Don't Call Me a Cab! Call Me a Therapist! by W.R. Mertens

Author:W.R. Mertens [Mertens, W.R.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Xlibris US
Published: 2000-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

WHEN YOU HAVE NO

GROUND TO STAND ON,

WATCH YOUR FAITH!

Religion and faith. Two things, that are important to most people in these troubled and turbulent times in our society. Tread on these areas and you are standing on the brink of some very shaken ground. We have come to know many different clergy and religious of many different faiths and backgrounds. We should not forgot, the many different and unique people, that make up the various flocks of congregants within these religious groups.

A lot of times, its takes much personal time, effort and patience to understand many of these groups, especially, if you are looking for an established church within a demonination that you wish to join. It’s a process, similar, in that you feel, like you are applying for a membership in the Kiwanas, Moose, Owls, or the Royal Order of Water Buffa-los. The fact that they let in, the front door, should not be mistaken for the fact that, you have been accepted by into the group. No sir! Once you have requested membership, it is a lot like, being questioned by an oversight committee, that gives you the impression that you are before a very holy homeowners association and that you may, not quite, be what, the association is looking for at this time. However, we, the association, will accept you, as a member of the church, only because of Christian love and charity. Not because we all have to like and support you.

When we, first moved to the State of Ohio, which as a local cliche calls, the State of Confusion, we spent a greater portion of our time, not going to church on Sunday mornings. After years of being members of the Lutheran Church, we, just didn’t go to church. We didn’t go, for the lack of laziness, which today, constitutes the number one reason for nonattendence today, but the simple truth was that we, had not found a church or congregation, we liked.

One Lutheran congregation, not far from the house, seemed to have definite possibilities, but in the area of absolutely nothing. The Pastor, apparently, mistook our intentions of, what is today called, ‘church shopping’, for our actually, wanting to really join his flock. We attended for four weeks. Then, out of the blue, we started getting these ‘offers’ from some of the more Appalachian members of the congregation, to join them down east, at the fishin’ hole, some Saturday.

The following Sunday, the Pastor, publically acknowledged us, during the service, that we were, becoming new members and to give us a real hardy, ‘down home’, welcome to us, as the new members. Needless to say, we left there, in a real hurry, never to return again. Our decision was made, not by, only the fact that, they jumped the gun, a bit, by not informing us of our own decision, but the fact that, the Pastor, showed up at our door step, very early one morning, unannounced, proceeding to park his ecclesiastical can, on our couch and tell us, all about the neighborhood, its hospitals, grocery stores and other things.

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