Its Easter morning and I’m dressed for church. I’m not a religious person but Easter, Christmas, and a couple of other church appearances are but a few compensations I can make for a happy relationship.
I grew up in a small town and was born into Meyer’s Chapel AME (African Methodist Episcopal) with the Rev. J. H. Matlock, pastor. Rev. Matlock was a tall thin dark man with a limp and a booming voice. I can still hear his loud syncopated call and response as he chastised those involved in miscegenous relationships because “she pleases me” and alerted us to the fact that “whites were in league with the devil”. Both of those sermons made me uncomfortable and I wanted more. When I was fourteen, I focused all my energy toward being selected to go to church summer camp; I knew that there must be answers to my questions and I thought a religious week at camp would offer solutions to my questions. I had a good time, supervised by my cousin Creasy, the camp director, and shepherded by my cousin Mickey; I made new friends; but church camp didn’t satisfy my search for my “truth”.
At 17, I became a Roman Catholic convert. If there was only one “holy apostolic catholic church”, then the church founded by Peter must be it. I liked the pomp and ceremony, the clarity of absolutes, and the advanced scholarship. They had all of the answers.
Over time, rules and absolutes became less fulfilling and I began questioning some of the answers but I still like the pomp and circumstance.
Today, I’m dressed for church. My Facebook profile lists my religious preference as “militantly agnostic”. I accept that there is a higher power; I merely question the personification of the unknown; but I still like pomp and ceremony.
Ritual and ceremony not only give us a sense of history but also gives us a sense of human continuance. Over holy week I attended three different types of services (Christian and Jewish) reliving events of the past, connecting believers to the present, and proclaiming the message of survival for the future. Whether I believe or not is irrelevant, but the sense of belonging builds a community in the present based on the values of the past. My Tai Chi practice is steeped in Taoist traditions that connect philosophy, health nurturing, and moral guidance developed over centuries.
On a wider scope, how would this apply to our daily secular life? Are we building rituals which bind us as Americans? Can we go beyond the Pledge of Allegiance, Independence Day (Fire cracker day), President’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving? Can we build community through baseball or football? Are we building traditions, customs, and ceremony through Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In?.