Not All Who Wander (Spiritually) Are Lost

Traci Rhoades

Description

A delightfully-written exploration of faith for those who are searching and for those who are settled

What if we stopped trying to find the perfect church in the right Christian tradition and intentionally explored our faith with all our Christian brothers and sisters? Can Christians embrace God fully by exploring other faith traditions? In Not All Who Wander, we discover that we do indeed find Jesus in a church, and traces of him in our everyday lives as well.

Not All Who Wander walks readers through the author’s faith journey, and how her experience with churches in a number of traditions has left her longing for more of Jesus than any one church offers. It also presents stories from other believers to give readers a sense of how alike, and different, our spiritual experiences can be. Rhoades has developed a passion for discovering all the ways we worship Jesus and invites readers to join her. With utter delight, she’s discovered no matter which traditions she worships with, Jesus meets her there.

Foreword: Jerusalem Greer

Introduction: Let’s be Friends

Chapter 1 Safe and Secure

Chapter 2 Storm-Tossed

Chapter 3 Early Expeditions

Chapter 4 Family of God

Chapter 5 Home Church

Chapter 6 My Daughter’s Church

Chapter 7 More Wandering to Do

Epilogue: Better Together

Contributors

References

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Spirituality
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Church Publishing Incorporated
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781640652804
• Langue: English

