It's Sunday, so here's your sermon

Liz is pleased to report:

Yesterday was a wonderful day. My BFF organized and hosted a celebration to mark the end of her daughter's Leukemia treatments. This little girl has had spinal taps, blood drawn, a bald head, medicine administered through a port near her heart and multiple hospital visits for the past 3 years. Kim decided to mark the event with a huge party including burgers, a bluegrass band and a silent auction, with proceeds going to the children's cancer clinic. She raised about $5,000. Fantastic! I'm so proud of her! If there is anything worth celebrating, it is a child beating cancer. Kim did almost all of the work herself, so I celebrate her too. She's so awesome.

This event was at an Episcopal church. I recognize the irony of my smoking at a Cancer-Free bash, but the Episcopalians seem pretty loose, so I opted to focus on being church-appropriate rather than event focused. This also meant I had a couple of "tomato juice" beverages (Bloody Marys) and the occasional curse word crossed my lips. Hey, sinners keep the church in business right? I try to do my part. I'm giving like that.

I am not a member of any church. I don't hate church or anything but I guess the quest for spiritual growth doesn't seem all that important to me. I'm pretty satisfied with my beliefs as well as with my moral compass, so when I'm in church I sadly feel like I'm inside in the world's most acceptable clique instead of inside a holy temple. I find this off-putting rather than enlightening. Judge me if you want to, but remember that Jesus hates when you do that.

I have observed that Episcopalians seem to be the wealthiest of all organized denominations. I've never met a poor Episcopalian. I cannot recall ever seeing an Episcopalian in a Wal-Mart t-shirt with cat iron-ons on the front of it. I do not remember ever hearing an Episcopalian fret over replacing the transmission in their '92 Ford Focus. Why is that? Does the Episcopalian church attract the wealthy? Breed the wealthy? Exclude the poor?

The Episcopal church struggles with exactly who they will accept. I know that gay folks are welcomed by most in the Episcopal religion- as opposed to say, the Southern Baptists who would try to reform a gay person before telling him he was going to Hell and kicking him out, but there are still some who simply tolerate and even those that object including openly gay people as part of the congregation. So what I've learned about the church is that they might let you in if you're gay, even if half of the members have moral objections, but if you're poor they're going to peer-pressure you out of there. If you are poor and gay, you'd better get your spiritual feeding somewhere else. My observation leads me to questions rather that to conclusions.

I think the Episcopal church is more closely aligned with my beliefs than other denominations I've been part of, but I still think they have a way to go before I'm committed to being a card-carrying, bumper sticker wielding member of the church. After all, I own a mug that says, "A Cat Lover Lives Here" and in the Episcopal church, that's enough to have you booted out.