The sunshine which follows the storm is often the most welcomed. It is only after you have walked through the darkness that you can properly appreciate the serene calm of the light and warmth.
I don't expect you to follow me to church on Sunday but I would ask that you use the time and space to do very little. I don't think that the legalistic view of Shabbat applies to Christians and I especially do not like the burden which some people want to impose on other people, for that of itself destroys the calm and peace which a period of rest was trying to confer in the first place.
I also do not expect to tie people who do not profess what would be called a religious faith to the rules that they have never signed up for.
Nevertheless, the idea that people should stop occasionally is inherently a good one and since Sunday is a day when most people aren't going to work, it is as good a day as any.
We're going to walk down Maple Boulevard and quietly note as the golden sun streams through the leaves to create a cool dappled shade. A cat stares out of the window at number 26, quietly pondering whatever it is that cats ponder.
A spurious fact about cats is that they are solar powered and need to spend time sitting in windows in order to recharge. A second and equally spurious fact about cats is that they frequently need reminding that they are in fact a cat; which is similar to dogs who are insecure and need reminding that they are a good girl/good boy.
As I am not a Catholic, I do not see any point in praying to saints but I like the idea that they are supposed to be reminders of some kind of virtue. The most common saint that I am likely to hear about on a regular basis is Saint Kilda; who is the patron saint of being knocked out in the quarter finals of the footy season.
The church that I will be visiting as we journey through my mind, is the Left Cathedral here in Plovdiv. "Ahah", I don't hear you say because this is a stream of text and I am the one who is writing it, "I can only see one cathedral; so why is this the Left Cathedral?" The reason for that is that in 1337 under the reigs of Pope Innocent the Xth, and Pope Guilty the XIth, there used to be two rival cathedrals. One of them got razed by fire and so the one that is left, is the Left Cathedral, being the one that is left.
The one thing that the world is sorely missing right now is a sense of togetherness while we are all apart. You might think that churches are full of hypocrites and of course you'd be right but churches are full of hypocrites who do their thing together with a sense of community. It is well worth considering, if you have never previously done so, that churches are made up of people who know that they are broken and faulty.
While I think that there is a place for a grand kind of pagentry where one can feel very small, the kind of church that was instituted in the New Testament met in people's houses. A sense of community is more readily appreciable if you know everyone. In general, the smallest number of things that people start to consider as collective items rather than a collection of individuals is 23. Beyond that and people begin to lose track of all the things; which is either a boon or a tragedy if the things in question are people.
If you do not want to join me in visiting a church on Sunday, that's fine. I will ask you though, to take care of yourself today. There is no point being lonely in the fortress of one's mind if you can get out and walk around a bit.
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