Re-connection to "The More"
This post will probably prove more difficult than recent posts, because it is of a different nature...beyond the simple travel details and updates....although those are good too, of course.
Speaking of travel details.... here is that portion to begin....our day has consisted of a trip to the store (we made grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch....mmm...warm food)....rummy......a trip to La Poste (the post office)....more rummy....and the other three are currently playing botchy ball.....I won the most recent game of rummy after jumping way ahead and accepting the forefeit of my très amigos....so, they could go play botchy ball.
To the deeper intentions of this post. On Sunday, we attended a catholic church service in The Cathedral of Saint Samson in Dol, France. The service was obviously in French and undiscernible to these English/weak Spanish ears, but the beauty of the experience reached beyond words. A catholic service in French is two degrees of separation from my norm, so I tried to look beyond the words to inflection and emotion. Here, I found God, aka "the More". No matter where I go or what I do...religion....Christianity in particular (most probably, because this is where my base of knowledge is the strongest....not because Christianity holds supremacy)....fascinate me. The attempt to look beyond the everyday....to reach beyond oneself......to connect with each other....to connect with the power that creates, nurtures, and sustains....which may in fact lie in the connection to each other in and of itself.....that continually blows me away. I use attempt not because we are always unsuccessful, but merely out of a sense of humility created in my experience of the More. Before this moment, God was definitely on my back burner......it is more difficult to sustain a relationship with God when it is your job....than when it is not....in my experience. I, truthfully, have struggled in both situations. But, alas, it is not of my own volition that I experience the more, but out of a continually dumbfounding set of coincidences that could be mistaken for the work of a master screenplay writer. And, it is to the author of my story that I give thanks for tapping me on the shoulder when she/he was not my main priority and reminding me of the meaning behind all.
Any similar spiritual moments for all those keeping up on my blog?
posted by Josh @ 7:41 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Great post Josh... it makes me think of how Joseph Campbell says the church really lost a lot when it translated the mass into english and had the priest face the congregation... there's something in the mystery of the unknown - like being a part of a mysterious, even un-understandable worship service that allows The More to be More and not just your best friend in your back pocket.
Glad you were were able to have this experience and was able to put it into words for the rest of us.
I know what you mean about sustaining a relationship with God when it is our job. The seminary experience poses the same problem….ironic as it may seem. And, it seems that in the lull of every day life, we often forget that above all, we are created in the image of this being.
Engaging in worship in a language (and culture) other than you own is a powerful experience that is often hard to put into words. It is as if we can almost hear God better when we can’t analyze him/her by processing the words in our own head.
“The more” may be an appropriate title as we can never fathom what exactly it is that connects us all to one another and to our creator at the same time. There always seems to be more, no matter how deep (or shallow) you think you are. It is only in our meager attempt to connect with that which is greater than us, that we receive the grace of being able to experience just a glimpse of how great our God really is. Thus, we press onward and thus, God continues to tap us on the shoulder to say, “Hey, I’m here….and I am more than you could ever imagine.”
Thanks for sharing you experiences with us.
Blessings!
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