Howard Fischer delivered the "sermon" during the mass celebrated as part of our 30th anniversary celebration on Sept. 16 at Quigley. I thought he did a great job, but I disagreed with one thing that he said, and I'd like your thoughts on it as well.
Howard talked about how we left Quigley 30 years ago "full of faith." While I don't doubt that this was the case with Howard and many of you, I have to admit that my faith was sorely lacking back then.
I left QN to attend Eastern Illinois University, a secular school. You want to guess how many church services I attended there on Sundays over the course of four years? Zero. The only times I attended church was when I returned home for breaks, and then, only if I couldn't get of it somehow. I wasn't looking for God--I was, quite frankly, heading as far in the other direction as I felt comfortable going.
It was easy for me to bad-mouth the Catholic church, but I rarely had to, because few college students at Eastern really cared one way or the other. After graduation, I still had no desire to seek out a church home.
I was reintroduced to spiritual values about a decade after graduating from QN, while participating in a helpful program that is a whole 'nother story. One of the guiding principles of that program is that its members not promote any specific religion. That sat well with me and many other "recovering Catholics."
Even when I proposed to Kim, I told her that she could pick the church to take our (future) kids to. "Just remember, you'll be taking them by yourself," I said--and I meant it.
A funny thing happened when we met with her ELCA Lutheran pastor for premarital counseling. I liked the guy. He seemed pretty normal. Lutherans can marry, and Peter talked about the struggles that he had with his wife and kids. He talked about how faith had helped sustain him and his wife during the tough times. He said other things about the Lutheran faith in general that I've long-since forgotten, but I--and Kim--will never forget what I asked Peter during our third meeting with him: "So how does someone go about becoming a Lutheran?"
Yes, I drank the Kool-aid that day, and have been on an exciting spiritual journey ever since.
If you are not interested in Christianity, please don't stop reading. I'm not going to push my faith on you!
Consider these couple of points:
- We just gathered for our 30th anniversary as a graduating class. We remembered one member of the class who has died: Phil Sweazey. The odds are pretty good that some of us won't make the 50th anniversary bash.
- If this life is all that we're given, and there is nothing after we die, then we don't have to think about Jesus Christ, God or faith.
- But if there is life after death, and we have an eternal something inside us, the eternity that follows our death is much more important than the short time we spend in this life.
- As much as we want to be in charge, if God exists, he makes the rules, not us.
- If God provided us with an instruction manual about what to do to spend eternity with him, isn't it worth checking out?
One of the things that bothered me as a QN student, was that my questions about faith and God often were dismissed without serious consideration. I hope that you feel comfortable having that kind of discussion here. All opinions will be honored. No salesman will call.
Whether you are a devote Catholic or athiest-- or waffling someway in between--tell me where you're at with these big questions.
