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(ThyBlackMan.com) I am not a heathen I promise you. I believe in God, know he’s real and yet I may not make it to church every Sunday. Why do you attend is the question of the day? Some of us women can say we don’t like missing church because we receive love, support, exaltation, and instruction. We are in there learning some things about God, our spirituality and about life and living. That means some Sundays we walk away feeling like we were scolded due to the conviction we received. Granted it doesn’t feel the best, but you’d rather know the truth and learn so that you can live a life that is more effective. Honestly, I don’t want to sit in a church where all we do is sing, praise, shout, feel good and go home. I have to learn something. I need to be able to study the message throughout the week for further understanding. I want my life to reflect what I say I believe in.
Sisters, I admit the behavior I hate the most is blatant hypocrisy. You know, the I say one thing and do another while condemning someone else for the same behavior I commit. Yes, that sin…I greatly despise such because let’s be real it’s never an accident. Let’s be honest with self. Is church your tradition? Is your belief system what you talk, or how you live?
Those questions might sound judgmental at first glance. They are intended to make you think about why spirituality is important, and why you bother with it. This conversation could be had with an entire community, but as a sister circle we are having it here first because there are many churches whereby the women out number the men. Furthermore, when we talk about mothering a community that is our business to attend to.
Hypocrisy and mis-teaching a generation is wrong no matter who does it. With that being acknowledge men must deal with each other in regard to this same question. Today we are looking as each other as we are women, and just as we can’t do the work of men in the community…they can’t do what we do. Because spirituality is so deeply rooted in the culture of being black in America it’s time sisters, we address whether the house of worship is failing because its merely tradition.
It is beautiful and even necessary to come into church on Sunday morning and lift one’s hands in praise, joy, and worship. We feel so much closer to God in this space as we unburden the weight and hardship of a week. This shouldn’t be done to impress or compete with the next sister (I know you’ve seen it), and maybe we should laugh at nor judge the person that is unburdening hardships we couldn’t imagine openly. With that in mind this practice has a time and place in service. When its time to get to the Word we need to be taught, and as stated it won’t always feel good, how to love and live without judgement.
If we are attacked by the challenges of life something, we learned in that church should be able to help us. If attendance is merely tradition the learning is not necessary. We are showing our children church on Sunday morning is a sham. Attending in the Sunday’s best with a pious attitude judging those that aren’t us…then we leave church and act a true fool. Sisters, we have to do our part to return the house of worship to a holy place.
Our spirituality and practice have to be more than tradition. It has to be a way of life. You shouldn’t feel your soul is on the line because you were sick and couldn’t make it to service. Furthermore, how we handle each other woman to woman, and also others we encounter, should be a reflection of who we say we are in every aspect. If I claim to be a child of God, no I’m not perfect, but I should be able to treat others with kindness. We need to understand the girls of our community hear us when we speak, but they learn from watching us live.
Tradition has its place, but our spiritual path has to be more than mere repetition for validations sake. There has to be power in our words, prayers, and faith or we have failed to continue growing, and in that state how can we grow the children or inspire others. Our relationship with God is personal, but how we live that out is not. Dare to make church, and spirituality more than merely a Sunday morning routine.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; C. Starr and also Twitter; MrzZeta.
Also via email at; CStarr@ThyBlackMan.com.
