got ’em in a row?

I found church.

Two things; one – this is not about church. Two – I almost wrote, “again”.

I grew up in a rather religious household. It’s how my parents were raised; it’s how each of their parents was raised and so on. My “attendance” at church every Sunday wasn’t so much of a choice than it was just doing what I was told to do by the people who paid my rent to live in their house. Needful to say, I started failing the proverbial morning roll call right around the time that Saturday nights began making Sunday mornings a real tough endeavour.

This is not about church.

Not too long ago, on very short notice (the same morning, actually), a very close friend of mine invited me to church. I knew why the invitation had come and, very transparently, I knew I should accept. I was compelled, let’s call it. It’d been a long while since I’d been to such a place for other than a Christmas or a wedding. It wasn’t because I was against what it had to offer, it was because in between the time of living under my parents’ roof and about ten years ago, I developed conscious thought toward my own belief system, what it meant to me and how the choices I made in life lined up with who I was evolving into. “Church”, as I’d known it, wasn’t for me.

I almost wrote, “again”.

I found church, for the first time. Or, probably better put, I let it find me. The reason I don’t say “again” is because my first go-round with church wasn’t mine. And, that’s ok. Granted, the original reason for my near twenty year hiatus was a product of simply just not wanting to wake up on Sunday morning anymore; my prolonged absence was because church and religion just didn’t line up with what I believed in. And, I’ll call it what it was; it was boring. It didn’t feel like it supported what I wanted for myself and my evolution.

So, what’s this really about?

I go to church to now. Every Sunday morning. It’s pretty great, to be honest. I don’t think I would really call it church, though, as much as I would call it a get-together; a get-together of a bunch of people with really big hearts and no judgement. A community. I find apprehension in using terms like church and religion because of my own experience with them. I think, like me, it can close people off to possibility. I found myself in that seat for the first time, earlier this year, not because I was looking for church or religion, but because another piece of alignment with my true Self found me; because someone near and dear to me helped me find another piece of it.

That’s what this is about; finding those pieces. This “church” I go to, it’s a beautiful place filled with wonderful people, accepting of all, that are interested in the same things; kindness, compassion, helping one another and Love. It’s not about dogma and fear and the boring weekly pre-scripted narrative that I grew up with. The energy and vibration here lifts me to a better place. “Sunday best”, has taken on a new meaning for me. It’s not making sure my collared shirt is neatly pressed and my shoes are shined. “Sunday best”, is me just showing up with an open Heart, wearing jeans and a Snoopy sweatshirt, to a place that makes me a bigger person than I was before I got there. And, that’s how I leave that place; better than when I got there.

I’m grateful for what’s happened; I’ve learned. I’ve learned that I let my past define my present and my future. Had I not accepted that invitation and resorted to falling back on what I thought I knew about “church”, sticking to my guns, sticking to what had been my experience, I would have never let this find me.

It’s about alignment; it’s about opening yourself up to possibility, even if you think you know everything about whatever it is. Trust me, you don’t. And hey, do I agree with every message or belief that gets passed along at this place? I don’t. But, that’s also been another valuable lesson I’ve learned. You don’t have to agree with everything or have everything in common with or aspire to exactly the same goal or objective to experience alignment with your Self. Alignment is not about commonalities or same past experiences, it’s about vibration and energy. Often, we gravitate toward the facets of life that we feel mirror us the best. Whether it’s friends, romantic partners, activities, an occupation; we try to draw towards us what we know. It’s because of the comfort in that idea and, more prominently, the fear of what we don’t know. But, how do you further your evolution, further your growth, by surrounding yourself with the same thing over and over, again? Well, you probably don’t. You probably just continue to get what you’ve always gotten. And, unless that’s working for you, maybe it’s time to do something different? Even if it means looking at something old through a fresh lens, as has been the case with me and my new Sunday meeting place.

When we try to line up the ducks before we even begin, we miss out. We miss out on challenge; we miss out on expanding our Universe; we miss out on evolution; and, we miss out on lifting our energy. For years I’d told myself that church doesn’t line up for me. For all intents and purposes, I’d been done with it. But then, my circumstance called this to me and I accepted. Without truly knowing it at the time, it was my energy and vibration, or perhaps lack thereof, which brought me to this. And now, for at least one hour of each week, I’m choosing to put myself in a better place.

There’s nothing being sold to me nor am I selling you anything other than what’s already inside of you. We’re all meant to lift ourselves as high as we can go. Sometimes that means pulling up our socks and doing it ourselves, sometimes it means allowing others to help us do it and sometimes it just means doing something different even it seems the same. Your alignment and energy will lead you in the right direction.

Quack.

Be Love.