Sunday, October 06, 2013

Communion

Over a year ago I left the church I had attended and been heavily involved in for 18 years.  For a very long time before my departure I had opted not to participate in communion services partly because I was unable to be at peace with the leadership of the congregation. No one forbade me.  I made that choice myself.  I've looked around for a new house of worship and during my recent health crisis I settled in at one for the duration of that experience.  I'm not sure I'll stay there long term but it suited my need for some stability during the insanity that was dealing with cancer while working at a new job.  I'm still looking but I also still drop in there from time to time.  This Sunday was one of those times and  Mr. Lime came with me this week.

It was World Communion Sunday and it was made clear membership was not a prerequisite so we participated.  There were spiritual aspects to this service which affirmed my decision to leave my former church, not that I was in need of that but it's still a good feeling to have the instinct reinforced.  It should be noted that Mr. Lime and Isaac continue to attend the church I have left.  This causes certain observers of our family no end to the consternation.  Ok, really, it just blows their circuitry completely, mainly because they are extremely conservative, and I have clearly gone off the deep end, and why isn't Mr. Lime reining me in better?  Yes, really.  Actually, it's been a very good thing for our family in general and our partnership specifically since I have gone my own way.  That piece of information simply does not compute at all when the already confounded folks hear it....but I digress....not only in matters of faith, but in keeping to the main point of this piece.

Where were we?  Ah yes, in the pew on this lovely Sunday morning, listening to a message before communion wherein the pastor made reference to the movie A League of Their Own.  He continued his remarks with the comment, "Perhaps you recall the line..."  I looked at Mr. Lime and whispered, "Avoid the clap. Jimmy Dugan."  The pastor finished his sentence with, "...'There's no crying in baseball!'"  Mr. Lime responded to my wisecrack with, "Rogers Hornsby was my manager and he called me a talking pile of pighsit.  And did I cry?"  Then we both tried to stop laughing at each other so the pew would stop shaking and the little old ladies on the other end wouldn't be annoyed by us.

Sitting next to Mr. Lime in church laughing together, albeit somewhat irreverently, rather than gritting my teeth through a message that grinds against my core convictions about the nature of Christian charity and its expression was a moment of its own communion, one I had long since forgotten could exist.





11 comments:

Hilary said...

Those moments are priceless and beautiful. And so good for the soul.

I barely glanced at the illustration at first, and while I was reading your first few lines I became aware of the white text on the image. I laughed so hard that I scared the cat. That is SO you!

Commander Zaius said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Commander Zaius said...

I stopped going to church for several reasons. Sermons became overtly political, the attitude was one of a country club instead of a house of God, and they closed the balcony preventing me from sleeping through it all.

Bijoux said...

One of the best decisions our family ever made was to leave our former church after 14 years. I don't say this lightly, but it truly changed all of our lives.

Tabor said...

I must say that my observation skills were remiss and I must thank Hillary for taking me back to the photo. If you cannot find spiritual peace in your church...where do you go? I am not a church goer, but certainly support those who seek spiritual peace there. If there is a God, I know that he had a sense of humor and loves you for this!

stephen Hayes said...

Everyone's path toward spiritual enlightenment is different, and I applaud you for keeping up the search for something that works for you.

Logophile said...

If you went to the depths of the sea, or made your bed in hell He would be there with you, and even if you attended a baptist church~ He would be there,
but I am glad you have found a place that you can enjoy His presence more than you would if in hell, of any description
:)

Craig said...

Love those little moments of irreverent hilarity. . . Jen and I have had some wonderful stifled snickers in church. . .

Jocelyn said...

Mr. Lime might need to become the pastor of his own church.

Man, would I like to get a gander at that congregation.

Suldog said...

I can truly say that nobody has ever used the word "pigshit" in a conversation with me at church. My loss, of course.

I laughed out loud reading this, then read it to MY WIFE and we both laughed. There is a portion of the Catholic mass known colloquially as "The Lamb of God". While we were still patrons of the Catholic church, she would always kick me during that part, trying to get me to break up and laugh. It started as a mistake one Sunday, when she accidentally kicked me, but she found some pleasure in it and continued doing it every Sunday thereafter. I, in turn, would grab her hand and squeeze - HARD. People around us thought we were strongly in love - which we were, and are - but they had no idea that what they saw as my gripping her hand as a symbol of love was actually my attempt to exact revenge.

If God doesn't have a sense of humor, we're all fucked.

(He does, though. Otherwise, we wouldn't have boobs, platypuses, and penises.)

Kat said...

Awesome. And I bet God was laughing right along with you. He gave you that sense of humor, ya know. ;)

Reminds me of the time when Tommy was about 3 years old and right before communion came back from the bathroom with his daddy and announced to me in his loudest voice, "Mom! I had a honkin' huge trucker turd! You shoulda seen it!" Try to not laugh out loud after that!