For six years in my mid-30s, I stopped attending church. I thought the only way to find truth was to get out of the pew and seek it within. Now that I am actual clergy, I smile at how much things change.
I still believe in the church of the every day, the every moment, and that truth is no more available to us in a church than in the recesses of our hearts. I still believe many churches are afraid of the quiet, individual working-out of our faith and path, wanting to silence our moments of deepest solitude because of the liberation and permission they grant. Churches, like all human institutions, struggle with the impulse to control. Yet I have obviously changed my mind in many ways. What happened?
In part, I started reading Karen Armstrong, the great scholar of religion, and I started studying myth and how religious ritual works in people. I also discovered a ritual (the Christian ritual ala Episcopalianism) that I truly enjoy, finding in it beauty, connection with others, centering, and spiritual resonance. Finally, I fell in love with the immigrant community I attended church with every Sunday evening.
What changed most in me though, at least in recent years, is my understanding of religion. Specifically, this: I came to understand that everyone is religious…. {Read remainder of article on Patheos HERE.}