THE AGE OF PANDEMIC: CHURCHING ONLINE Chapter 4

Sunday. Did I make it to church and feel I accomplished something or guilty for missing? In the age of quarantine, attending live and in person is no longer an option.

We are an odd couple being Lutheran and Catholic; similar doctrines but not the same; devout and not so much; involved and not so involved. Over 37 years I probably served on every committee or ministry that was part of the Catholic experience, especially when my daughter was young. However one by one it became clear that the church "cliques" were not terribly friendly or appreciative of those who volunteered. Much like the Pres, you must constantly stroke and compliment which seems like a little too much work when all of us are busy. Gratefulness and welcoming would go a lot further. Saying that, however, I am not so naïve as I do not understand that these "cliques" keep all the auxiliary activities going and churches would be bereft without their unflagging efforts. Bless theirs hearts as Celia would say.

At any rate, I go and absorb what I can leading up to communion but none of the "touchy-feely" stuff, which in the age of pandemic apparently I was ahead of my time. Though if Deacon J is there we will sit together and I razz him if he doesn't know all the words to the prayer. Good man, Deacon J supporting his lady wife through a health crisis and a retired member of the State Police but never anything less than cordial and loving to all. That is the spirit of religion to me, not the rituals that somehow become mere routine and less meaningful over time. Obviously and humbly however, I have certainly not achieved the level of spirit of which I speak, so I remain a work in progress.

 I remember as a teen-ager being part of the church revolution. Shocking the priest with my mini-dress at the graduation ceremony, guitar Masses and uplifting songs, altars and celebrants facing the congregation speaking English, Nuns in shorter habits or regular clothes protesting for social justice. That was engagement. Now some of my generation want to go back to Latin and stodginess. Where are my rebels from the 60's? Some of us got old.

The OH on the other hand, is sincerely devout and we often argue (among other things) about my fondness of the New Testament over his love of the Old. That said, he clearly misses the ritual of service and not being able to be in church, especially during Easter, which was weighing heavily. So after all these years we now "attend" church every Sunday morning together, on the couch, usually in my pjs watching the on-air local Catholic Outreach Mass. Though I will admit it is extremely easy to "rest one's eyes" on a comfy couch compared to a hard wooden pew, though I have accomplished that, and the singing is left to the solitary soprano leader on the tube. I do find it rather insulting that they introduce all the clerics performing Mass but never mention the song leader and organist by name.  Both women oddly enough, hmmm.