A family sits together, a family that feels alone and disconnected from anyone else. It is possible that they leave this place having not had two conversations with anyone outside their family circle. That's being alone. I tell you, I'd rather have a person leave this congregation upset because they were going to be late for dinner than to have someone leave feeling alone. When these kinds of things happen in a congregation, we have to wonder if what we are teaching is true.
Many people describe church as a time for renewal in their week.
It is one hour that puts the other 167 in perspective. I just worry about what that one hour does. The choir knows the benefits of the simple act of sitting with others. They are often crammed into these hot seats up here, shoulder to shoulder with one another, and rarely do they leave feeling this kind of emptiness I've been describing. I know this.