June 22, 2006

A Matter of Faith

Robert the Llama Butcher has been blogging about his fellow Episcopalians with heartfelt honesty and conviction, summing it up with:

"I am deeply, deeply saddened by this whole wretched business."

Now, admittedly, I'm not a "Whiskypalian," and I haven't been keeping up to speed on the issues this particular denomination is facing, but I wonder...what does this upheaval do to one's faith?

Robbo said "this whole wretched business." This gets me to wondering why politics can't just be left at the doorstep. Perhaps I'm naive, but this is church, a very personal and emotional place and issue for people of faith.

Does Robbo bristle at someone dictating what his church as a whole is to believe and how to run things? Dare I ask, does God want this?

Without going into detail, in order to respect privacy, this past week or so has been a time of upheaval, emotions, and frustration for the members of the church I attend. At the heart of this is the church itself. Aren't we, the congregation, the church? Don't we deserve to know what's going on?

With all that's been going on, all that's been said and not said, I have to admit that my faith in the church itself has been shaken. Why, after all this, would anyone even want to attend Sunday services, knowing that certain individuals can pull the rug out from under you without an apparent cause?

I really wish I could go into more detail.

To Robert I say, keep praying. As for me, I'll do the same. There's a meeting tonight that hopefully will shed some light on the issue my church is facing. It saddens me, because Husband and I found a church that we both felt comfortable and welcome in, but now I'm starting to feel like just another contributer to the mortgage payment.