As I’m currently in the midst of a two-week stay in Rome - the culmination of a month in Italy - your Catholic experiences certainly hit home. Even though my mother was born in Italy and was nominally Catholic, I grew up completely unchurched, and finally was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church as an adult. Honestly, as a latecomer, I greatly preferred the old liturgy, hymns, etc. - the “bells and smells,” as they say. All Saints’, our parish in Austin, was very traditional liturgically and musically, though quite progressive politically. Since my wife’s death in 2014, however, I’ve stopped going to church, not because I’m disillusioned or angry with God, but because I’ve realized that most of the appeal for me was social (we had a great community of friends at All Saints’) and esthetic rather than spiritual.
I think the social aspect of organised faiths is a strong and useful pull. Delighted to hear you had a good one in Austin. I loved the old hymns and Latin liturgy when I was a child (some of the incense, maybe not so much!), but as a pre-teen and teen, I wanted 'relevance' so the folk mass worked well for me then. It must be fascinating to see the church iconography everywhere in Rome! Thanks so much for sharing your journey through faith.
Another lovely piece. Thank you. I'm sorry I missed that outing (I really don't think I went; it's not just a memory issue). I wonder if MY mother wouldn't let me go. Maybe someone would slip drugs in my pocket. And speaking of my mother, she would have loved your white smocked, maybe Florence Eiseman, dress. You looked so cute ready for communion. She was also very fond of Mr. Cooper.
But onto the bigger picture, the message of this essay about love, acceptance, and forgiveness remains just as important now as then. It's a sorry thing that the world has not progressed very far in all these decades. Thank heavens these oases exist to inspire all of us.
Thanks Andrea for reading and your always thoughtful comments. Glide really is a very special place, in a challenging part of the City. It is heartening to see so many people working to serve heaps of basic dignity and hope to many otherwise ignored or sometimes even despised people. And yes, something to inspire us all, still, and always.
I so enjoyed reading this Sabrina. Took me right back to seventies Marin. Mr. Cooper was a cool fellow indeed to transport you to Glide! How on earth did you and your compadres get him to do that? Nothing untoward behind the scenes like so many other church/school “outings?”
My faith journey at that time led me to hop on my bike and ride to an old Victorian in San Rafael where I received a Mantra from the Transcendental Meditation Society. I was 13 too! Super writing Sabrina! I love what you share!!
Thanks so much Katie! That was quite an intense time, wasn’t it? I missed the TM boat although it certainly was popular. I’d love to hear more about your experience with that sometime. And thankfully nothing untoward with Mr. Cooper. Some of the other teachers, not so much. But he was as straight as can be. And genuinely a good man as you can tell. ❤️
To echo you and the others who posted before me, I remember being disillusioned by the Catholic Church. I had eight years of Catholic school that was a good experience academically and enjoyed the nuns we had who were very progressive for our time. They reached out to the Marin City community and we had Black students. We learned about the Jewish faith in religion class as the heritage of Christ being a Jew. We were taught by the "Sisters of the Holy Faith" established in the mid-19th century whose founder was imprisoned for 6 months for protecting a child. Unfortunately, I was badly teased in 7th grade that was "un-Christian", so my goal was not to attend a Catholic highschool - a big motivator that got me to KBS. When I found myself in a Jesuit college, I was introduced to an adult, intellectual and progressive view of the Church. I found myself ebbing and flowing into and out of various christian and Catholic churches my adult life. George brought me back when he took me to Mass early in our dating. I realized that the Church had developed and changed over the years and I was ready for it again. I have to agree, though, that it's important to feel connected to the community as well as the faith.
So interesting to hear about your journey through faith and The Church. Thanks so much for sharing. You clearly have had an open mind to hearing new ways of thinking about something you thought you understood. I'm so glad you've found a place for yourself that fits now. Happy 2024 to you and George!
Wow, I learned so much from this post, Sabrina, and it was a delight from start to finish. I'd read it when you first published it and hadn't yet been back to comment - but it is one of those posts that I've been thinking about ever since it had landed in my inbox. Thank you so much. 😊
Thanks so much for reading and commenting Rebecca. Glide church seems very different than the limited, and more rural church experiences I've had here in the UK. I haven't been to church services in London; maybe I might find something closer there. I really was feeling the suffering of current wars when I wrote that, and needing to focus my thinking on love and acceptance.
