tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29373297.post6422542418180211576..comments2024-03-23T18:50:32.902-04:00Comments on Telling Secrets: What's Love Got To Do With It?Elizabeth Kaetonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06787552280232329081noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29373297.post-63235111524672929562019-08-13T19:37:05.239-04:002019-08-13T19:37:05.239-04:00If you didn't care so much, you wouldn't b...If you didn't care so much, you wouldn't be the priest or the person that you are and, being the child of immigrants, you learned early and often that life and the most important things/people in life often hurt ... oh, and those same things/people also spark the truest moments of joy. So, keep the boots handy and maybe a shovel to remove the frauds from the seats of power in your beloved church (they won't go willingly, "Peace be unto you" -- HA! The people you've touched in your particular way still need what you offer and that is why you were called to this messy vocation.Marthenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29373297.post-87695987169202372012019-08-13T17:33:22.223-04:002019-08-13T17:33:22.223-04:00Sometimes, I despair for the church. And then my f...Sometimes, I despair for the church. And then my feisty immigrant stuff kicks in and I think, "Well, I've come too far to turn back, now," and I roll up my sleeves and put on my boots and get to work. <br /><br />I just wish I didn't care so much.Elizabeth Kaetonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06787552280232329081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29373297.post-10943627330336866412019-08-13T13:34:08.910-04:002019-08-13T13:34:08.910-04:00Catching up on your blog today after absorbing vas...Catching up on your blog today after absorbing vast quantities of bad news and so, now, a few thoughts on your question:<br />What's love got to do with it? Not one damn thing. Having spent large swaths of my 61 years in churches of various denominations in various roles (including as a church administrator), I can say that love was never a particularly important concept in any of them. I wasn't even looking for it, probably because it wasn't a top priority anywhere, but, when mentioned, was clearly lip-service to an unattainable ideal.<br />And why do members of the current young adult generation eschew the church? Because it's not enough about them, about their feelings, about their particular feedback loop of affirmation. It's too much talking at them and not enough listening to them and responding to their needs. I blame the self-esteem industry for teaching a whole generation to reject any institution or idea that isn't totally willing to change to suit the needs of each and every individual.<br /><br />The idea bandied about of a community of faith that is a church just makes me laugh. What I have seen are authoritarian groups desperately seeking some sense of stability in an increasingly chaotic world, of individuals working out their issues at the expense of a few congregants trying to be good Samaritans in order to work out their own issues, of some of the loneliest people I've ever met searching for meaning by association.<br /><br />I am NOT opposed to churches. It will take huge effort for your version of a body of Christ ever to exist largely because our idea of church (the one you envision, I think) never has actually existed ... we imagine that it was once real, but anyone who has studied the history of the institution knows the whole enterprise has been spotty from the start. That doesn't mean it isn't a vision worth pursuing, it just means an enormous change of attitude on the part of individuals AND the institutions.<br />Marthenoreply@blogger.com