I opened the program to the first page and I was confronted with the following:
We\u2019re here because we\u2019re people who have heard a rumor that there\u2019s life to be found on the other side of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re here because just the rumor is enough to bring us hope and just the hope is enough to bring us a moment of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re here because even though it is only a flicker, a moment, a breath, it\u2019s changed our death forever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welcome to Liturgy.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone started singing a hymn that wasn\u2019t in the book.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My companion for the day was another fellow traveler, a pastor on sabbatical from her congregation in Kentucky. I learned a trick when you\u2019re a visitor or a newcomer \u2014 find other new people and make them feel welcome.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know Let it Shine? It\u2019s an old Black hymn. Didn\u2019t the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses ever sing that?\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo. They had their own hymns. Terrible stuff like From House to House, From Door to Door.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve said a lot of horrible things recently. I\u2019ve failed to resist or speak out. Forgive me and help me to bring Justice on Earth.<\/em> During the quiet time I walked past a cubby where they offered \u201canointing and spiritual healing.\u201d There was a woman in a blanket being embraced, sobbing with a twisted look on her face. God only knows what she\u2019s going through but it was intense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People were lonely.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n People were addicted.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n People were grieving.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n People were struggling with depression,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Someone left an abusive relationship and didn\u2019t know where they were going.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Damn the darkness that makes me feel separated from God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It was like a punch in the gut realizing that somewhere in this room someone was going through all these things and putting on their bravest face. Suddenly I didn\u2019t feel so alone anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I lost my shit and bawled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They offered communion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Child of God<\/p>\n\n\n\n The body of Christ<\/p>\n\n\n\n Broken for you<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wasn\u2019t sure what you were supposed to say. I raised my wafer, giggled nervously, and said \u201cCheers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The communion volunteer busted out laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was everything I hoped it would be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I had showed up feeling hopeless and dead inside. I have to figure out what I\u2019m doing Maybe I can put one foot in front of the other and do this one more time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I tried going to an AA meeting afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The speaker droned on and on and on and on and on and on and on. I\u2019m not saying his story wasn\u2019t compelling, just that after 45 minutes I was squirming in my seat and I had to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I got back to the hotel and dug out those drink coupons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll take another two glasses of um\u2026 communion\u2026 please.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just kidding. I wasn\u2019t able to finish the first glass.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I opened the program to the first page and I was confronted with the following:We\u2019re here because we\u2019re people who have heard a rumor that there\u2019s life to be found on the other side of death. We\u2019re here because just the rumor is enough to bring us hope and just the hope is enough to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12114,"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7279\/revisions\/12114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v4.fadingstar.mx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We returned to our seats and they read through the prayers anonymously submitted by the congregation.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
next but I don\u2019t feel like it matters and I don\u2019t really care what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n