This week's experiences...

Angry at a funeral...

I went to a funeral on Monday. It was for a lovely lady who was part of the catholic faith. I really appreciated the family tributes. But I got angry. Let me in love tell you why. I have been stewing on it all week since.

I know and work with lots of Roman Catholic people. Many seem to have a social conscience and desire to be involved in the community that we protestants lack. But I need to say as lovingly as possible, I found a catholic mass at the funeral deeply disturbing.

First I felt the whole thing, for an outsider to the catholic faith, to be exclusive and unwelcoming. It was just an assumed part of the service with no explanation as to why it is there. I am a protestant minister with some understanding of liturgy etc. but I found it hard to get my head around. For someone completely out of the faith it would be gibberish. I saw people looking at each other with questioning glances and uncomfortable grins. There were responses demanded that we protestants and unbelievers were not aware of and it was like we were just observers while the "true faithful" did their thing. 

The other disturbing thing was the realisation that we were not welcome to have mass. Just before the service I met Tom Lamb, a fellow workplace support chaplain. He belonged to that parish. He and I do the same sort of work. We are motivated by the same sort of faith and moved by the same spirit. I would consider him a friend. He was allowed communion, but I wasn't? We work for the same God together, but we cannot share the sacrament together. Sorry Catholic friends, I love you, but that is wrong!

The thing that was disturbing for me is that the church is meant to be the "Body of Christ", expressing in its very being the way of Jesus. As I read the Gospels, Jesus was all of the time breaking down the barriers between those who were considered "in" and those who were considered "out". He was in his parables, teachings and arguments always open and inclusive. His understanding of God was this open, welcoming loving accepting "Father".  The religious part of this funeral service did not communicate that! It was hurtful to me because it seemed to distort the Jesus I followed, even as it claimed to represent him. I am sorry, Catholic friends, but I see it as wrong. My brother told me to respect others' faith practices, but they claim to represent the Jesus that I follow and seek to promote, and in my view they miss the mark. It made me aware, however, that there are probably things I do and say which make people feel just as excluded.

Cold/flu bugs abound

During last Sunday's run/walk I realised that I was a wee bit wheezy. During the week, starting with a sore throat on Monday evening, I have been battling a cold or flu of some sort. It is interesting the things that wear you out. On Tuesday evening I went up and worked by myself on the Habitat house. I felt OK apart from the sore throat. On Wednesday I went to work, but came home an hour early, because I felt flu like symptoms. On Thursday morning I woke feeling not too bad and played soccer that day, surprising myself with how well I could run and keep going. On Friday, always a long day, I coped OK with taking cold/flu tablets. Saturday I did OK on the Habitat site, not a bundle of energy, but OK. Today was the most difficult. I struggled to get through leading the church service. Drugged up on the tablets, I was always pleased when the next song came around and felt totally bushed at the end. 

Physical play and work I managed with during the week, but the hardest to cope with, the most exhausting was the hour of leading worship.  

Habitat house...

The prospective home owners were asking me on Saturday how long it would be before we finished their house. I told them I thought we were about half way through. We are just starting the linings on the internal walls. It is such a lot of fun, but also an awful lot of work. I hope we do not lose our enthusiasm and draw the process out. I love doing it, but recognise that it means my weekends are totally overloaded. 

Photo: Rugged up against the cold working on the scribers on the windows of the Habitat house.