Our village church is exactly the rural kind of which you speak, but I've been to others (although not terribly recently). When I lived in London a friend took me along to Emmanuel Church - that was like nothing I'd ever experienced (in a good way!) - and in many places there are plenty of contemporary-styled services available from the perhaps more modern churches offering a different kind of vibe than is on the rural CofE menu.
Love and acceptance are such fundamental needs and gifts, both. ♥️♥️
Oh Cindy-thanks so much for reminding me you were part of that group! I really couldn't remember who else went along that day. It's so great to hear from you! And agreed, that was a very special little town and school.
This is a beautiful piece Sabrina! Thank you for that glimpse into such a wonderful experience! I have only memories of disdain of religion in my home growing up; my father was a lapsed Catholic and my mother was a virulent Ayn Rand “religion is weakness” believer. I heard about Glide but it was a distant world from my sequestered Marin life. I missed out for sure.
Thanks Martha! It is wonderful to hear snippets of yours and other's faith journeys. They are all so intertwined with our childhood and form a big part of our outlook on life, positive or negative!
Another beautifully told story that brought up my own memories from that era. We're about the same age and in I think it was 1970, maybe 71, I was in a music-oriented youth group I was involved with through my Presbyterian church in Tucson. We went on "tour" for a few weeks one summer and as part of that we spent a Sunday morning at Glide and had the same magical experience. After that I tried on different religions, including Folk Mass with my Catholic friend Laura, and eventually left the church for the same reasons you did. I am so sad and, if I'm honest, so angry at the so-called Christians in this country who have taken what can be a beautiful faith and turned it into something so, well, un-Christian.
Those youth groups were quite influential in our day, whatever the focus! I attended a catholic teen group to prepare for Confirmation, and it was an eye-opener! I'm glad you got to experience Glide in that era too. And agreed, opinions under the guise of 'faith' have been used as weapons and to justify quite un-holy behaviour. Very sad and hard to keep a positive spirit in the face of it. But we keep trying!
As I’m currently in the midst of a two-week stay in Rome - the culmination of a month in Italy - your Catholic experiences certainly hit home. Even though my mother was born in Italy and was nominally Catholic, I grew up completely unchurched, and finally was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal church as an adult. Honestly, as a latecomer, I greatly preferred the old liturgy, hymns, etc. - the “bells and smells,” as they say. All Saints’, our parish in Austin, was very traditional liturgically and musically, though quite progressive politically. Since my wife’s death in 2014, however, I’ve stopped going to church, not because I’m disillusioned or angry with God, but because I’ve realized that most of the appeal for me was social (we had a great community of friends at All Saints’) and esthetic rather than spiritual.
I think the social aspect of organised faiths is a strong and useful pull. Delighted to hear you had a good one in Austin. I loved the old hymns and Latin liturgy when I was a child (some of the incense, maybe not so much!), but as a pre-teen and teen, I wanted 'relevance' so the folk mass worked well for me then. It must be fascinating to see the church iconography everywhere in Rome! Thanks so much for sharing your journey through faith.
Another lovely piece. Thank you. I'm sorry I missed that outing (I really don't think I went; it's not just a memory issue). I wonder if MY mother wouldn't let me go. Maybe someone would slip drugs in my pocket. And speaking of my mother, she would have loved your white smocked, maybe Florence Eiseman, dress. You looked so cute ready for communion. She was also very fond of Mr. Cooper.
But onto the bigger picture, the message of this essay about love, acceptance, and forgiveness remains just as important now as then. It's a sorry thing that the world has not progressed very far in all these decades. Thank heavens these oases exist to inspire all of us.
Thanks Andrea for reading and your always thoughtful comments. Glide really is a very special place, in a challenging part of the City. It is heartening to see so many people working to serve heaps of basic dignity and hope to many otherwise ignored or sometimes even despised people. And yes, something to inspire us all, still, and always.
I so enjoyed reading this Sabrina. Took me right back to seventies Marin. Mr. Cooper was a cool fellow indeed to transport you to Glide! How on earth did you and your compadres get him to do that? Nothing untoward behind the scenes like so many other church/school “outings?”
