Church

Usually, when I tell people I'm going to be a priest, they assume I'm Catholic. This is statement and assumption is often followed with "does that mean you're not going to have sex anymore?"

Despite the juvenile frame of mind, I try to break the barrier and explain that I'm not a Catholic Christian, and this usually opens up an entirely different can of worms. The question that is then asked is "so what church do you go to then?"

Me? I don't attend church regularly. I haven't been to a church since my wedding, and before that it was probably ten years or more. So I wouldn't actually call myself a "church guy." However, I've always had a religious spirituality with me, and I've always been able to freely discuss that with anyone.

The realization is that when I finish my priesthood, I'm going to be involved in church. Not just attending, but running the facility as well. While this isn't really a problem, per se, since I have management experience and the like, it does give me a certain amount of unease, just because of my inexperience with "church."

Someone asked me this morning what church I went to, because they knew I'm studying for ordination. I told them that I didn't attend church regularly, and I got a puzzled look from my companion. I tried to explain.

I'm actually trying not to attend church for the time being, because I wish to bring my own ignorance to light through my studies. I'd like to focus on establishing my own parish - when the time comes - and approach it with the "eyes of a child," so that my ideosyncricies (my set way of doing things) don't get in the way of new experiences.

I look at this as the next challenge in my life. I love challenge; it usually brings out my best work. I have to reconcile my spirituality with my religion, and I have to allow structure into my chaos. It's going to be a bumpy ride, but I'm perfectly okay with the daunting task in front of me.

Hopefully, this will all work out beneficially. Until then, I'm back to the books.