The Christian Church is many things. Perfect is not one of them. Going to church may or may not be your thing. I respect you where you are. When I talk about church, that I do not speak of it idealistically. I am aware of its flaws and messiness.
And yet, I love the Christian Church. Going to worship for me is like being a student in what Anne Lamott has called “forgiveness school.” Church gives me practice at forgiveness school. The best way to practice forgiveness is to be around people. People like me need a lot of forgiveness. I am as far from perfect as ice cream is from being diet food.
Which is why I gather weekly with others who are far from perfect. Our imperfection is heard in our communal music. You know what I mean if worship is your thing. Some people are meant to sing. They should sing aloud throughout the day, beginning with their grocery lists. Other singers are embarrassed, some refuse. We are altogether a messy choir, reflecting the way we move about our lives and come back again and again to forgiveness school.
At forgiveness school that looks like worship, we say much the same thing from week to week. It is not unusual to sing 200 year old hymns, which is nothing compared to the 2,000 year old Lord’s Prayer. From decade to decade, many of our words are the same, not because we ran out of creative juices but because there is comfort in speaking the same words my great-grandmother spoke at forgiveness school.
When I lead the 2,000 year old prayer, I step back from the microphone and listen. I let my words get tangled up in the words of the other imperfect people in the room, worshipping over the radio, or with me on Facebook live. The beauty is in the cloud of familiar words stretching from that moment to so many moments before.
All the words lead to the one word, forgiveness, a song in itself.
Lisa Lewton 