A service like no other

I went to Mike & Shannon's church service by myself Sunday morning. What a relaxing day. It was like no other service I've been to. I got there late (in usual Sarah fashion) and walked in to an auditorium with the lights out and a band playing. I thought I went to the wrong place, but Mike reassured me I was where I was supposed to be. The church overall is quite contemporary and has a pretty young membership. It's a non-denominational church that holds its Sunday services at a nearby middle school. I'm going to be honest, the first ten minutes or so I thought they were a bunch of quacks. I mean what church has a band with members who's jeans are all distressed, messy hair, and sing their worship? I was uncomfortable. But, like it was meant to be, suddenly there was a picture of Mike on two screens on the stage showing an interview of how he came to be a member of the church. He explained his Jewish heritage and how he later became Christian. His face glowed when he spoke of his experiences. In normal Mike fashion, there was even a stupid moment where he thought his ear scratching would be edited out, but it wasn't. Guess you had to be there for that part. Shortly after, a missionary named Calvin spoke for a while. Again, I started to get a little nervous. There I was sitting in a not so normal church service about to listen to some Jesus lovin' guy. But listening to him speak was so very interesting. I'm going to be honest, I didn't understand any of his Bible references with the exception of, "let there be light," which I guess I didn't know the true symbolism behind it, and stories of Adam and Eve. But I could have listened to him for hours. He referred to scripture...I have no idea what Testament it was from, but he was able to explain it in such a way that I totally understood it after. It was almost like we were at a laid back conference. I love learning stuff and going to classes, and this was no different.

I still don't know much. I don't know what "religion" I am. I just know that the stuff I learned as a Catholic very much skewed my views on Christianity or religion overall. All I really learned was all the reasons I'm going to hell for: spitting on the road as a kid, having sex before I was married (sorry, Mom), and probably because I got a divorce. My Nana told me if I lost anything, I was supposed to pray to St. Francis (or someone), and I should say novenas (of course, the ones found in the back of the newspaper) every night. I think the "lost" stuff wasn't supposed to be about my finding my lost shoe, but if I lost my "way."

I left their service literally smiling. I felt like I just sat through a free counseling session or something. It was so upbeat and positive. For all I know the whole God and Jesus thing is a made up story. But, if a made up story is helping me stay positive in my life and my relationships then maybe I'll keep playing make believe. It's working for me.