My thoughts after reading - Taking Religion Seriously, Charles Murray

Why I went back to church: When my daughter was a toddler, I decided I wanted her to have a religious education of some kind, but not the 'patriarchal' kind. To be clear, I wanted my daughter to have a basic education in EVERYTHING - literature, science, relgion, ART. I wanted her to be well rounded and I wanted her to have a chance to be successful in the world, whatever that might mean. I wanted to give her the tools as I could perceive them. She was in Girl Scouts, she played softball, she had theater classes, art classes from kindergarten on, swimming lessons, the works. So that was my first motivation, to give my daughter a bsic view of the Judeo/Christian belief system.

My mother had been my Sunday School teacher at Gloria Dei, Old Swedes Church on Front Street in Philadelphia and I not only had a basic education in religion but an introduction to Colonial history as well. Yhe church was one of the oldest in the country as well as in Philadelphia and it was founded by the earliest settlers, the Swedes. We had a Swedish boat model maybe the Kalmar Nickel? handing in the center of the small church. I liked church in those days, that church, with its small, intimate, quiet and orderly EVERYTHING: a brilliant an dhumane minister, Reverend Dr. Roak, the architecture, rituals, congregation. It suited me, a sensitive and frightened child in a fairly harsh environment.

Much later, I rebelled because I began to percieve the patriarchal structure of our society and the church and because we moved to New Jersey and had a drunken and ineffectual minister. I began to think ministers were a problem, at least that role and the power of it. In my teens I asked my mother to let me stop going to that church but I would explore some others and she agreed. The church was a bedrock for my mother and she served it in many ways, vestry, many many fund raising church suppers; my father even maide a stained glass window for the church, St John's Episcopal, two doors down from their last home in Maple Shade, on Linwood Avenue.

I tried all the local churches in Maple Shade, but like Goldilocks, each church was too something or other. When I looked for the right church for my daughter, I found the Quakers, perfect for Philadelphia dwellers; Pennsylvania is aa Quaker state. I had read up on Lutherans, Methodists, and what I liked about the Quakers was the 'no priests' system. When I met the buildings, I was even more enamored - I love old architecture and there was a lot about it that reminded me of Gloria Dei, Old Swedes Church, venerable, simple, elegant.

The people were wonderful at Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, kind, patient, accepting. And I liked going to Meeting on Sunday and listening to the witness of the congregants. But then, we moved to New Jersey in 1985 and for many reasons the transport back and forth on Sunday became impossible, so we stopped going. I needed at least one day a week off anyhow since I worked full time and all day on Saturday at the University of the Arts. As a single mother, I had housework, shopping, yard work - the works!

What I went back to the Friends Meeting seven years ago, this time in Woodbury, NJ it was to fix myself. I was suffering from resentment and anger over a family situation and I didn't want to feel that way anymore. I hoped Friends (Quakers) might be able to help. This time, I was going to religion to help myself be a better person and what I meant by better was more Christ-like, as in forgiving, loving, kind, understanding and generous, less selfish and less judgemental.

What I found was that attending Quaker Meeting gives you the opportunity every week to work on that. And I think that perhaps that is one of the best things religion has to offer, the opportunity each week to work on yourself, make yourself more Christ-like and perhaps that is how Christ is born again and again and again, in our hearts as we try to live up to his example. Isn't that what we mean when we say Christian?

Happy Trails whatever road you are on =

wrightj45@yahoo.com

(as always if you wish to talk to me use my e-mail because the comments section of the blog is polluted by spam)