What Is The Point?

The BETA swtich seems to have worked.

I was going to use my blogging time today to bless you with the latest feats of Michael Schumacher. Last week he won the Chinese Grand Prix despite trailing the leaders by over 25 seconds at one time. The old man's still got it. Today he was leading the Japanese Grand Prix when his Ferrari engine exploded. That marks Michael's first engine failure since 2000. Alas, without an engine he didn't finish the race, and without the points from the race he is all but eliminated from the World Championship. I will keep you posted.

Now on to my real topic.

Roverine and I went to church this morning. That in itself isn't unusual. What was unusual was the service. It was very focused on the Amish school shootings. Disturbingly focused. I can only compare it to services I attended after 9/11. Not only did the whole service seem like overkill, it was poorly executed overkill. Early on, all of the small children were brought to the front of the church and lined up for everyone to see. The pastor then said, in his most tormented voice, "Look at them. These are the ones that Jesus loves." I couldn't help but think, "So the rest of us are screwed?" After the service Roverine expressed a similar response. We were then subjected to a sermon pleading with us to do more for the children. The service ended with a responsive reading where the leader would read a phrase something like this, "There is violence in the world. What should we do?" Everyone would respond with, "We will do what the Amish do," followed by some bleeding heart mushy talk like "Build a barn of love. Build a barn of peace." or "Plow the fields of forgiveness." It was the intellectual equivalent of vomit. "Build a barn of love." What does that even mean?

Returning to my post title, what is the point? Why even put the effort into a service that addresses a topic that doesn't relate to the lives of your congregation, and then further alienates those attending by throwing out empty catch phrases and attempting to make them feel guilty for something they played no role in? I honestly think that, outside of the scripture reading, the only time Jesus was mentioned was when they told us how much he loved the children (but apparently not the rest of us). There was a brief respite from the onslaught when the service briefly changed topic to guilt us for not giving enough in offering (a subject that is popping up with alarming frequency). Why would I give money to support a religion that only loves children? I don't even have children!

Honestly I should be more forgiving. The church is going through a transitional period right now, and the service is normally better. It just bothers me when a service is so far from the point that it renders itself pointless. It also bothers me to see effort and potential so wasted. In response I have already made efforts to get more involved. You can't really gripe if you offer no input, right?