Messy Messy

For the last month of so the church buildings have been shut down. Worship has largely moved to on-line platforms like Zoom or Facebook, each of which has its strengths and weaknesses. At one of the churches we attend the Monday night knitting and crafting group has started to meet on Zoom just so we can chat with other folks in real time in a way that resembles a real face to face meeting. It is, however, not the same. The meetings that happen on Facebook are even less satisfying. While people can chat via text as the service unfolds, there is no real time participation. Each element of the service can be prepared and recorded, and there is even the ability to get a “do over” if things don’t go quite right. As such these kinds of pre-recorded services can be quite slick according to the technological savvy of the leaders, but these services can feel cold and distant. I have taken to calling them “canned church”

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the work and good intentions that go into all of these attempts at trying to carry on as if nothing has changed. For many this can be comforting in these uncertain times. Also, I do not have the answer. I have no idea of how to keep things chugging along while we are not able to meet. The crisis does,however, point to some hard truths about organized religion.

The fundamentalists have offered us an insight into one of the deepest flaws when they tried to refuse to suspend meetings in the name of religious liberty. It became very clear very fast that those institutions were not interested in the well being of their members, rather they were all about making sure the cash kept flowing it, even if people had to die for that to happen. Their proprieties were backwards. Instead of raising money to keep the church open they were keeping the church open to raise money.

This points to a deeper problem with institutionalized religion. Institutions are designed to perpetuate their status quo at all costs. Individual members, and even whole populations are regularly sacrificed on the altar of preserving the institution, (a.k.a. orthodoxy). This is the main reason I will not even consider ordination. The ability to do ministry is open to all. None of us need the approval of some old boys’ network in order to serve the world around us. Setting the Eucharist apart as something only those who have been ordained can do is a tool of the power structures of the church to perpetuate clericalism and justify a special class of professional Christian as somehow holier than everyone else. It creates job security. I believe that the central story of Christianity is one we should all feel free to share whenever the possibility arises. Jesus passed that ritual on to his follower freely with no restrictions. We have created the restrictions and in so doing made the form of worship more important than the meaning. We’ve killed it. (ok, I’ll step down from my soap box now and continue with the real purpose for this post.)

Another question that remote worship has made me ask has to do with the fears that have motivated the current situation. Of course, the reason behind all the separation has to do with the fear of getting sick, which I think are natural and wise. But let me offer an insight. My mom is OCD. She is germ phobic. As she has moved into her 80’s I think this has become more justifiable, but she has always carried Purell. For many years she refused to eat at buffets. When I was a kid house cleaning was a sacrament. Right now, I see our society moving in that direction, and for the short term I concur. I have been dutifully making and wearing face masks, washing my hands, and avoiding public spaces as much as possible. But I look forward to the time when we can meet again. I am determined not to let the fear behind the current situation become a way of life.

This raises a question for me. Is sharing germs an essential part of human spirituality? I ask this question because none of the remote forms of worship are fully satisfying. I wonder what is missing. Physical proximity is obviously important, and the Covid crisis has made it clear that we can not share a space without sharing germs on some level. I have long been aware that when we come into proximity, we end up inhaling little pieces of each other. That is the nature of smell. So, gathering together always constitutes a form of communion in that I take little bits of you home with me and they become part of me. Gathering is a basic human need, not just a religious phenomenon. Perhaps it serves an evolutionary end. I have heard a little about collective immunity recently and I’ll admit I haven’t looked into it yet, but I know there is a school of thought that encourages people to allow themselves to be exposed to germs as a way of strengthening their immune system. Could that be part of it?

Just think about various core religious activities. They almost always involve creating a situation where germs are shared. Many rituals involve the sharing of food or drinking from a common cup. Think of the Eucharist or the Seder. Some involve massive gatherings, pilgrimage sites or festivals. Think of Mecca or Jerusalem. Some involve the veneration of objects that are touched by multitudes. Think of reliquaries or the Orthodox practice of kissing icons. Religion is not sanitary. It never has been.

If we look at the central tenant of most religion, which is usually built around the idea of love, that may give us a further clue. At the heart of bridal theology is the idea of becoming one. We hear this principle in Genesis. Song of Solomon articulates this in a more graphic way by describing the various activities the lover and the beloved engage in. He enters her “walled garden”, plays on her “mountains”, and kisses her with the kisses of his mouth. They become one through close proximity and by sharing germs. Whatever diseases he has she has. That’s part of the deal.

On some level the communion of saints may not just be some theoretical collection of disembodied people, it may include all the viruses and bacteria that we have shared over the millennia. So as we move forward during this uncertain time. I would like to encourage folks to listen to their hearts. If the canned services or zoom meetings don’t feel satisfying. That’s alright. Participate when you feel led and allow yourself to skip it is it isn’t feeding you. Engage in more direct forms of connections. A good old-fashioned phone call works. Or you could wave at strangers as the pass by your window. Be creative but be safe. This will end at some point, and we will all be able to return to the messy business of face to face connections. As for me, I will continue to share germs with my parter (like I have a choice), and as few others as possible.

Here is a link to another article that talks about the messiness of religion. https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2020/3/7/21167919/coronavirus-churches-covid-19-religion-catholic-communion-handshakes-mormon