i was raised catholic and methodist. my mother believed in covering her bases. knowingthe parochial system was probably the way for me to get the best education, she had me baptised catholic, although she herself was methodist. this double dipping required regular attendance to both denominations every weekend until i was about 15 or 16. so i consider myself a bit of an expert on the subject.
methodism in the caribbean was of the weslyean school; the sing a joyful noise unto the lord. there was a rich hymnal and every church we visited had a choir or an organ or both. one of my memories growing up was the fundraising efforts that seemed to go on forever to restore the organ of our home church that had been damaged in a fire. i was also attending mass in the catholic church post vatican ii and in the caribbean that also entailed a rich and diverse hymnal that moved you figuratively and literally and made a rhythm section almost mandatory at most churches. but it’s not just the music, i’ve gone to multiple catholic and methodist services in the trinidad and the rest of the caribbean using the same hymnal and i haven’t been moved in the same way. but this isn’t just about the music, it’s about the interaction.
there’s a comfort level you get when you find a place to worship and you can laugh and cry and be angry together or at each other and know that you are still loved unconditionally. there are in fact an extention of your family, your community. when you have that, it makes the worship special. the physical location doesn’t actually matter, it is in fact incidental. you feel a connection that makes you happier or even less sad or restores, even for a moment your faith in humanity. that’s a kind of intimacy that i think comes from true worship and i’ve found it.
when i was 14 i expressed an interesting in joining the priesthood. the priest i expressed that desire to, said the day i became a priest the earth would open up and swallow my parish.
i suppose i should quantify his response, before i expressed my desire to join the priesthood, i was commenting on what a cushy gig it seemed like; your choice of the ladies, free room and board and a car; i was thinking practically. some years later he and i had an opportunity to converse and he asked me if i was still interested in joining the clergy, but by that time i was completely disenchanted with the church. strangely, `our` new pope leaves me with the same bitter aftertaste i had when i abandoned the church.
growing up in Trinidad, i got a radically different perspective on Catholicism. i grew with a local archbishop and mass in English, even the hymnal was filled with songs written for us, by us. there wasn`t a church choir worth its salt without a pannist and a rhythm section. the church was us and we were the church and part of that was the fact we lived in a plural society.
our nation`s motto is every creed and race find an equal place and at least on the surface it applies. there are Christians of every denomination, Muslims, Hindus and if at no other time, we appreciate each other for the holidays. we celebrate, Christmas, Divali and Eid off the top, plus a bunch of others in between. we don`t have a large Jewish community otherwise they would be in the mix as well.
my point in all of this; the new thrust of the papacy seems geared towards extremism and exclusion which will continue to push more and more people away from the church.
ello my name is keifel and i`m a recovering Catholic.
ever since they prematurely announced that John Paul II had died, i`ve pondering who they`re going to select as the next pope. JP II was elected when i was eight and was sort of a defining moment in my career as a Catholic. i had just started preparing for my first communion and his ordination was my biggest religious experience at the time. of course, i got older and more cynical and disenchanted with the Catholic church, but the politics of it will never cease to fascinate me.
i firmly believe that he was dead on Friday and the extra day was just to give the cardinals enough time to figure out whole the candidates are going to be. there is an electoral college type vote for the next pope and somewhat like the electoral college the greatest populations are under represented. the old school and massively declining European Catholics have the largest block of votes, while the Central, South America and Africa with the largest populations of Catholics have the smallest number of votes.
i have no idea where i managed to pick up the information but i managed to pick the four front runners for the papacy, spot on. although in light of the long reign of the second non-Italian pope, i don`t think the hierarchy are quite ready for a black pope, but it may be in their best interest to go `brown`. if only to ensure they don`t ostracise the only growing Catholic populations. whoever they pick, there probably aren`t going to be any radical changes to church policy anytime in the near future.
thought i posted earlier, guess i didn’t.
good friday and beltane greetings for those of you who believe…
it’s midday and i’m pondering my food choices. my lapsed catholic self is debating some fish type menu, but… the operative word is lapsed.
anyway in the mean time i’ve started reading the binding chair, forget the author, i’ll get back you on it later. but i’ve just stated and this book is incredibly well written. i’ll keep you posted. sometimes these books start off really well and then fall short.
for those that you don’t know most christian high holy days are really conversions of pagan holy days and beltane also known as roodmas or may day was basically a fertility rite, which is why bunnies and eggs are common easter symbols.
i’m in info sharing mode this morning… check this link out, just ignore the fucking midi file… beltane
