PJ’s Page –
Finally! There is hard, scientific evidence that attending worship in a faith community is actually good for your health! Researcher and author Dan Buettner is reporting that attending worship services in your church community four times a month can add up to 14 additional years in your life. If this is true, I will live forever.
I am the daughter of deeply faithful Christian Lutheran parents. There was never any question about whether we’d be in worship on Sunday mornings. We went to Sunday School, then to worship. We prayed a blessing when we gathered at meals (and still do). It is perhaps the greatest gift my parents have ever offered to me, this being a part of a faith community, a congregation. Because of this, I came to know God before I knew about God.
The point of Buettner’s research and of this newsletter article from your pastor, is that there are real and concrete ways that being part of a faith community matters in your life, whether you are a child or an adult or undecided. Being a part of a community of any kind means that you have others in your life who care deeply about your well being. You are part of a tribe, if you will. Being a part of a faith based community means that there are others in your life who care deeply about your well being in response to Jesus’ command that we love one another. That is a real game changer.
Because this is what I know to be true: if I join a community that has formed around a skill or interest area, but I’m unable to hold up my end of the bargain (let’s say I join the tennis club but I can’t play tennis or the Latin club when I have no interest in learning to speak Latin) then the community is not likely to continue to invest in me. At some point, I will be either literally or figuratively cast out.
But when we are part of a community of Jesus-followers, when we stumble or fall or just can’t seem to hold it together any longer, the community actually bears our burdens for us until we can. Because it’s what Jesus said to do.
When we imagine that it’s more important for our child to take part in a Sunday morning sporting event than it is for them to be in worship, this helps us find our sure footing again. Because not many of our children will grow up to be professional baseball/football/soccer players or opera singers or piano virtuosos (although so far I know of no Sunday morning piano recitals), but all of them will come to a time in their lives when they need a community to support and sustain them. And in turn, they will learn to do the same.
So, Mom and Dad, thanks for every time you took me to church! How was I to know that you were literally thrusting me into the love of God and the Body of Christ?
-PJ+