To Whom Would I Go?
*Note: Questions are fine, good, and healthy, but faith comes first
Social media can be a perfectly horrible pit to fall into, but, sometimes, it hides wisdom. My favorite line of this week was:
"I stay in church for the Eucharist."
I love that sentiment, and this post is over.
The end.
Ok, obviously kidding, but I still really love that idea. (Catholic Twitter has become my new favorite thing.)
"But, Mary," you might be thinking, "you aren't Catholic."
Indeed, I am not, nor will I ever become Catholic. However, I think we have much to learn from our Catholic brother and sisters. Yes, I understand there are problematic things with the above statement (ex: why cling to the Eucharist when you can have the Actual Sacrament??). However, I never hear members of the Church of Jesus Christ saying that to their own doubts. Sometimes, I feel like Catholics have more faith in their pinky fingers for their portion of half the truth than we do for the fullness in out entire selves. (But of course, I'm only talking devout Catholics here.)
Anyway, the above tweet was a response to a discussion about women and the priesthood that sounded almost exactly like many discussions I've heard recently among latter-day saints. The lovely bit was, that this answer ended several different replies. Sometimes, it came at the end of a woman worrying that her voice wasn't be listened to, while other times it came after someone affirmed their confidence in the clergy and expressed their opportunities in the church, but this was always their end-all. What was discouraging to me was realizing that I almost NEVER hear this at the end of such discussions I've had.
Instead, I feel like we end too often with our doubts. Things like:
"I'm not sure how *insert thing* fits with *insert opinion*"
"I don't feel comfortable about *thing*"
Which are all fine and dandy and should be addressed, but I feel like this is where many people end, on a page of doubt rather than a page of faith, opening a door for trailing away, rather than ending with things like:
"But I stay in church for the PREISTHOOD and CONTINUED REVELATUION."
"I stay in church for the power of Godliness manifested in ORDINANCES"
"...for the solemn promises I've made to God called COVENANTS"
"... the blessings of ETERNAL FAMILIES and EXALTATION"
How much MORE reason do we have to cling to the truth we have for these things alone? Yes, there are things that are confusing, and we are still learning soooo much, but that's a reason to dig deeper, pray harder, and fight more diligently. My Catholic friends are very big on "defending the Church" even when a few of it's arms and legs have left the path, and I really wish that members of the Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints had that same zeal. In fact, I feel very disheartened and sad that they don't.
And that brings me to the most important part of this post:
Once upon a time, Jesus was explaining one of the most precious truths of the gospel to a bunch of people, the truth my Catholic friends would call the Eucharist, and Jesus said some weird things. (Btws, don't you love how the Catholics took something weird and metaphorical they didn't understand and just RAN with it? Because they LOVED God?) Anyway, these weird things included talking about flesh being bread that everyone should eat, that all their intense works meant nothing alone, and claiming that He (their neighborhood friend) was Actually the SON of God.
These things, when you think about them, are incredible! He's teaching about his saving power, something each and every one of us can have incomprehensible joy through, and yet it was a stumbling block for so many disciples because it was very uncomfortable in their Jewish culture brains that taught very different things about what a messiah should be.
So they left all that goodness. They were probably happy after that and probably didn't get murdered like several of the apostles, but oh how much precious truth and closeness with God they missed and miss still.
And then....
But Peter never lets the weirdness or his own confusion overcome what he already knows, the testimony he already has. He not only expresses "I stay in church for the words of eternal life," but adds to it his spirit-led belief and assurance that Jesus is the Christ.
I like to think I too can move on even from "I stay in church for the real power of Godliness manifested therein" to "To whom would I go?" Because, in reality, this is not actually about what the church can give me, but about building my relationship with and demonstrating my devotion to the God to whom I owe everything and His Christ who redeemed me freely with the ultimate price.
Social media can be a perfectly horrible pit to fall into, but, sometimes, it hides wisdom. My favorite line of this week was:
"I stay in church for the Eucharist."
I love that sentiment, and this post is over.
The end.
