Day 31: Going deeper

2/15 Katie and I accompanied Daniel and Zeke to Westminster Cathedral this morning, at Victoria Station. The first thing I saw upon entering the cathedral was St. Francis with his birds; ah the connections we make between classes and real life. The service was interesting. It was partially in Latin, partially in English. I wish that the Latin at least had an English translation because I’m not big on saying things that I don’t understand. I doubt that the Catholic Church abuses the other language, but on principal if I’m going to worship or pray, I’d like to know what it is that I’m saying to God so that it’s meaningful rather than just empty words.

The service was very beautiful, which Daniel asserts is one of the most important parts of the Catholic faith, but at the same time I left with mixed feelings. There was some stuff I didn’t understand, and there was some stuff I didn’t agree with. I spend a lot of time thinking about these issues, and I wish that I could better express my thoughts on such matters. I didn’t understand why they blessed everything with incense, like 6 times throughout the service. Mostly, I’m not sure the meaning behind it, or the purpose it serves. Other than that, I found it slightly showy. (Hang on before you judge that statement.) I thought that it was very beautifully done, but it didn’t lead me closer to God in its beauty. Instead it somewhat distracted me because I was so focused on the meticulous singing, and the impossible litany to follow, that I personally didn’t get a lot of meaning from it. Now, when David asked me about it in the afternoon and I responded by noting the “showiness”, I asserted that I think that many church services can be showy, and many are showy. I don’t think it depends on the denomination or the specific doctrinal beliefs. In fact I think that my own church, Wooddale, can be showy as well. I don’t draw a distinction between protestant and Catholic; I only believe strongly that Catholics and Anglicans aren’t exempt just because they follow a litany. I don’t think that their services always honor God any more than protestant services honor God always. So yeah, that was my semi-harsh evaluation of Mass. I did, however, enjoy going and I’m glad that I’ve had the experience. Plus, I think that the body of Christ is bigger than denominations, thus, I believe that God can move in any church despite the flaws of us people. I just enjoy experiencing the different aspects of Christianity, and how people worship God.

I spent the afternoon journaling, which was nice downtime. I love alone time. It’s nice to stop, think, talk to God, and reflect on life. I had a conversation with David in the afternoon about church (several people went to Westminster Abbey) and faith in general. That conversation continued down in the laundry room while he and Katie did laundry. It was actually interesting because as he’s an Anglican and so we discussed some of the differences between all of our church backgrounds (most his versus ours), which I love discussing. I think that you can grow so much by conversing with people of different beliefs. It is the dissention that strengthens your own beliefs and forces you to realize just exactly why you believe what you believe. It’s incredible how God gave us reason, and how we can use that to gain a better understanding of Him. I’m so thankful for that.

I ate lunch and had a great conversation with Cate back home. I really really miss being able to talk to her on a regular basis. It’s so hard being across the ocean, and I wish that I could be closer so that I could hear more regular updates on her life, and update her on mine as well. It was fantastic hearing about every aspect of her life, though she still (a week later) has yet to tell me about her pizza making party *hint hint* haha, but I’m still very thankful that I was able to chat for a while. It was a great way to spend my evening.

After Cate left to clean her house, Katie and I skyped with Morgan, which was also really good to see how she was doing, hear about EMW and campus dealings, and to just catch up on life. Katie, Daniel, David, Renee, and I then decided to watch Muppet’s Treasure Island in my room, which was light and entertaining and pretty enjoyable. After which the guys stayed and chatted for a while, before we sent them on our way, packed, and climbed into bed before Canterbury in the morning.