- May 9, 2006
- 3,261
- 5,193
My best friend is Catholic. She's not very strict, and I think she's more of a cultural Catholic (she's Italian), but she likes to go to church sometimes. Because I'm into new experiences, and if they are spiritual, more the better, I go with her, because she doesn't really like to go alone.
Today we didn't go to a Catholic church. We went to a Protestant one. An evangelical-ish one. Where they had a live band playing rock music, put their arms in the air and swayed, put their hands palm-up to pray, called out 'in the name of Jesus!' a lot, and talked in tongues.
It was a new experience for both of us. Actually, to be honest, it was quite invigorating.
The sermon was delivered with charisma and passion. And it was in English, which is a rare treat for me.
For those interested, here's what the sermon was about. Not interested, skip down to 'End'.
The pastor spoke about priorities, and gave the example of Jesus holding a dinner, and when it was ready he sent his servant out to gather the invitees, but suddenly they had other things to do (new land to measure, new oxen to test, new wife to bed) and asked to be excused. Jesus said that they wouldn't get to eat bread in the Kingdom, then. The pastor likened this to our lives today, and how our first priority should be God and not our new house, or new car, or even our relationships. He admitted that he 'shouldn't be preaching this to Christians, as they are likely to get out of his church and never come back' but he told us how Jesus said his disciples should hate their mother, father, siblings, and children. I admire the pastor for admitting it.
The next part of his sermon was about 'believing is seeing' and how, by faith and prayer, our beliefs can become our reality. He talked about Elijah in prayer at the top of Mount Carmel, and how he was so convinced after having a vision of rain coming to the drought-ravaged area he was in, that he asked his servant to check seven times before the servant caught sight of a small cloud. Elijah didn't give up after the second, third or fourth prayer.
Pastor also spoke about the 'war' that is raging between angels and demons, and how humans are caught up in the middle of it. I didn't connect with this literal interpretation, but instead understood it as a 'war' between our higher and lower natures; the good and bad in us, the haumai and the Tuhi. Pastor said our war is not with our bodies. It is when we are called away from God or our mission, when we are threatened, or tempted, or knocked down. But, like Elijah, we've got to keep praying and have faith, and stay with God, and what we believe, we will see.
End
After all of this, I rode my motorbike home the long way. I thought about how, as Sikhs, our first priority should also be Guru; we give our own heads (ego-sense/separation) so that Guru becomes our head, and we can see with Its eyes, and walk according to Its Hukam, not our own. We go where we are called, with full confidence and enthusiasm. Our Guru is full of joy and love, without fear or hatred, bursting over with potential and possibilities and creativity, and when we give our own self-centered minds over to It, it is replaced by so much more - all this joy, love, potential and creativity of the Guru. Wow.
What I came away feeling was the Sikh equivalent of the pastor's vision. A Sikh equivalent of the experience delivered in that church. Instead of just katha delivered in Punjabi for 15 minutes, or long explanations of bania with reference to Sikh history, how about a program in English, for the younger sangat, where the Gurbani concepts are applied to examples of life today, and we're all encouraged to matha tek to our Guru with feeling and purpose.
I want to bring that energy out of the Gurbani and show it to others so they might experience it, fall in love with it, and live Guruji's message, too.
Today we didn't go to a Catholic church. We went to a Protestant one. An evangelical-ish one. Where they had a live band playing rock music, put their arms in the air and swayed, put their hands palm-up to pray, called out 'in the name of Jesus!' a lot, and talked in tongues.
It was a new experience for both of us. Actually, to be honest, it was quite invigorating.
The sermon was delivered with charisma and passion. And it was in English, which is a rare treat for me.
For those interested, here's what the sermon was about. Not interested, skip down to 'End'.
The pastor spoke about priorities, and gave the example of Jesus holding a dinner, and when it was ready he sent his servant out to gather the invitees, but suddenly they had other things to do (new land to measure, new oxen to test, new wife to bed) and asked to be excused. Jesus said that they wouldn't get to eat bread in the Kingdom, then. The pastor likened this to our lives today, and how our first priority should be God and not our new house, or new car, or even our relationships. He admitted that he 'shouldn't be preaching this to Christians, as they are likely to get out of his church and never come back' but he told us how Jesus said his disciples should hate their mother, father, siblings, and children. I admire the pastor for admitting it.
The next part of his sermon was about 'believing is seeing' and how, by faith and prayer, our beliefs can become our reality. He talked about Elijah in prayer at the top of Mount Carmel, and how he was so convinced after having a vision of rain coming to the drought-ravaged area he was in, that he asked his servant to check seven times before the servant caught sight of a small cloud. Elijah didn't give up after the second, third or fourth prayer.
Pastor also spoke about the 'war' that is raging between angels and demons, and how humans are caught up in the middle of it. I didn't connect with this literal interpretation, but instead understood it as a 'war' between our higher and lower natures; the good and bad in us, the haumai and the Tuhi. Pastor said our war is not with our bodies. It is when we are called away from God or our mission, when we are threatened, or tempted, or knocked down. But, like Elijah, we've got to keep praying and have faith, and stay with God, and what we believe, we will see.
End
After all of this, I rode my motorbike home the long way. I thought about how, as Sikhs, our first priority should also be Guru; we give our own heads (ego-sense/separation) so that Guru becomes our head, and we can see with Its eyes, and walk according to Its Hukam, not our own. We go where we are called, with full confidence and enthusiasm. Our Guru is full of joy and love, without fear or hatred, bursting over with potential and possibilities and creativity, and when we give our own self-centered minds over to It, it is replaced by so much more - all this joy, love, potential and creativity of the Guru. Wow.
What I came away feeling was the Sikh equivalent of the pastor's vision. A Sikh equivalent of the experience delivered in that church. Instead of just katha delivered in Punjabi for 15 minutes, or long explanations of bania with reference to Sikh history, how about a program in English, for the younger sangat, where the Gurbani concepts are applied to examples of life today, and we're all encouraged to matha tek to our Guru with feeling and purpose.
I want to bring that energy out of the Gurbani and show it to others so they might experience it, fall in love with it, and live Guruji's message, too.
