Some keep the Sabbath going to church;
I keep it staying at home,
With a bobolink for a chorister,
And an orchard for a dome.
Some keep the Sabbath in surplice;
I just wear my wings,
And instead of tolling the bell for church,
Our little sexton sings.
God preaches,--a noted clergyman,--
And the sermon is never long;
So instead of getting to heaven at last,
I'm going all along!
- Some Keep the Sabbath Going to Church
Emily Dickenson
I don’t go to church anymore. It’s more than a year now since I’ve fully contemplated of leaving the Catholic Church. It doesn’t mean that I’ve already turned to another religion. Probably, one may think that I’ve become an atheist or agnostic. For some time, I thought I was slowly turning to agnosticism or even atheism. But then I realized that I am just so personal about my belief of a ”god” or something beyond the “human”.
Being good doesn’t require a belief in the “Objective God.”
The weekly visit or attendance to a mass or worship doesn’t make me a good person. Rather, it heightens the skepticism within me. I just couldn’t comprehend the rationale for doing the activities in the church (e.g. communion, confession, kneeling, etc.). Listening to the Sermon of the priests worsen my cynicism. They deem to know everything. They preach things they haven’t even experience. Sometimes, they preach things contrary to what they do. It’s just so hard to believe them.
People who go to church daily or those active in their church’s activities epitomize the fact that a church person is never always good. Most often, these people are the eavesdropper, fabricator, and ass-kisser. Going to church makes man pretentious of what they really are. They keep on hiding themselves behind their churches. You see them kneel-walking from the entrance of the church to the altar. They may look sincere. But then, these are the people who are always prejudiced to those who aren’t that active in church.
Attendance in a mass/worship makes people very much dependent on their God. They think that because they go to church, they are always protected and they will always receive blessings. Just imagine a girl driving her car recklessly will ask help from her God, “Lord sana po hindi kami mabanga.” That’s what she has learned from too much worshipping. Another concrete example will be my prior habit of praying for the poor. “Lord please give them food and shelter.” I realized that praying wouldn’t do these poor people any good. Prayer alone is like dreaming and wishing upon the stars.
I’m not evil because I don’t go to church. I’m not evil because I don’t have a religion. I’ll only become an evil if I have stepped on other people to advance my self. I’ll be an evil if I’ve fabricated things in my favor while leaving other people devastated. I’ll be an evil if I intentionally hurt other people just because I want to be great. I’ll be an evil if enviousness has already clouded my conscience. I’m not evil because my belief in a “god” is different from yours.
I don’t keep my Sabbath day in a church. Most of the time, I’m just at home reading or writing. Sometimes, I’m on the field campaigning or orienting. That’s my Sabbath day. It will never be like your Sabbath day. But the way I celebrate my Sunday boosts my “spirituality.”
