Smells and bells

I love smells and bells! I am not the organized type, I buck structure, perhaps that is why high liturgy has appeal to me, it gives me something I normally lack: discipline.

We protestants are quick to judge Catholics, we grew up with ideas about them. When I first went to some services, I was amazed that any Catholic could be nominal. I found the smells and bells powerful reminders of the mystery. Personality wise they appealed to my imagination and creativity.

But nominal Christians should never surprise us, nor should they cause us to cast nasturtiums on a tradition. They are in fact in every tradition where the culture allows them to comfortably call themselves Christians (the persecuted church has few of these). The practice of infant baptism brings the person in to the church, they can claim that affiliation forever if they wish, and never go to church (not that the church or priest is happy about them doing that). Parents bring their children to be baptized because of cultural tradition and as a form of fire insurance, just in case there is a God, and cross their fingers to the promises they make to bring them up to love God.

Perhaps coming from the outside, with out those cultural impediments allowed me to experience the forms of worship with awe and wonder. Perhaps my experiences with the Spirit allowed me easily to see the forms as full of life, rather than empty religion.

I told the retreatants at the Abby with me, that I wanted to plant a pentecostal church with all the smells and bells. I think they all ready had an inkling that I was crazy.