In Plain View - 2

OK, I posted a blog the other day with the same title. It took a few days but what I was trying to say wasn't clear.  Maybe today’s posting will clarify that.

What is in ‘plain view’ is me, you, us. We are living our lives on a stage. It may be a small stage or large. It may be within the household and family, or it may be in the open in the neighborhood, town or village, or region.

We each are involved in various meeting places – work, church, volunteer association, circle of friends – whatever. These are stages upon which we live life on a daily basis. How well we live that life is really up to each of us. How honest will I be? How forthright can I be with matters I do not fully understand? Am I building a false front so others do not know how poorly I understand something? Or how frustrated I am with circumstances? And how that distorts my personality or emotions?

Being open to others is part of what I think of being authentic. Real. Transparent. Honest.

This is important to me. I want to be open to what you think and feel. I want to learn what you know. I want to be of use to you. Being open and accessible helps me understand the world around me. It enriches my experience. It allows me to understand myself better through you.

But my accessibility to others is opening a door so others can enter my life and understand themselves better. It is a two-way street. It is plain to see – ‘in plain view’.

Why is this important to me at this time? Well, it has to do with something under discussion at our church. I sit on the Worship Committee. This body watches over the worship schedule, the liturgical calendar, and the authenticity of the worship service in the lives of the congregation. In essence we ask ourselves – Are we touching the lives of our members in ways that help them live fully and enrich their theological understanding? Their faith?

That’s a big question. Also a heavy one. Faith of any sort is variable to each person. It means different things at different times and certainly in varying circumstances. It is not rote.

Most churches or denominations follow rituals to keep the fabric of worship predictable and understandable over time. But ritual forces people to comply with a set belief structure whether it fits with a person’s situation at any given time. Life is a process. We go through phases of understanding and valuing life components. These phases may be weeks or months long; or years. We may move through life in a logical progression similar to other people or it may be a highly individualistic progression.

Seems to me church or ‘religion’ has to flex with the needs of its followers. In doing so the religion or church can be an authentic partner with the congregant.

It also seems to me that all of us church goers have to be open to each other and involved in some degree with each other’s life. This participatory relationship allows the ‘church’ to be a vital part of each person’s life. It is a living together, understanding together, allowing each of us to not understand, to be in quandary and need at any given time. It is a great unfolding of the mission of the church however loosely defined the ‘church’ concept is.

I came to think of these matters because we stumbled over the concept of confession; should it be a part of our worship experience?

This is a muddled question for protestant Christians. We do not have a culture of confession as do Catholics. We have a liturgical confession we recite from time to time. But it is a group activity and not very personal. A ritual allows us to act a role without transacting the true business needing to be done!

The complexity of confession is based on its personal nature.  What I feel is a wrong or sin, or a flaw in character – my character – is highly personal and variable based on my understanding at the moment. If I am to deal with it honestly so it is a cleansing event, I need more than ritual. I need inner searching and honest reflection.

How do we include this in a worship experience? More importantly, how do we ensure this basic transaction is being addressed in the lives of our members in a way that really helps them?

Again this is where the phrase “in plain view” comes into play. Our lives are on display whether we engineer that appearance or not. The patterns we adopt while living life often display more than we intend. If we encourage authenticity in ourselves and among us we display a richer fabric of who we truly are. That is the act of confession in my mind. Bringing my whole self to a setting in which I can be honest about what I know and don’t know. Both are important to consider. Both have validity in understanding life on a daily basis.

Isn’t this the struggle we bring to mind each day? We are not all knowing. But we can be all trusting. Does our spiritual life give support to this? I think we can if we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to others. We grow in faith to one another and because of one another.

To me this is a true sense of confession – admission of imperfections and needs. It makes us real as we contemplate the truths of life.

May 8, 2013