It's Better than Drinking Alone

Drinking alone kind of has a stigma to it. Fair enough. Although I do enjoy a cold beer after a long day, solitary drunkenness should never be a habit for anyone. Social occasions are much more appropriate. It is more fun to drink with others and it is also safer, more economical, and can be a part of a rich relationship. Spirituality, as the premise of this blog suggests, is similar to drinking. Being spiritual on your own is great, but spirituality is meant for a communal context. This is the premise of a little thing called the Church, ever heard of it?

Everyone is at least a little bit curious about spiritual matters. Questions like "why are we here"" and "what is (is there) a/the purpose of life?" and "what is the right thing to do?" Religious institutions and communities allow us to think about these questions with other human beings who are wondering the same thing. Given that most spiritual questions have to do with the fact that being a human is hard and weird, we're probably better off putting our heads together. Here are a few advantages to joining the Christian Church, or other religious communities:

1) A Community: This point cannot be overstated. The very idea of community is under attack in our radically individualistic, capitalist society. Church is one of the last bastions of authentic community available to all people. As a member of a Church, you become deeply concerned with the totality of other people's being and they become deeply concerned with you. In the secular world, it is possible to reduce people to what they do for a living, how old they are, etc. In Church this is not possible; every human being is a sacred mystery worthy of love. Churches create common experiences, a common vocabulary, communal memories of stories and songs, all hallmarks of rich and fulfilling community that are hard to find elsewhere. It's like Cheers, everybody knows your name.

Yes, they still do

2) A Support Network: During the early days of the Christian Church, the Roman empire was at its peak of power. In this empire, there was absolutely no safety net for people like widows and orphans. If you were a widow, your luck had run out. You were not only doomed to be poor, but were rejected as a used-up husk of a person. The early Church, however, stood up for widows. Not only did they collect the money necessary to support widows, but they had places of honor for widows, where their experiences and wisdom were treasured. They went from from feeling like a useless non-entity to having a respected vocation. The modern Church seeks to do this too. Not only does the Church create a community where people care for one another, it creates a space where everyone is important. No mistake or tragedy or failure stops Jesus from loving you and Jesus' love qualifies you for the support and nurture of the Christian community. And it beats crying on the shoulder of a bartender.

3) The Wisdom of Ages: Permit me to be a little sarcastic please... Does anyone REALLY think that they can solve the deepest mysteries of the universe, the human condition, love, etc. by themselves? Part of the point of Church is that it connects people to thousands of years of intellectual tradition. As a member of the Church, you are a peer of Augustine, Kierkegaard, Mother Teresa, Ruth, Moses, Martin Luther King, Simone Weil, and all the rest. As a member of the same Church as them, their history is your history. It is the history of a people grasping together after God. Trust me, the journey toward understanding the divine is a lot easier when you have people smarter than yourself to plug into. As individuals we have the wisdom of our day. We have the experiences of our social class, race, gender, etc. As a Church, however, our story is huge and rich and historic and contemporary. It's the story of orphans and emperors, of prostitutes and monks, of academics and activists and mystics. It's a cool club and membership is free. Breweries always brag about how many years of brewing experience they have. The Church has 2,000 years of experience answering tough questions, our recipe is not bad.

4) Options: If you are a right-wing nut job, a left-wing loon, or a silly centrist, there's a Church for you. There are Christian Churches where women wear long dresses and only men are allowed to preach. There are also Christian Churches founded by open, active homosexuals. There are predominately black Churches, predominately white Churches, and Churches like the Roman Catholics, who probably have every color imaginable. You can worship in Latin, you can worship in English, you can worship in Greek, German, Urdu, Spanish, French, Swahili, Twi, Tagalog, and sign language. Rock music, classical music, chanting, salsa, jazz, folk, country, bluegrass, metal, and punk are all used in worship somewhere. Non-believers are invited to take communion at many Churches. At other Churches they are not. You can even find Churches where alcohol is prohibited. I say heresy. No matter who you are, there's a Church for you.

5) Cool stuff: Are you going to buy your own massive stone buildings with pipe organs? I didn't think so. Are you going to have a fully stocked bar and 100 beers on tap in your house? No. That's why we go out with other people to drink. Same principle.

<3 My Church <3

The bottom line is that spirituality can be a party, but only if you do it with other people.

This week's drink is not an original, but is named after a great Church (one that I recommend).

The Presbyterian

1 shot Bourbon, fill glass with ice and ginger ale, splash of orange juice for color. This drink is named this way because it looks like you're drinking ginger ale, which some conservative Presbyterians would drink instead of alcohol. Now there are lots of Presbyterians who drink enough alcohol to make up for it though, so don't worry.

Make it with scotch for a "John Knox"