Formal Religious Services

So do I have to go to church? Is it okay to skip synagogue for a while? It’s tough to have “everyday spirituality” if you think your spirituality is confined to that once- or twice-weekly formal religious observance, but the large issue of community vs. individualism is important. If you are now firmly entrenched on one side or the other of that continuum, your concept of the opposite side may be equal parts mysterious, nebulous, and dubious. (I know because that’s how I used to feel about the whole “worship in community” thing.)

I believe that a close, personal relationship with God is available to every one of us  – which makes me a mystic – and it’s extremely important to cherish that and live within it daily. But it’s in community that you are given opportunities to give, to love, to help each other. This perspective was brought home to me in a book entitled The Holy Longing by author/priest Ron Rolheiser: “We go to church to tell people we love them and, hopefully, to hear them tell us the same thing. In the end, we go to church to help ready each other for death.”

Your spirituality will be benefited by taking a moment to consider where you currently are in the individualism/community continuum.