Im NOT going to tag my brothers & sisters & everyone that my mom wants to read this! But it really is the only thing that Betty really wants for Christmas! All it costs you is the time to read this article & maybe a couple hours a year, if you only do the Big Two pinnacles of the year! She wanted me to pass this article on to you, that she read in The Eau Claire Leader Telegram Matters of Faith section on Friday December 5 2014 entitled Be there for & support the ones you love by The Rev. Nathan Aaseng I realize that I’m writing to people who have no interest in reading a column on a religious page. I’m just hoping someone passes this on. I am writing to people whose parents attend worship services, but who do not themselves. Remember when you were young and you played soccer or basketball or an instrument in the band, or had a role in a play? Your parents came to those events. They did not necessarily come because it was their thing. They may have been bored to tears. They may have had strong feelings of dislike for all that travel teams stand for in today’s society. They may have had far more pressing matters that needed doing. Nonetheless, they came. They did not reject your involvement in your activity as misguided or unworthy of their time. They did not decline to come as a way of asserting their independence. They did not stay away to make a statement about themselves. They came because they felt it was more important to make a statement of their love for you. They came because what you were doing was important to you. If it was important to you, it was important to them. This went way beyond their responsibility as parents. They did it because this is what people do for those they love. Loving someone means being there for them. It means doing what you can to support them without reservation in the things that are meaningful to them. I realize that your parents’ religion may not be your cup of tea. You may not believe what they believe. You may have many legitimate complaints about organized religion or the church. Nonetheless, the simple question at stake is, “Do you love your parents?” If you do, I honestly cannot think of a better way for you to show it than to attend a worship service with them. No, you do not have say the Apostles’ Creed or even take part in Holy Communion if you do not wish. You do not have to believe all that your parents believe or feel like you are not being true to yourself by seeming to endorse something you want no part of. It may be that you are, in fact, wiser and more sophisticated than your parents; although, ironically, one of the gifts of religion is to temper the hurt that can result from such self-inflation. You may reject their faith as simple-minded tradition or superstitious nonsense. But if you do that, consider that you may be rejecting, whether they admit it or not, a key part of who they are. Your parents’ faith is extremely important to them. It nurtures them and feeds them. It helps them be the people they are and the people they want to be. It has shaped how they deal with life, including how they raised you. It may well have made it possible for them to raise you so that you could become the person you are. If you do not understand why their faith is important to them, then you are missing a key piece in understanding who they are and how you came to be the person you are. When you love someone, you want to know them as well as you can. What you do on your own time and in your own space is your business. But when you are with your parents, be there with them and be there for them, as they have done for you. You don’t know how much time they have left or how many opportunities you will have to display your respect for them or touch their lives in a truly meaningful way. If, while you are in worship with them, you happen to discover why their faith is important to them, so much the better. Aaseng is lead pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Eau Claire. m.leadertelegram/features/religion/article_55c3a928-7d07-11e4-9a5c-837f8708b36b.html?mode=jqm
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 04:03:39 +0000