Feeding the Soul

Regular readers know that I am spiritual, not religious. I have many issues with organized religion, particularly Christianity as practiced in the United States, as I see too many practitioners pre-occupied with secular political issues instead of teaching love, compassion and spiritual uplift that I believe to be the true message of Jesus Christ. I am particularly bothered by those of many faiths, not just Christianity, who use their religion to justify acts of violence and oppression of others who believe differently. As a result, I don’t often find myself inside a house of worship.

I did this Easter Sunday however, largely because a friend was one of the ministers conducting the service. He’s young man I first met years ago when he was an outreach worker for the youth program of Gay Men of African Descent. I saw another side of him years later, when he taught me Reiki. Our paths have crossed over the years as we both work in the non-profit social service field here in NYC. Still more recently, I heard he had suffered a major tragedy when he fell four stories down an elevator shaft, breaking many bones and spending a long time in the hospital and physical therapy.

So it was a pleasant surprise to receive an email a few weeks ago to discover he was fully recovered and had been moved to follow a calling to the ministry. He and three of his seminary school graduating classmates were conducting their first public worship service and he was inviting me to attend.

What I experienced was an interfaith service that incorporated Buddhist principles, African drumming, chanting, sermons and storytelling, singing, meditation and other non-traditional practices. It was multi-ethnic, LGBT-affirming, relaxed and informal (the ministers even kidded each other during individual presentations) and so unlike the strict, obedience of the Catholicism I grew up in. Dare I say it, it was a fun service. We never had fun in the Catholic church. And the messages conveyed today—not preached, conveyed—were just what I needed to hear right now.

I’m not sure when or where I’ll have an opportunity to attend another such service. I don’t know if their ordination entails assuming a position at any established church. But I am interested in having more experiences like this one.