[Magdalen] She's leaving church

[Jon Egger]

Molly,
Be assured of my prayers, Molly.  Since I've 'retired' I struggle with
attending my prior parish.  (It is a hospice church, dying, with a old
congregation that cannot, or will not, look into the future, nor past the
doors. There are also some parishioners there who are in total control of
the church.)   My darling wife and step-daughter LOVE the new parish they
have found and I struggle with simply saying NO to my old parish and
joining Dawn and Bekka in the healthy, outward looking, and awesome parish
they've found.  It's also very difficult for me to simply go out from our
apartment for any lengthy of time over 2 hours.  Thank God that I have a
hospice chaplain and (hopefully new) spiritual director that I can hash
things over with.

+++
Grace & peace,
Deacon Jon Egger



*“In every age it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who
has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to
deceive and overawe the People."(Eugene V. Debs, Anti-War Speech, June 16,
1918) *


On Sun, May 31, 2015 at 2:29 PM, Susan Hagen <susanvhagen at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Molly,
> I do understand.  I pray that you that you will find new paths with heart,
> new places of refreshment, new healthy relationships and new calls for you
> many gifts.  Bessings on your way forward.
>
> Susan
>
> On Sun, May 31, 2015 at 11:39 AM, Molly Wolf <lupa at kos.net> wrote:
>
> > Dear pubbies,
> >
> > Last night I posted this on Facebook:
> >
> > "I think I am done with religion.  Not with God, of course, never with
> > God.  But with church (except for friends), with intellectual theology,
> and
> > with the Future of Christianity, I think I am done."
> >
> > I realized that my church (not necessarily the individuals but the
> > church-geist) promulgates the dysfunctional patterns that mis-shaped my
> own
> > soul's formation:  triangulation, resentments, scapegoating,
> > psychopatholigizing, the "spiritual bypass".  This has become blindingly
> > obvious in the last few weeks.  BTDT, not doing that again.
> >
> > I need to get out for my soul's safety and well-being, just as 40-years
> > ago I had to turn my back on my family and walk away, for my own
> survival.
> > I am, in a sense, grieving history as I repeat the most health-bound
> > decision I could make.
> >
> > I also find myself increasingly irritated by church's narcissism, whether
> > it's the idolatry of liturgy or preoccupation with the past or earnest
> > navel-gazing. Fewgawdsake, church, get over yourself!
> >
> > I need to find God.  And right now, I am living in Psalm 131.
> >
> > I'll show up on the odd Sunday morning for social reasons, but my soul
> has
> > left the building,
> >
> > Joining the company of the "dones",
> > Molly
> >
> > The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no
> > other way. -- Mark Twain
>
>
>
>
> --
> Before enlightenment pay bills, do laundry.  After enlightenment pay bills,
> do laundry.
>