Just Another Reason
I’ve burnt the midnight oil wondering why so many people no longer go to church. There are millions of reasons out there-but as I walked through the cemetery today, I thought perhaps of one more. During the age of enlightenment and perhaps all the way to the invention of penicillin, death seemed to be looming at every turn- smallpox, typhus, yellow fever, and scarlet fever. Also, cholera emerged as an epidemic threat and spread worldwide. There were said to be six pandemics in the nineteenth century.
Throughout the cemetery gravestones remind us of so many folks who died way too early. On many of these gravestones the name, birthday and death are listed-but not just in years-in years, months and days lived. Each day must have been an incredible gift. The average age of death in 1867 wasn’t quite 40 years, today life expectancy hovers around the 80 mark-more than double what it was in 1870. It’s not unusual to find folks living way into their 90’s and beyond. Back then death must have been a more prevalent reality day to day and I imagine folks may have had to look deeper for the meaning of life, for something to hold onto when dark days fell, for some bit of faith to carry them forward. That was perhaps the time when many of our grand churches were built and filled to the brim. And now that we are hopefully living longer less precarious lives, have we lost the need or desire for faith? Are we just more comfortable and confident with the amount years we’re given? For some, has science paved the way to a heaven-less future? Eternal Oblivion rather than eternal rest? Do we no longer feel the need for something to believe in? Where are we headed?
I must admit I have my dark days when faith feels a bit out of reach- when nothing seems like more of a reality than something- when reality seems stronger than faith-and then I look at the sun and the moon and how they perfectly balance day and night, how the dry withered bulb turns into the fragrant purple hyacinth, how we share this beautiful planet with so many amazing creatures and plants and flowers and friends, how each bird sings a different song to wake us in the morning, and what it feels like to hold a brand new baby …… and I know that some amazing power and energy is behind all of creation-and how my time here may be spent getting to know and grow closer to what that might be.
As I stand in the back of the church each Sunday morning, waiting and hoping that the door will open one more time by a searcher, a journeyer, a wonderer, a wanderer, a friend -I hold onto the hope that all is not lost, that we can hold onto these beautiful buildings, these gathering places, these spaces of hope, and joy and community. That we can continue to be a community of faith, of friendship, tradition and love and of course home to the best cup of coffee in town!