Alienation

This past weekend, I attended a funeral service at a Catholic church. As has been the case every other time I've attended such a service, I've had some ... reservations about them. I hesitate to lambaste Catholics as a whole, as I'm sure there are variances at each church and that my observations may not be accurate for each and every community. But based on the experiences I've had personally, here's what I think.

My primary problem with the services is how exclusive they are. Non-Catholics, and especially non-Christians couldn't possibly feel included and welcomed into the services I've attended. Page numbers aren't listed, hymnal and service order books aren't always provided, much less referenced so that the irregular attender could read along and participate if they chose. As the family of the deceased, none of us were given a service order or even a hymnal. Had I not been a regular attender in a Lutheran community (which shares some of the liturgy with the Catholic service), I wouldn't have had any idea what was going on; my family, most of whom don't attend services regularly, likely felt the same way. The language used is lofty and what I would define as "Christianese" - it's hard to understand what's going on around you when you can't understand the words, and when they're not even printed on something for you to read, there's no way to keep up.

All of this contributes to an alienating culture. Those who are "in" on what's going on move through the service merrily; there's no problem for them and I'm sure they are comfortable and able connect with God (otherwise, why would they continue to attend?). But for the visitors, the people the community is presumably happy to have join them, the presence of God appears to be inaccessible, as they struggle to figure out what's happening. How could it not be?

This isn't to say that you necessarily have to understand every word to really engage in a faith service. I attended a Pentecostal service when I was in Africa. The language spoken was entirely Amharic (the Ethiopian national language). But the presence of God was palpable in that room; the congregation sung with their souls, and you didn't need to know what they were saying to know that they were praising God with every iota of their being.

But I can't help but feel that the way Western Catholics run their services is simply unfair. I don't understand a church culture that doesn't jump at the chance to include and welcome every visiting member. Maybe it's because I'm spoiled by belonging to a community whose greatest strength is its warmth. From my first day at Church of the Cross I've been welcomed as a family member. Pastor Lyle makes it a practice of our community to individually welcome and introduce new and visiting people every single Sunday. So this is what I've become accustomed to. This is how I feel we should be doing it.

There are other so-called "Christian" practices that I just can't comprehend (must less condone). Such as those people who stand on street corners or outside event centres holding signs and preaching at the masses. I have to wonder how effective this is. How many people come to know Christ this way? I'm put off by it, and I'm a Christian! I've been with unbelievers on more than one occasion who turn to me and say, "You're a Christian, right? Do you do this kind of stuff?" I feel like I have to do more explaining about why other Christians might act this way, rather than actually sharing my own faith and how I practice it.

But maybe I'm wrong. I speak from one person's perspective. I know there are members of my family who were at said funeral service who also read this blog; perhaps you had a different feeling? Maybe you agreed with me? Maybe you had other thoughts I haven't even considered? I'd love to hear what you "mused"!!

Kings and Ducks

I’d forgotten how much fun it is to take in a live hockey game. While I missed the audio commentary that usually comes out of my television because I like hearing the random facts and stats (plus, let’s face it, three hours is a long time to pay attention to the same thing and it’s nice to have someone tell me what just happened when my mind wanders a little…), it’s fun to be in the arena. The place is electric, the crowd noisy with cheering and jeering, the air crisp. It’s fun. It’s exciting. It’s a bonding experience with thousands (or hundreds, if you’re a Canuck and you’re in someone else’s home turf) of other fans.

And fans there were. There was a sea of green and blue splayed out before us, surrounding the ice and cheering on our boys. Canadians are good at sticking together (even when we're losing). Choruses of "Luuuuuu!!!!" and “Go, Canucks, Go!” rang out sporadically throughout both games and I was right in there with the best of them (as evidenced by my lack of an upper voice register a full week later).

The sense of togetherness didn’t just take place during the periods, either. After the L.A. game, a huge contingent of Vancouver fans gathered together in one section for a group photo and a spontaneous round of “O Canada”. During the Ducks game, the elderly, non-English-speaking Korean woman behind me shook me a few times, then actually hugged me, she was so excited that I was so excited (as a sidenote, one of the funniest moments of the trip was when Lynn ran into this woman in Disneyland a few days later, pointed to her and shouted, “You’re the lady!!”). It's also been pointed out to me that she could have actually been frustrated with me, since I kept leaping up every time something exciting happened, and she probably couldn't see. But I prefer to think she was cheering me along because I was fun for her to watch... yeah, we'll go with that...

And, of course, there were your typical haters too.
Favourite quote from the L.A. game:
   L.A. Fan, sneering at us: “How’s Game 7 feel now??”
   Dad: “A hell of a lot better than getting kicked out in the first round!”

Favourite quote from the Anaheim game:
   Anaheim fan [to Lynn, who wears a Kesler jersey]: “Kesler sucks!”
   Lynn: “Actually, I’m his Mom.”

LAX

This past week, I have been in California with my family, doing the Chorney family thing… that is, Disneyland. This time, for a little extra flavour, we threw in the Canucks games against the L.A. Kings and the Anaheim Ducks as well (which was a genius addition, I have to say).

On our way down, Jenn and I had a couple of hours to wait in the L.A. Airport before the Calgary crew’s flight landed, so we chilled out in the International Departure Lounge (the only place we could find to get some food). In addition to feeding our hungry tummys, we also had a grand ol’ time observing the world around us. A few highlights are listed below:

- At McDonald’s, you can order the “two cheeseburger” meal, or you can just get the burgers for $3.02. Or… you can buy cheeseburgers individually for $1.46 each. um… what?


- There are Exit signs in all the usual places… and also the UNusual. Like this one, bolted to the wall near the ground. How is that useful??


- Best Shirt of the Day Award goes to… The guy wearing this one: “So far this is the oldest I’ve ever been”  (Okay, to be fair, we couldn’t actually see all of the letters on the shirt. But this is the most logical conclusion based on the parts we COULD see.)


- Best Announcement of the Day Award goes to… British Airways: “Youseff Madri*, please report to the British Airways counter. Youseff Madri, arriving from Las Vegas and en route to Cairo, please report to the British Airways counter.” Why was all of that information necessary? In case there were multiple people in the airport with that very specific name?

After visiting the airport, I’ve decided that if I were going to design one, I’d do it very differently. First off, the ARRIVALS section would be the nicest. I would want people visiting my fictitious city to marvel at how great it was as soon as they stepped off the plane. And I would make it a lot easier to have a snack while people were waiting for their family members to arrive on later flights by having restaurants in more convenient locations. The DEPARTURES area would be less flashy. Who cares what people think about your city while they’re on their way OUT of it?


* Name has been changed to protect the innocent… and because I can’t remember exactly what it was but I KNOW it was something atypical for the setting.