Let Us Sing

My first choir performance is coming up this Saturday. We had a dress rehearsal last night where we ran through the full set. This choir is amazing. I really don't know how to describe it: that many people singing their hearts out to a higher power, it's electrifying. Plus, we really get rockin'! We do a great set of foot-stompin', hand-clappin', Black gospel. It's so much fun. And I get a robe. I'm dorky enough that I think that's cool.

Many of you know that I've struggled with church for a long time. I just haven't found a place where I fit in. There was a church in Corvallis that I called home for a couple of years, but then I moved away. I haven't found one that I like here in Eugene. I consider myself a Christian, but I don't like most Christian churches. Plus, there's the problem that I don't believe that Christianity is the only path to God. For that matter, I don't believe in God, in the sense that there's a man in the sky who decides if good or bad happens to us. I do believe there is a force greater than the material world can account for in this universe. I believe it is a force of good and it's our job to get in harmony with this higher power.

Why do I consider myself a Christian? Well, there's the rudimentary stuff like that's the religion of my extended family, it's what I am traditionally familiar with, and I was baptized. I could just as easily have been born to Jews or Muslims and make that work for me. For me, even though I don't go to church anymore, I still identify as Christian because I think Jesus had the right ideas. He was a radical who wanted everybody to have food, shelter, and loving care. I agree with my whole heart. Do I think other prophets are valid? Absolutely. Buddha said the same things. So did Mother Theresa. There have been plenty of men and women through history who have had a special line to the divine. I think they all have something to teach us. Christianity is just the language that I know. It connects me to my history and gives me a framework for my politics.

Wow. How did I get off on this tangent? Oh yeah, choir. Choir is great and it's giving me that line to the divine.