Ok, obviously kidding, but I still really love that idea. (Catholic Twitter has become my new favorite thing.)
"But, Mary," you might be thinking, "you aren't Catholic."
Indeed, I am not, nor will I ever become Catholic. However, I think we have much to learn from our Catholic brother and sisters. Yes, I understand there are problematic things with the above statement (ex: why cling to the Eucharist when you can have the Actual Sacrament??). However, I never hear members of the Church of Jesus Christ saying that to their own doubts. Sometimes, I feel like Catholics have more faith in their pinky fingers for their portion of half the truth than we do for the fullness in out entire selves. (But of course, I'm only talking devout Catholics here.)
Anyway, the above tweet was a response to a discussion about women and the priesthood that sounded almost exactly like many discussions I've heard recently among latter-day saints. The lovely bit was, that this answer ended several different replies. Sometimes, it came at the end of a woman worrying that her voice wasn't be listened to, while other times it came after someone affirmed their confidence in the clergy and expressed their opportunities in the church, but this was always their end-all. What was discouraging to me was realizing that I almost NEVER hear this at the end of such discussions I've had.
Instead, I feel like we end too often with our doubts. Things like:
"I'm not sure how *insert thing* fits with *insert opinion*"
"I don't feel comfortable about *thing*"
Which are all fine and dandy and should be addressed, but I feel like this is where many people end, on a page of doubt rather than a page of faith, opening a door for trailing away, rather than ending with things like:
"But I stay in church for the PREISTHOOD and CONTINUED REVELATUION."
"I stay in church for the power of Godliness manifested in ORDINANCES"
"...for the solemn promises I've made to God called COVENANTS"
"... the blessings of ETERNAL FAMILIES and EXALTATION"
How much MORE reason do we have to cling to the truth we have for these things alone? Yes, there are things that are confusing, and we are still learning soooo much, but that's a reason to dig deeper, pray harder, and fight more diligently. My Catholic friends are very big on "defending the Church" even when a few of it's arms and legs have left the path, and I really wish that members of the Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints had that same zeal. In fact, I feel very disheartened and sad that they don't.
And that brings me to the most important part of this post:
Once upon a time, Jesus was explaining one of the most precious truths of the gospel to a bunch of people, the truth my Catholic friends would call the Eucharist, and Jesus said some weird things. (Btws, don't you love how the Catholics took something weird and metaphorical they didn't understand and just RAN with it? Because they LOVED God?) Anyway, these weird things included talking about flesh being bread that everyone should eat, that all their intense works meant nothing alone, and claiming that He (their neighborhood friend) was Actually the SON of God.
These things, when you think about them, are incredible! He's teaching about his saving power, something each and every one of us can have incomprehensible joy through, and yet it was a stumbling block for so many disciples because it was very uncomfortable in their Jewish culture brains that taught very different things about what a messiah should be.
So they left all that goodness. They were probably happy after that and probably didn't get murdered like several of the apostles, but oh how much precious truth and closeness with God they missed and miss still.
And then....
"Then said Jesus unto the Twelve, Will ye also go away?
Then, Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." (John 6:67-69)
Dang. What a testimony--more powerful to me than Peter's other testimony because it is expressed in a moment of doubt. Peter doesn't say, "Obviously, they don't understand how *thing* works" or "Well, I know that you meant *thing*" and thus, I presume, he had his own doubts and fears. No, he just says, "to whom shall we go?" The things Jesus says ARE weird in different contexts. Sometimes God asks weird things to build us up (have you read Jeremiah? One day I might rehash this post to be about wet girdles).But Peter never lets the weirdness or his own confusion overcome what he already knows, the testimony he already has. He not only expresses "I stay in church for the words of eternal life," but adds to it his spirit-led belief and assurance that Jesus is the Christ.
I like to think I too can move on even from "I stay in church for the real power of Godliness manifested therein" to "To whom would I go?" Because, in reality, this is not actually about what the church can give me, but about building my relationship with and demonstrating my devotion to the God to whom I owe everything and His Christ who redeemed me freely with the ultimate price.
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