continued . . . ]
* Not from Missouri but “show me” is the prayer that got me into my current situation viz. Christianity.
photo credit: alancleaver_2000
…talking about cliffhangers…real good one, too 😉
Paul,
You need to offer it up to the Lord or suggest what might have happened.
Meredith,
How could you? You get me intrigued and then you stop the story. Not fair. At all. I don’t want to wait. I’m an American now and want my instant gratification.
Paul