Church Bells

I don’t often write my blog about church or religion but this week I was struck by something that I wanted to share. I’m not one to proselytize-everyone is on their own journey-but I was in my office and I heard the bells of a local church peal- and for just a moment that sound filled me with peace. It resonated somewhere within me and in that instant, I felt a connection to something more -something larger than self – a connection to life’s great mystery. We all know churches are struggling- attendance is low- many are closing. Folks perhaps are deciding to find their own way – another way to envision the great spirit of life, another way to help their children explore their faith, another way to build community and ask the big questions. Or perhaps they’re not.

It is understandable- there have been many people that object to organized religion. I too have taken months and even years when I did not attend. I understand both the beauty and the pain religion has brought into people’s lives. For me it has always been easy to find God in nature. No need for doctrines, rituals, rules; just a pure connection with the great unknown. I am often astonished by this miracle of life – just how amazing and beautiful it is…. the infinite sight of the human eye that can see the Triangulum Galaxy around 3 million light-years from Earth, the 400,000 different varieties of flowers, the brown withered bulb that knows to become a fragrant hyacinth in spring, the tiny acorn growing into the mighty oak, music, love, the birth of a baby – and about a million more - and I think there must be something out there steering this ship. I have often thought that you might need more faith than quantum faith itself-if you believe it all evolved by chance.

So, I wondered, what happens if all the churches close-what if we no longer hear church bells peal? What if everyone stays home to watch the ‘Morning Show’ Sunday mornings? Where will we go on Christmas Eve to light a candle and sing ‘Silent Night’? What happens if all of the pipe organs find their way to the scrap yard? Who is even learning how to play the organ? Where will you turn when a loved one dies? Who will say that final prayer? Belief or nonbelief, joiner or loner, is there a way we can help our churches survive?

Science has proven a great deal- but not everything. I have read that science has even proven that children are born spiritual and have an innate connection and curiosity about the great unknown. It is thought that in raising healthy children some connection to this mystery is vital.

Every minister, rabbi and church leader I know opens their door to everyone-the religious, the spiritual, the atheist, the agnostic, the doubters, the worriers, the prayerful, the hopeful, the searcher, the wanderer, the meek, the strong, the lost, the found, the full, the empty. A wonderful journey might be to find where you feel most at home.

I don’t believe that churches need to house a single set of beliefs-there are said to be more than 500 names for God! Maybe ‘church’ can be a place where each person can explore and express their own vision of the holy and the mystery of God within. Maybe churches can offer an hour of peace, meditation and beautiful music. Maybe churches can foster friendships and build communities that respect and support each other in good times and in times of need. Maybe churches can help fill some emptiness.

I don’t like to imagine a world without church- I don’t like to imagine the silenced church bells, a hollow Christmas Eve, a wordless memorial. Churches need our support in one way or another. And if in the end those pearly gates are just a flash of light at the conclusion of this miraculous journey of life- than what have we lost by hoping for something more?