Friday, January 18, 2008

OK, so here's where I am right now. I have come to appreciate
much in the Catholic church, but I am not at the point of being
comfortable with accepting it as an active force in my own life.

I am praying, I am waiting, should further clarity be granted.

But for right now, I stumbled upon this:

A Psalm of Life
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Tell me not in mournful numbers,
"Life is but an empty dream!"
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead past bury its dead!
Act, act in the living present!
Heart within and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

In times of confusion and turmoil, let us all turn to God and trust,
like Longfellow, that we were created for more than the grave.

There is still hope.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

A Few Reasons Why Episcopalianism is cooler than Catholicism:

1. The letters in Episcopal also spell Pepsi Cola--Nifty!

2. Real Egg Nog (Rum included) after Midnight Mass on Christmas!

3. Women have rights (Birth Control included!!!)

4. Harpsichords AND Electric Guitars

5. Movie Nights with intellectual discussion following (Sexually Explicit Content included!!!)

6. Homosexual friends!

7. Did someone say, Pancake Feed?

8. Retreats for teenagers with COED sleeping arrangements!

9. Real wine weekly!

(I'm just being silly about all this of course. ...or am I???)

Don't worry. Episcopalians love God even more than camping, loud music, and booze. We even love those people who march around outside our churches with big signs damning us all to Hell for thinking all people are...well, people. When they came to my church we invited them in for coffee after the service--no takers.

jjspringer said...

Hi Lisa,
Hope you don’t mind me offering up a few thoughts. I know that Carol and I don’t know you all that well, but we love your family and they told us about your blog so I’ve been reading your posts and thinking hard about what you’re dealing with.
I don’t know if I have anything new to add to your thought process or not, but I’ll try. I think one challenge that you face is deciding what question you need to ask yourself. Are you asking: Is the Roman Catholic church THE true church? Or are you asking “Is the Roman Catholic church A true church?” or are you asking “Can I in good conscience attend a Catholic church and describe myself as Catholic?”
I think that the question you ask will help you know how to focus your search or line of questioning.
I also have come to believe that the core question is about the doctrine of justification, which was the heart of the Reformation. As I’ve come to understand it, this is the key point of division between Catholics and Protestants. The question is, “Would you want to associate yourself with the Catholic view of salvation?” I’ve worded that statement carefully so that I don’t bias the answer one way or another.
But I would urge you to study the Council of Trent and Vatican II, among other Catholic teachings, and decide if you believe that such teaching squares with what the Bible has to say about salvation. That is not to minimize the other issues involved, but it does provide what I believe is the most important focus of your search.
Although I am a Protestant, there is much about the Catholic Church that I admire. The commitment to the sanctity of life, commitment to the Doctrine of the Trinity (at a time when many Protestants don’t know what the Trinity is), a sense of beauty, history and mystery are all truly admirable things. But none of them is exclusive to the Roman Catholic Church. There are also many things about Protestant Christianity in America that are unhealthy. Our ignorance of history, our intellectual shallowness, our failure to nurture good art are all black marks on the Protestant Church.
So I sympathize with your quest. Just know that you are in our prayers. Can I refer you to a couple different resources that have helped me? One is a sermon by John Piper, which you can find here:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1999/1084_God_Credits_Faith_as_Righteousness/
And the other is a book by Norm Geisler and Ralph Mackenzie called Roman Catholics and Evangelicals: Agreements and Differences, which you can find here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801038758/ref=s9_asin_title_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=1Q1P8GS1TBVYP1X84259&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240701&pf_rd_i=507846
I know that many books written by evangelicals about Roman Catholicism have been poorly done and without a lot of charity, but this book is an exception. It is actually praised by many Catholic scholars for its fair presentation, and does a good job of fairly portraying the issues. I’d be happy to loan you my copy if you’d like.
JJ

Lisa Bender said...

Wow. Thank you JJ. I really appreciate the thoughts and references. I will definitely look into that. Also, I appreciate your distinction about what question I am trying to answer. I think what I've been trying to decide is whether or not the Catholic church is A true church. Then after that (which I think I have pretty much decided is a yes) I will maybe mill on the others (though I'm not a fan of the "one true church" thing) but without urgency.

God bless! And I hope all is going well with the kids.

Abby, that is a funny list. I know we don't always agree on everything, but I do appreciate your perspective. It kind of keeps me from getting too uptight and helps me to think about other perspectives that people I love adhere to. (I love you, and I'm glad your church recognizes homosexuals as people in a non-judgmental way. That is important, and I believe, an attitude that Christ would show, at the very least, at the outset. He is the one who has a right to judge these things ultimately.)