A thought on integrity

Hi.
     We've had some active weeks again. The littles have been sick. Lilia is still a bit sensitive and not sleeping too well.
     I am going to finish building Jedi a loft bed this week, and then he'll sleep in a blue stained wonder. (He's asking if we can also make it orange too somehow! That's my boy.)

     Two weekends ago I participated in a retreat put on by Reba for nurturing new communities. We had participants from Community of Communities in DC, Formation House in Pittsburgh, a residential rehab in DC, Misseo Dei in Minneapolis, Third Way in St. Paul, Springwater in Portland, a group from Elkhart IN, and a group from KC MO.
     One subject we talked about for a minute was how to participate in worship and live among a congregation with some serious differences from our own theologies. I thought it was a helpful dialogue, since I've found myself in some churches that were not on the same page as me.
     So the most helpful thing I heard was that it's important to feel like you  have integrity when you worship - meaning you aren't suspending your values to be with a certain congregation. Making your differences known in some way to some people without insisting that things should change for you - that allows you to be your true self and participate in a church that isn't tailored to you.
     Another thing along these lines that I heard in worship at Reba church was the idea of a sacrifice of praise. What we heard was that there are times when we don't feel like singing, and we don't agree with the words of the song, or we just don't have passion to worship in that moment. When this happens, it is a sacrifice to sing or to be there anyway.
     Maybe you can identify with being in a group where it feels like you aren't being honest if you just go along with all the things you don't hold true.