Extrait

NOT ALL WHO
WANDER
(SPIRITUALLY)
ARE
LOST
NOT ALL WHO
WANDER
(SPIRITUALLY)
ARE
LOST
(A STORY OF CHURCH)
TRACI RHOADES
FOREWORD BY JERUSALEM GREER
Copyright 2020 by Traci Rhoades
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Unless otherwise noted, the Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Church Publishing 19 East 34th Street New York, NY 10016 www.churchpublishing.org
Cover design by Paul Soupiset Typeset by PerfecType, Nashville, Tennessee
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rhoades, Traci, author.
Title: Not all who wander (spiritually) are lost : a story of church / Traci Rhoades ; foreword by Jerusalem Greer.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019045501 (print) LCCN 2019045502 (ebook) ISBN 9781640652798 (paperback) ISBN 9781640652804 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Spirituality--Christianity. Church.
Classification: LCC BV4501.3 .R459 2020 (print) LCC BV4501.3 (ebook) DDC 248.4--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019045501
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019045502
To all the people who have gone to church with my mom, my daughter, and me
Contents
Foreword by Jerusalem Greer
Introduction: Let s Be Friends
C HAPTER 1 Safe and Secure
C HAPTER 2 Storm-Tossed
C HAPTER 3 Early Expeditions
C HAPTER 4 Family of God
C HAPTER 5 Home Church
C HAPTER 6 My Daughter s Church
C HAPTER 7 More Wandering to Do
Epilogue: Better Together
Contributors
References
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Foreword
A t the time that this book is being published, the United States, and the American experience of Christianity, is in a bit of an upheaval. Or a complete disintegration. Or a renewal. We aren t sure just yet, as the battles-cultural, political, religious-are still being waged. There are so many divisions and schisms that it is hard to keep track of who is for what or what is for who. All too often, discussions of Christian faith are held in terse exchanges over social media, with the goal being not to learn, not to listen, but to win.
Into this fray came Traci, with her simply stated questions on Facebook and Twitter, asked in her agenda-free tone. Questions such as For those of you who know, what does your church do with the leftover Communion elements? or Do you own a prayer book? and Did you attend a youth group? And if so, give me a memory. And, without drama or rancor, people shared their responses, they told their stories, they passed along memories and anecdotes, and they even asked their own questions. Civil-even charming-discourse was the norm. By offering her own holy curiosity as a gift, Traci created a safe space for people, in all stages and expressions of Christian faith, to speak and to be heard.
This book is a lovely extension of that space. A gathering of stories and experiences from a wide variety of voices, all beautifully woven together, with Traci s own story of spiritual wandering and discovery as the binding thread. Her story is a story that can teach all of us a little bit more about what it means-and why it matters-to be curious about and open to how the Holy Spirit speaks and moves in the lives of all people. This book is for anyone on a faith exploration themselves, looking for encouragement and hope instead of battles and absolutes.
As someone whose own faith journey has been marked both by adventurous wandering and wondering, and who, when lost in the wilderness, looked for signs that not all was lost, I am so glad to share this book with you. May we all find our way home at last.
Jerusalem Jackson Greer Preservation Acres 2020
Introduction: Let s Be Friends
Not all those who wander are lost.
-J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
I pull into the church parking lot about ten minutes early, and it occurs to me if I go in now I might have to mingle with strangers. I decide to wait.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see another car pull up a few spaces down. A man hurriedly gets out, robe in hand, throwing a white collar around his neck. Approximately six minutes before the Ash Wednesday service will start, the priest arrives. I open my car door, and he gestures in my general direction, smiling ever so slightly.
The first thing a visitor notices in a Catholic church is its beauty. This particular church is only a few years old, so its stained-glass windows still sparkle like new, showing no sign of fading from the sun. The exposed wooden beams on the ceiling speak to the rustic northern town where the parish is in ministry.
Stepping into the nave, I dip my finger in the holy water because I can never resist it. Every time I reach for that water, I envision a siren going off at my touch: Protestant alert Nevertheless, I keep going; the water holds such symbolic significance in the Bible, and I love feeling the moistness on my fingers, signaling to my heart that it s time for worship. Quickly, I cross myself. Still no siren. Every time it s worth the risk.
I take an aisle seat on the last row. There are about thirty faithful ones at the service: The beautiful older lady wearing a black mantilla; the gentleman who genuflects before accepting the communion elements. Not many children. Then I see Jeanne, a dear friend I know from the Reformed church I attend in the next town over. What a wonderful feeling to find a familiar face in the crowd.
Suddenly, I hear a voice behind me: Will you hold this for me just a second, please?
I turn to see the man I encountered in the parking lot. The priest. He needs to put on his wireless mic, so he hands me the small bowl filled with ashes. I am holding last year s Palm Sunday branches, now burned up and ground into sacred bits. The ashes rest in my hands. I think to myself, What if I dropped these right now?
The service offers several moments of complete silence. Not an uncomfortable silence, but a prayer shawl of sorts you could slide over your head, blocking out the noise of our world and aiding the holiness of the moment. This sacred silence brings me to tears that morning. It feels like something I have been missing all my life without even knowing it.
It comes time to receive the ashes. The Catholics invite me to join them in this act of penance. We re all sinners who need to repent and recognize our great need for a Savior. Everyone-Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants alike-agrees on that.
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
More tears. The feeling of the priest s fingers as he swiped the ash cross on my forehead. I d never received a blessing like this before. Although it reminded me of my need for penance, it felt every bit like a blessing. He made the sign of the cross on me; symbolizing the marking I already have because I belong to Jesus.
I sat silently in prayer as others (everyone else?) went forward for communion. This concluded the church service.
As I left, the priest stood at the door to greet those in attendance. I told him this was my first Ash Wednesday service. He said, Are you Catholic? I said, No. He smiled, and then assured me, It s OK. We can still be friends.
Growing up, Mom took us to church but Dad didn t go. The most important man in my life up to that point, but he didn t share my faith journey with me. Dad didn t get religion. Perhaps there was too much baggage in his life to let go and let God, as they say. I saw firsthand a life lived with God and church (my mom s) and a life lived without God or church (my dad s). I have never doubted which one seemed right and true to me.
I love the church and I ll never walk away, but we could do better. The next time you re reading in the Gospels, take note of how Jesus communicates. He asks a lot of questions and he tells a lot of stories. This book does that. I think doing these things will help us be a more loving church. The longer I walk this Christian path, and I ve got more than a few years on me now, I think what the priest expressed to me at my first Ash Wednesday service is true. Church, I believe it deep within me, even in these tumultuous times, we can still be friends.
Apostles Creed (ca. 700 AD )
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Chapter 1
Safe and Secure

T wo churches raised me. I like to think God was telling me from the beginning that it wouldn t be just one Christian tradition for me. We moved to my childhood home in rural Missouri when I was three years old. The first Southern Baptist President, Jimmy Carter, was moving into the White House at the same time we were settling in to our three-bedroom ranch-style house, also white in color.
I