PUSH

I know you all have probably got this in your email box, but it applies to me so I'd thought I'd put my version here.

There is this rock. It's a massive rock. God says push on the rock. You push on the rock and after a while you ask God, "What are you doing?"

God says, "Don't worry about moving the rock, if I had wanted it moved I would have moved it myself. I never intended for you to move it, I just wanted you to push."

You ask, "But to what end?"

God answers, "The purpose was to build your muscles for the next task ahead of you."

BTW This is not another Sisyphus lesson. We can talk about that if you wish, but I put it here to say what it says. And I don't think it says God has willed us to fatalism.

Protestant vs Catholic

I think I have figured out the main difference between Protestants and Catholics. I must preface my answer by saying these observations are localised. This is just what I have observed from my interaction with Protestants and Catholic in this tiny part of France I live in.

Literacy.

Yep. I go into a Catholic church and I see a ton of paintings or sculptors depicting some scene of the sacred. Tons of symbols everywhere. Even the mass is a symbol. The robes the priests wear are symbolic. The Scripture is read. The homily spoken. The songs sung. Granted, there is usually an order of service (that's to help us outsiders follow along or for those who are not used to coming to church often). But by and large the faithful have it all memorized. Afterwards, everyone exits the doors and finds their way back home or some other Sunday afternoon activity.

At the Protestants. The walls are white (or at least plain). You might see a cross up front somewhere. The service is usually routine. You sing from a book a couple of songs. You pray out loud or silently (this is one oral part of the service). You sing again from the hymnal. You sit down and "turn in your Bibles" to Book Chapter Verse and hear a sermon usually read for a literate audience. While you are trying to pay attention to the 3 to 5 points (outlining is highly literate skill), you notice the only vestments on the walls are things written, like a verse or two. Afterwards, you get plenty of oral interaction. People usually come up to you and give you kisses and talk to you for a minute or so.

I wonder if the reason Protestantism is not more widespread in France is because they are trying to appeal to the mind instead of the heart. Who knows? I say let's learn from each other. The Protestants can learn how art can help us engage in worship, and the Catholics can learn how to fellowship better.

I call it story time

I've thought about starting something new here at CL. Story Time. It's a time you sit back and hear a story being told. But this is not just a passive activity. Ideally, this would just be oral. No reading or writing but that's a little hard in this format. duh!!

To participate, after you have heard the story, you answer 5 questions.

1. What did you like about the story?

2. What shocked or surprised you about the story?

3. What does the story say about humans?

4. What does the story say about God (if anything)?

5. What does one do with the story?

I'll leave my responses in the comment section. Enjoy!