Thursday, February 21, 2008

Do I need Bible study right now?

I wasn't going to post this, just because I think it might generate opinion within the few people who I let read this thing. And we can't have that!
I was invited - no, that's not right. I was summoned to a "Bible study, but not Bible study" by a lady in my church. She phoned me and I was told to come to some other lady's house this evening, for 7:30 p.m. I dutifully explained that I have to do Brownies until 7:30 p.m. (oh yeah, it is Thinking Day party, so it is a bigger meeting) at the church tonight, then I have to clean up, drive Joelle home and I usually am too exhausted to do anything else afterwards. All true. All reasonable reasons why I can't attend, right?
Uh, no.
I guess I'm supposed to do all this and then go late. And if it were something I were really interested in, I would, of course.
But this minor incident has generated a big debate in my puny brain. Do I need to go to "Bible Study, but not Bible Study" during this point in my life? The women who are attending are interesting, but I do find that they somehow are not as busy. Perhaps it is because they have slightly older children, or maybe a different marriage dynamic, or maybe it is because they don't farm. I don't feel like I owe it to them to attend. I don't think it would advance my social position, nor do I feel like I could discuss personal topics with them.
I like my minister. I don't particularly think that she is an amazing scholar, but she is a very nice, caring person, and if she had been the one who had put this together, I think I would get on board to support her. But I get the impression that it wasn't her. And, I know that she knows that I support the church in the best way I know how - I have been doing this Spark/Brownie/Guide thing for her whole tenure here.
I don't dispute that I should do more churchwise. I go, with the girls, whenever I feel like I should. That is hardly regular attendance. If it is -40, no, I don't go. If the roads are bad, no, I don't go. And if I do go, I go downstairs with the Sunday School kids whenever possible. Cannot get into the United liturgy. And I'm okay with that - I go because the kids like to go, hardly for my own purposes. I'm comfortable in my fuzzy little interpretation of my beliefs and to be blunt, I don't feel like a major upheaval right now.
I know that Joey and Charli are doing just fine in their Christian education, and unfortunately, regular Sunday school isn't going to give them much more than an opportunity to sing a few catchy songs. There are no regular attendees at our Sunday School and never anyone new. So I'm not feeling like my self-exploration is liable to help my kids out at all.
I'm not quite sure why I'm feeling guilty about not having time/interest to join this group - I renew library books countless times until I finally return them unread, I can't finish my accounting course in any reasonable amount of time as other things keep popping up. Adding more meetings and homework to my life doesn't seem sensible right now.
Some of you are probably thinking I need to get out of the house more anyway (mom...), but I just don't think this is going to be the thing. So I guess I have decided, I'll send my regrets to my minister, I'll do a much better job on my Brownie meeting tonight because I won't be worried about going, and I'll come home and read my "Life on the Go" devotional for busy moms tonight.
If any of you have remarkable reasons why I should go tonight, please write before 5:30 Central Time to convince me...I'll be busy planning my meeting until then!

2 comments:

Ken Horton said...

I hope you didn't go. Nothing spoils Church like guilt & expectations.

I skip a lot of invitations because I'm just too busy. Some ministries may fail because I don't support them. Meh. I don't think Jesus or Paul pulled any punches when they talked about taking care of home first.

I would rather see more people find an intentional balance rather than a guilty reaction. Might have some fewer Church orphans that way.

Unknown said...

I agree with Ken... I hope you didn't go. Not only is guilt a bad motivator, you really didn't have time for the meeting.

"Your Life on the Go" devotional seems like a great alternative... and I hope you're enjoying it thoroughly.

On a side note, I was just remarking to my husband about what an awesome godmother you are to Nate - how you've involved John in your care of Nate and how you took Nate to church when you were up. That meant a lot. Ditto to meaning a lot when you're able to take my goddaughter to church... and how you've supported her knowledge through resources and her studies.