Sunday morning at the store

This past Sunday morning I was a "heathen." I/we did not attend a Sunday worship gathering.

In all honesty, even though I didn't intend to attend, I actually WAS going to go. It's somewhat of a long story, but... what the heck... I've got time.

See, I got upset last week because, after being asked if I would consider being on the church board of directors, and finally agreeing to it, I was told they wanted my wife to be on instead of me. So I got mad. But what made me want to stay home was more because I was embarrassed by my reaction than to being mad at anyone in particular. I showed (myself more than anybody) that I am still not fit to serve in any type of leadership position in the church. So, I was mad at myself, and embarrassed for myself.

Anyway, I was hoping Jane would go ahead and go - since we were supposed to serve as greeters. However, she had other ideas, and then... she also got sick over the weekend. So she was laid out on the couch all day, and I was stuck with having to eat my words by myself, or...

What I decided to do, was, use the opportunity to go to the grocery store during Sunday morning church time. It was a curious notion to see what "non-church" people do on Sunday mornings (in a way). Yes, I suppose I still always revert back to the ol' pastoral/missionary mindset.

So I went to Meijer and bought groceries. I was also in full people-watching mode. I actually ran into a woman who comes into the Y at 5 am every weekday. She shops Sunday mornings so she can get the pre-cooked chicken (an admitted creature of habit). There also seemed to be a LOT of 40-50-ish year-olds; normal looking people. And, dare I say, people I would not expect to see in church. Why? Because... they looked "normal." At least my idea of normal. They weren't needy looking. Didn't seem pretentious. They were simply what I would consider your everyday ordinary sort of people.

Oddly enough, these were the type of people I always wanted our church to be about. Well, I guess, as I say that, I mean: when I was a pastor. But, yeah, and so it goes...

So, that was my little attempt at rebelling against the church and trying to be the church all at the same time. As with everything else, I'd say it was a perfect failure as well. Harumph.