My faith journey at that time led me to hop on my bike and ride to an old Victorian in San Rafael where I received a Mantra from the Transcendental Meditation Society. I was 13 too! Super writing Sabrina! I love what you share!!
Thanks so much Katie! That was quite an intense time, wasn’t it? I missed the TM boat although it certainly was popular. I’d love to hear more about your experience with that sometime. And thankfully nothing untoward with Mr. Cooper. Some of the other teachers, not so much. But he was as straight as can be. And genuinely a good man as you can tell. ❤️
To echo you and the others who posted before me, I remember being disillusioned by the Catholic Church. I had eight years of Catholic school that was a good experience academically and enjoyed the nuns we had who were very progressive for our time. They reached out to the Marin City community and we had Black students. We learned about the Jewish faith in religion class as the heritage of Christ being a Jew. We were taught by the "Sisters of the Holy Faith" established in the mid-19th century whose founder was imprisoned for 6 months for protecting a child. Unfortunately, I was badly teased in 7th grade that was "un-Christian", so my goal was not to attend a Catholic highschool - a big motivator that got me to KBS. When I found myself in a Jesuit college, I was introduced to an adult, intellectual and progressive view of the Church. I found myself ebbing and flowing into and out of various christian and Catholic churches my adult life. George brought me back when he took me to Mass early in our dating. I realized that the Church had developed and changed over the years and I was ready for it again. I have to agree, though, that it's important to feel connected to the community as well as the faith.
So interesting to hear about your journey through faith and The Church. Thanks so much for sharing. You clearly have had an open mind to hearing new ways of thinking about something you thought you understood. I'm so glad you've found a place for yourself that fits now. Happy 2024 to you and George!
Wow, I learned so much from this post, Sabrina, and it was a delight from start to finish. I'd read it when you first published it and hadn't yet been back to comment - but it is one of those posts that I've been thinking about ever since it had landed in my inbox. Thank you so much. 😊
Thanks so much for reading and commenting Rebecca. Glide church seems very different than the limited, and more rural church experiences I've had here in the UK. I haven't been to church services in London; maybe I might find something closer there. I really was feeling the suffering of current wars when I wrote that, and needing to focus my thinking on love and acceptance.
Our village church is exactly the rural kind of which you speak, but I've been to others (although not terribly recently). When I lived in London a friend took me along to Emmanuel Church - that was like nothing I'd ever experienced (in a good way!) - and in many places there are plenty of contemporary-styled services available from the perhaps more modern churches offering a different kind of vibe than is on the rural CofE menu.
Love and acceptance are such fundamental needs and gifts, both. ♥️♥️
Wonderful piece Sabrina! I loved our school and small town we grew up in. I remember going to Glide Memorial, thank you for the memories!
Oh Cindy-thanks so much for reminding me you were part of that group! I really couldn't remember who else went along that day. It's so great to hear from you! And agreed, that was a very special little town and school.
This is a beautiful piece Sabrina! Thank you for that glimpse into such a wonderful experience! I have only memories of disdain of religion in my home growing up; my father was a lapsed Catholic and my mother was a virulent Ayn Rand “religion is weakness” believer. I heard about Glide but it was a distant world from my sequestered Marin life. I missed out for sure.
Thanks Martha! It is wonderful to hear snippets of yours and other's faith journeys. They are all so intertwined with our childhood and form a big part of our outlook on life, positive or negative!
Another beautifully told story that brought up my own memories from that era. We're about the same age and in I think it was 1970, maybe 71, I was in a music-oriented youth group I was involved with through my Presbyterian church in Tucson. We went on "tour" for a few weeks one summer and as part of that we spent a Sunday morning at Glide and had the same magical experience. After that I tried on different religions, including Folk Mass with my Catholic friend Laura, and eventually left the church for the same reasons you did. I am so sad and, if I'm honest, so angry at the so-called Christians in this country who have taken what can be a beautiful faith and turned it into something so, well, un-Christian.
Those youth groups were quite influential in our day, whatever the focus! I attended a catholic teen group to prepare for Confirmation, and it was an eye-opener! I'm glad you got to experience Glide in that era too. And agreed, opinions under the guise of 'faith' have been used as weapons and to justify quite un-holy behaviour. Very sad and hard to keep a positive spirit in the face of it. But we keep trying!