church...

I love my sister.

My sister hates church.

She loves Jesus.

She just hates church.

And, frankly, I don't really blame her.

In her last blog entry she wrote about how church reminds her of really dumb trail horses headed to the glue factory. Actually, it's a pretty good analogy, but you'd have to read her blog to get it. This is the link:http://crockershomepage.blogspot.com/ (Sorry, no snazzy hyperlinks here.)

Anyway, after reading her blog I decided she sounded like a girl who'd stepped in one too many piles of horse hooey on her faith journey. And since she's my sister, and I happen to know her story, I know that not only has she stepped in road apples she's also had piles of poo launched at her head by members of the clergy.

I think I may have overstepped the bounds of what this comfortable analogy affords. But I think I've made my point: no one likes poo thrown at their head; it tends to make one have a bad attitude about the launchers of the poo. It's unfortunate that poo tossing happens in the church, but, as they say, "shit happens." (couldn't resist...sorry about the potty mouth...oh crap, now I've done it again...oh when will this rediculous pun end)

So where does that leave us, as Christ-followers? If, as I believe, faith journeys happen in community and we've established that some times we all act like idiotic trail horses, and the trail is littered with excrement of our own making then we aren't exactly sitting pretty. We're smelling stinky. (Dang...I cannot resist these stupid jokes tonight. Please forgive me.)

The Bible says we are to be the aroma of Christ. But church, for my sister, and others like her, conjures up aromas of something else entirely. Something methane-ish.

Something is wrong with that.

It's very, very wrong.

And I don't think it'll change anytime soon.

So the flip side to to the stupid trail horse analogy is this: At least on this faith journey I'm in I know that the trail leads someplace good. The view rocks. Sometimes it literally takes my breath away. Also, I've gotta say I've met some really fabulous dumb trail horses along the way...trail horses can make really good friends. And it keeps me humble knowing that though I deserve to be sent to the glue factory, I'm on a journey through mountains of grace.

I gotta believe, I GOTTA BELIEVE, it's worth a little poo along the way.