(June 4, 2017 at 2:50 pm)drfuzzy Wrote: Yeah, I'm just sharing. As most of you know, I still go play organ for a Catholic church. My budget needs it. So I'm an atheist sitting at the organ, watching the choir react to whatever the priest is spewing.He is "Breaking Pentecostal" !
Well, this morning was Pentecost, so the Priest was going on about the "gifts of the Spirit". Healings, miracles, speaking in tongues, stuff that you usually don't talk about in a Catholic Church. And this is a young (late 20's) intense, zealous guy. And he was just ripping into the congregation: "If you would get down on your knees every single day and DEMAND that the Spirit keep his promises, everything in your life would improve! The Holy Spirit fixes what we cannot! You would be so filled with love that people would stop you in the supermarket and ask you what your secret was! We would be healing the sick! We would be inspiring the world! We would have so many new members that we would have to build a bigger church!! And because you do NOT pray, you're not only cheating yourself, you are cheating me as well! You are depriving me of the gifts and inspiration that you should be giving to your pastor!"
Apparently the sheeple in the pews were not having the same thoughts as the atheist. I was thinking "If you're a priest, (and if this Holy Spirit exists) you would be able to demonstrate those miracles yourself." I was thinking that he sounded really angry and frustrated. He apparently wants HIS parish to get the attention of the Pope. It must be difficult to be a priest, and I'm not even thinking of the celibacy requirement. To spend your life on your knees and beg god for those super-powers he was promising must be . . . crazy making.
I walked out with a friend who is a science teacher - very pragmatic, very down-to-earth. I asked her what she thought - if we pray hard enough, we'll all be doing miracles. She laughed and said, "No, that's all myth and legend. What I'm amazed at is that he seems to think it's literal. I wonder what they teach these boys in seminary." -- She's one of these cradle-catholics - she goes to Mass because she has always gone to Mass. She's pretty sure that God exists, but that most of the Bible is silliness - she's not even sold on Jesus' "resurrection". I like talking to her, she's very sane.
She's really one step away from atheism. I wonder if she will ever take that step. The priest seems very angry. I wonder if he will ever wake up.
Happy Sunday to all here at AF. -- Fuzz
God thinks it's fun to confuse primates. Larsen's God!
