Swim After Lunch

 "Asking a question is an act of faith." Lore Ferguson Wilbert

At church on Sunday, 3 rows ahead of me (I was on time, no front row seat for me), was an older woman.

Through every song, she gently swayed back and forth.

No singing. No hand raising. Consistent swaying.

Somewhere inside the cardigan Grandma, I very much think there is a Dancing Queen.

She was obviously moved by the worship music.

I pondered, "Why didn't she let herself fully give into it?"

My guess is that church has always been done in a Sunday dress, complete with cardigan sweater, and there's an "appropriate" way to worship.

I'm reading the book below. If you are a Jeopardy fan, Ken Jennings has written several. This one investigates all the sayings you've always heard.

Like, "You can't swim for 30 minutes after you eat." He researches the scientific side and then tells you if the adage is true or false. (This one is false by the way)

He shares that sometimes things get passed down because that's how it's always been done. There isn't really any "good" reason why it has to be that way.

I attest that much of our lives are the same way. We are creatures of comfort. Going around never swimming after lunch because that's how it's always been.

Never questioning, challenging.

I wondered on Sunday what it would do for cardigan grandma if she gave into what she obviously felt. If she sang out loud. If she danced merrily. What a novelty if she you know .........rejoiced in the Lord while at church?

It would free her for sure.

But maybe it would also free everyone 3 rows back too.

Maybe the rest of the folks would see it's okay to feel the feels at church.

I believe that the American church often hurts more than it heals.

Because the body of Christ has trouble deciding when to worship, how to worship, how traditional or how trendy to be, all the things.

We lose sight of the forest for the trees.

At the end of service this week, the preacher asked for volunteers to pray with those in need.

I will confess to peeking and noticing that their were way more volunteers than those in need.

In no way do I believe everyone remaining at their seats did not need prayer.

I think it's like swimming after lunch. We've been cultured to think that needing someone to pray over you is like a last resort.

Why isn't our first?

Why weren't there lines in front of each of those volunteers? Saying- pray with me. I need some Jesus.

Mama Warriors, it's okay to sing in church. To raise your hand. To give into the feels.

I've never sat through a baptism that I didn't ugly cry. And I RARELY know the person being baptized.

It should be normal to need to be prayed for in church. Shouldn't that be on the top 3 list of attendance reasons? To pray, pray with and be prayed for?

Let's shift our view of what's "okay."

Let's swim after lunch.