More re Church

Dear Jeanette:

After criticizing the church I don’t wish to ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’.  I will now talk about some church experiences - good and bad..

One cannot deny that there is a feeling of reverence and peace in some of those old grandiose, imposing, palatial churches and even in some of the little chapels.  My very first recollection of  experiencing the Child Heart is when I was about 9 years old and in boarding school.  I don’t recall what the particular religious celebration was but it was a day when the nuns kept the host that is deemed to be the living body of Christ ‘exposed’ (I believe was the term used) for 24 hours.  The sisters would take turns at keeping vigil through the night and the boarders were invited to participate.  I got up in the middle of the night and took my turn to go and sit ‘in adoration’ before the host.

In the quiet of the night I entered that little chapel with a veil covering my head and bowed before the holy host.  A deep feeling of peace and tranquillity filled my heart and soul.  Though I didn’t recognize it as such at the time, it was the first stirrings of my Child Heart/Soul.  I am grateful to the church for this very special experience.

Another precious gift was the Christmas tradition with our family of going together to see the beautiful manger that was set up in the front of the church and left empty during Advent and the baby Jesus figure was placed in the cradle on Xmas day.  We would go as a family when the church was empty and each of us got to hold the baby Jesus icon.  It was a special family Xmas tradition and it taught me reverence.

So, for whoever feels something in their Heart, I say follow your Heart but do not be brainwashed into thinking that the authority is theirs.   Do not be tricked into selling your soul ‘to the company store’!  The wisdom is in YOUR HEART!  The Heart does NOT need rules, let alone commandments or dogma. 

I also got my first wake-up call when I  was a young child.  I was in a children’s hospital (guess what?)  yes, having surgery on my leg.  I stayed there for about three months.  I was bed ridden and on Sundays those who weren’t mobile had their beds rolled into a large ward for a Sunday service.

So there I was on a Sunday morning singing “Jesus loves me” with those unfortunate little souls that were going to hell.  My parish priest walked in in the middle of the service and had me removed because it was not an RC service.

Well, that set my young heart and mind in a tizzy!  What the heck was wrong with singing Jesus Loves me?  I couldn’t believe anyone would burn in hell for singing  Jesus Loves Me!  I think that is where my spiritual journey began!


One has to discern for themselves what is in their Heart.  That is where it all begins and that is where it all ends. So, DO  FOLLOW YOUR HEART!