happy easter, ya'll

Sunday 12 april 2009 12:07pm.

Easter Sunday morning. I don’t usually go to church while I’m visiting my dad. Mostly because I’m usually only here a few days and I don’t like to miss my own church in CA so I go back on Sunday morning/afternoon. But, it being Easter, I thought I would go check out one of the local places. The paper showed about 20 different churches of all types of denominations. From traditional Catholic and Baptist ones to the Cowboy Church and the one I ended up at, Church out of Church. Weird name. I kept calling it Church not in Church in my head.

Coming from Prague, where there are only small or smallish congregations of the few churches in the city of 1+ million, I wasn’t sure what to expect out of church among many in a town pop 8 or so thousand. I pulled into the Flying J Ranch a little before 10 and was directed into a parking place and pointed to a wooden building. Walked into a dark room full of picnic tables and gravel floor and poured myself some coffee. Finding a place to sit shouldn’t have been difficult but I’m not used to the picnic table seating arrangement, so I kind of wandered a bit. Tried to sit near some people but it turned out they were saving seats for their family. So I went off to the side and sat alone.

Probably because it’s Easter, the whole place filled up by the time the service started. Hundreds of people. Making this small-town NM church more populated than any church in world-capital Prague. Apparently the family that was supposed to show up didn’t, and the woman who had refused me a seat stood up, caught my eye and tried to wave me over. I appreciated her effort but waved her off. I was fine where I was, actually.

This being New Mexico, there were plenty of cowboy boots and hats and tight Wrangler jeans. But also fancy fur-lined coats (the room was pretty cool and there had been a sprinkling of snow fall during the night) and even a few Easter sundresses. Those girls must have been frozen. I never took off my jacket.

The service itself wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, as far as churches go. I learned that it’s only been around since September. Wow. They’re focused on Jesus and loving him and the world and each other, which I’m on board with. They’ve started something where they go to trailer parks and other poor-folk places after the Sunday service, fire up a couple grills, and feed people. That’s pretty cool.

As frustrated as I can be with church in America, I most always appreciate being there, especially when it’s a group of authentic people who find hope in Jesus and realize they sure need it. I looked around and saw people happy to see one another, giving hugs and smiles away. And I realized what a lovely thing the church is and why it’s so necessary. We need to feel loved and cared for, and there aren’t many places to find that these days. You might find it in a local pub or hair salon or your office, but most people are searching for it. And I think it’s beautiful when people find it in church. That’s where it’s supposed to be, if I understand Jesus right.

The wind was blowing as I walked in and the sun hitting my eyes caused them to tear up, but I found myself getting teary during the service anyway. That often happens to me when I go to church in America. Odd. I haven’t figured it out yet, but it’s something in the words spoken, or sensing the Spirit or something else. But it almost always gets me.

The passage the pastor read of the Easter story was one of the ones read during the new Czech translation celebration I went to right before leaving Prague. The part where Peter and John go running to the tomb. Sadly, the pastor skipped the Mary segment, where she runs into Jesus in the garden and mistakes him for the gardener until he says her name. The actress who read that story was amazing and I loved how she interpreted the words with her tone. The Czech words were echoing in my head as I listened to it in English.

They had an egg hunt for the kiddies afterward and then hot dogs and hamburgers for everyone. Nice. I’ll probably go back another week. I wish I’d connected with some people, but there were a lot of families and probably a ton of visitors because it was Easter, so it might be easier to meet folks next week.