Life Matters

Church is like a hospital

By Linda Petersen
Posted 1/29/16

Sitting in church the other day, I was feeling grumpy and petrified for Steven’s future.  (Steven, who has Asperger’s and behavioral issues, has been almost impossible to live with lately and we …

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Life Matters

Church is like a hospital

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Sitting in church the other day, I was feeling grumpy and petrified for Steven’s future.  (Steven, who has Asperger’s and behavioral issues, has been almost impossible to live with lately and we have had several run-ins with the police.) 

Sitting there feeling sorry for myself, I barely listened to the sermon. During my mind meanderings, one simple concept broke through clearly; Pastor suggested we all think of church as a hospital for those with broken peace. What a perfect thing to say! Yes, that was me! Full of broken peace! I started listening more closely. To paraphrase the sermon, church welcomes everyone looking for peace. There are no issues that are too terrible to be resolved or too shameful to be forgiven. Everyone lives their lives and is faced with many challenges, tragedies, illnesses, poor choices, and problems. As much as I generally tend to think life is all daisies and sunshine, sometimes life just sucks. Feeling guilty about what happened, being angry or questioning why God would “let” bad things happen is of no consequence. It happened. It is. Life goes on.  One can choose to dwell on the negative and be unhappy, or one can choose to just “let it go”, (not unlike the theme song from Frozen.)

My happiness and optimism was restored during that sermon. Church was like a hospital.  I was broken with worry and my peace was restored, just as a doctor restores our bodies. In the scheme of this whole eternal universe, what I choose to believe is that God is a benevolent cheerleader who speaks to us through all religions, not just Catholic or Jewish or Muslim God. He/She doesn’t “let” things happen, but is there is spiritual support available when things do happen. While life may be challenging and emotional, it is just a drop in the bucket of time. Our benevolent cheerleader will be waiting, offering the peace we all so desire.

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