Church Memories – Devotional for Monday, January 24, 2011

I recall fondly the days of my youth as an altar boy in Crowley. I remember waking up before my parents or 8 brothers and sisters and silently dressing and slipping out of the house before dawn. In  my memory it’s always a cold morning as I pull my bike to the street and pedal the two blocks to church. I remember slipping in the back door of the sanctuary and quietly dressing for mass before assisting the priest to prepare and lighting the candles. Those memories still warm me as they impressed me with the solemnity and holiness of “church.”
Most of us have memories of church and those memories form our current concept of what church is. Some of the memories are positive  but others are quite negative. They may involve institutions or persons, perhaps a favorite Sunday School teacher or wise pastor. We may remember being scared to death by fire-and-brimstone sermons or forever damaged by someone whose heart was filled with more judgment than love.

The point is that it’s easy to lose touch with what the church should be. We are affected by what imperfect people in the church have done for us or to us.

This week we will consider the concept of the church. What is the Church? What’s our part in it?

The first step is to set aside our preconceived ideas and work from a clean slate. We need to be uninfluenced by bad memories or great ones which have probably improved with age. Ask God to help you do that. It’s not that easy.

Be blessed.

Nick

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