Again, Southeast Christian Church

Third trip to Southeast Christian Church yesterday, first without P & first with Q & O. 1 Neither of them were too sure about this deal, as they rarely go to any church other than St. Williams with mom and St. James with me, but I really thought that they would like the music, so I asked and they acceded.  On a contingent basis.  I wanted to make sure that Q, especially, was comfortable, since she tends to be less elastic than O, so before the service began I told her that we could leave early or anytime that she wanted to leave.  She immediately said she wanted to leave, but when I suggested that we at least listen to one song she agreed.

She continued to tell me that we were going to leave early during the run-up to the start of the service, but once the first song started she seemed interested.  About halfway through the service she said something to me that I didn't hear, so I put my head down to her lips and asked her what she'd said.  She blew me away when she said, "I appreciate you bringing me to church."  I don't think she has ever said anything like that before.  And then I started to hear her voice, small and hesitant at first, during the hymns.  Or songs, I'm not sure that they're hymns.  

We stayed until the end of the service.  Even after a bunch of "I've got to leave and beat the crowd to the parking lot" people streamed past us.  

So there's that.

It's funny how my attitude towards Southeast Christian has changed so completely.  I used to laugh when people called it "Seven Flags Over Jesus."  I used to nod when people talked about how it was just a place people went to so that they could make contacts to use in business.  And I used to think the very idea of a church so big was ludicrous and wrong.

Then I took the little Js to the Shine Dance last year, and I was astounded at how many of the members of the congregation showed up to help out, and about how joyous they were.  And I could only guess at how much money had been laid out for this party for special needs kids, most of whom probably didn't even go to the church.  It was about as pure a Christian act as I've personally witnessed, and it moved me greatly.  

It didn't turn me stark raving Christian or anything like that.  But it did make me reevaluate myself in terms of how quickly I'd judged the place even though I'd never been there.

Now I've been there three times, and I've always (1) been greeted cheerfully by multiple people, (2) felt comfortable--not like an intruder, as I've felt in many of the churches I've visited, & (3) been moved by the sermon.

The sermon this time out particularly surprised me.  It was very challenging.  The basic message was, You shouldn't sit on your ass while people close by are suffering.  And it had barbs.  I didn't agree with everything that the minister had to say by any means . . .  and I thought that there were some internal contradictions, logical by-passes, etc. . . . but for the most part I thought it was a powerful message, and one that was actually very Christian in the best sense of the term.  (As in something that Jesus Christ wouldn't mind being said.  I don't think many of the sermons I've heard in the past half a century could pass that muster.)

Also, there were three or four blind people with dogs who came to the service.  Q found this quite interesting, and this morning she said to her brother, "Some people are blind in church."  Which I found (1) poetic & even elegant, (2) pretty interesting on a metaphysical level.  If I could just have her language, I think I could write a truly great novel.

I think we'll be going back to Southeast Christian church.  


1   Funny, I was just proofreading this thing prior to hitting the Publish button (I occasionally do that, which may be difficult to believe . . . but you could help out if you'd holler when you catch a typo) when I realized that these letters are in alphabetical sequence . . . which is just an interesting thing, don't think it qualifies as coincidence, much less synchronicity.  But I've always referred to Jacqueline and Joe as Q and O here, respectively . . . initially because I was incognito, and here just because I felt like it.  And P is Pat, my friend.  So it's not like I engineered it or anything.  Oh, shit . . . this is only interesting to me, isn't it?  Sorry.  Shutting up now.