at the end of the day

I used to think that only dairy farmers woke up at five every day!!! Bloody hell...

Well, today is a two church service day for me. Our rector is off on a well deserved cruise in southern climes and the EfM group is putting on a Service of the Word in his absence. The SotW is a regular worship service, absent the priest forgiving our sins and blessing the sacraments. These functions being the exclusive province of an ordained priest is an arcane carryover from a very long time ago.

In any event, I have been asked to talk at the services today, for less than five minutes mind you, about theological reflection as we practice it in EfM. Should be interesting.

I do puzzle, as I work the fields during the week, about this faith journey that I find myself on. Mostly I came back to it, after a long hiatus, when the girl's mom was dying. That is likely a very human response to the big ugly. After almost ten years at St. George, including the benefits of some deep relationships with very faithful believers, and four years of EfM, I am fairly certain of what I don't believe. Hell? Nope, can't see such a place in the context of a loving God. Heaven? Perhaps, as an abstract term, but probably not. God? Yes, though my certainty is based on experiential observation and we pretty much know how flawed that can be.

So, why do I trip along this path? There is that recurring experience of the divine that I have been blessed with. Mind you, given my families history this could be a symptom of a disorder of the mind. There is the connectedness with other believers that is intertwined with my Christian tradition. There is the liberating comfort of reflective prayer. There is the tradition of my people.

Perhaps not the best of reasons to practice a faith. On the other hand, we are here for only a short time and listening to the inner voice is as fine a way to frame our existence as listening to the telly.

I suppose, at the end of the day this is the call that every person in every religion has at the root of their being. Perhaps