Church

Who goes to church?
Who doesn't and why?

i don't go to church because im not catholic or christian.

i'm not into cults.

NOT ME.
Any type of mob/organized religion/cult frightens me.

Door to doors seem to never come back when my boyfriend intentionally answers the door naked🙂

Only with my momma because she's very old..fashioned 🙂

But I think that in the Age of Aquarius that we're in now, old, conservative type Religions are enduring their last days - more and more people are looking for something newer, outside of Religion, and so the Churches are emptying a little these days.

Haha I'm not so sure what to make of it, but I think it's just a cold, hard fact.

Right now people seem to be opting for Non-Religious Idealism and Scientific Proof more than plain faith. People may be trying to go beyond the practices of their elders.

I go onceeee in a while. I used to be in the youth group when I was about 14-17... well mainly because it was fun... I loved acting in plays, other than that we just messed around.

Oh I didn't say why... mainly because I was taught that you HAVE to attend church on Sundays and so occasionally the guilt sets in 😢 When we were little the nuns would go around the neighborhood and pick us kids up to take us to church and then give us yummy snacks 🙂 lol

I may not be religious but I do believe in God... but more in a symbolical sense eh something along those lines. Buh Bye 🙂

I can see where you're coming from, and you're not wrong. But we all must be ignorant idiots to a point, and it may even be ignorant of us to accuse people of being idiots.

Seems to me like it's just a case of different strokes for different folks.

Those who adopt a faith immediately do so because that's what they've come to do, meanwhile those who 'wander' must need to wander.

Aquarius for example - always gasping for new, open, and unbiased things (as opposed to the natural biases of Leo)
or
Scorpio is another example - always mobilizing, always in pursuit, needing to consume so nothing is left to be desired (as opposed to the stabilized, traditional, and solidified stance of Taurus)

Seems to me like those who move do it because that's what they are.. movers. In the end, I trust there will be a place for movers as well as the unmovable.

And yes I do believe in God, but I see God as the Universe, or God As All - yet Religion is not quite my thing. After all, each Religion took good time and good placement to spread.. and in the same way, I believe it will simmer away, and then new, just as great things will come in. Religion definitely has its good place in our Universe, of course, but so does all else does it not?

Point taken.

^^

I'm a little like that too.

I was taught a way and so I WAS the way.

When I taught myself of other ways, I became other ways.

I don't believe I could have it any other way than that.

My family has a lot of religious friends, she has taught me a lot of religious principles, and I believe I can reference things from holy books by simple choice..but I'm not a religious person myself, yet I make sure that I'm just as observant and tuned-in to religion as non-religious ideals.

"We're not talking about buying a new cell phone"

Hahah, that's a good analogy - but I think the Spirit is the same as buying a new cellphone. Maybe people just want to know that there is never an end that they have to submit to... it's just too much bias for some people. I believe that some individuals just have to get out into the Open, first and foremost, and then they search for truths. I believe that our innovators these days are simply people bent on combating the biases.. to the very end of it all. The ones who may rub us the wrong way at times... yet only because others need to open up to reality.. even if it means seeing past traditions and such every once in a while!

But I still take your point. It's not the first time I've heard your argument of course, but I still take it as a good, legit point.

I go to church every half year. I don't feel comfortable there. I guess I don't live in my home town so that may be a start, but mostly I feel I can grow close to God, and be spiritual wherever I am. 🙂 To me church is best for encouragement from others, but I also have my scorp sis, who's a missionary who gives me plently of strength and words from God.

To me it's just as important to have people in your life that have the same faith as you so they can pray for you, and remind you of what you really believe when you sometimes get into a dark, sad place. God has many reasons for people in our lives though. The church is a body.

" would go to church more if I found people within the church were more real and less hypocritical"

This is why I first quit going, and quit going full time. What a turnoff! How sad. I've been more encouraged sometimes by non-christians who question God and inspire me to search God, than hypocrites which disgust me with religeon.

Actually there is something that some churches don't except about not needing a church for the christianity religion that jesus supposedly stated.Also gods of wood,metal,etc. is somewhere in the "end of the world" part that is named as a false god,some people look at thier churches,crosses,etc.(physical stuff) like they're "god".Some of the stuff in churches aren't really from the bible either,its the pastors personal opinions interviened into it also church goers tend to be "holy,good little jehoveh followers" at church but not take it home with them.

For the pics and website you guys may enjoy;the link:

http://www.mgardens.org/CL-FIFAF-CT-SP-IL.html<BR>

Some of the flowers surrounding the statue of Mary in master
gardener Dorothy Brooks' backyard in Jacksonville are named for
Mary. They include virgin flower (periwinkle - Vinca minor),
lady's earrings (balsam - impatients balsaminum) and Assumption
lily (Hosta plantaginea)


For master gardeners, occasional dabblers in the soil, and anyone who
simply enjoys nature's beauty, gardens are natural spots for spiritual
contemplation.

With the increasing popularity of garden statuary - statues of angels,
saints or animals, reflecting balls and stone or wood benches - it is little
wonder that the number of devotional gardens is growing.

A popular trend today is the creation of a Mary garden.

It is not uncommon to see statues of the Blessed Virgin in residential
yards, church lawns, school or other religious institution grounds. But a
Mary garden is not defined by the statue; it includes flowers named in honor
of the Blessed Virgin.

Canterbury bells (lady's nightcap), pansies (lady's delight), columbine
(lady's shoes), larkspur (Mary's tears) and marigold (Mary's gold) are but
some of the hundreds of flowers with religious names that Mary garden
designers can choose from.




GREENVILLE - Father Victor Kaltenbach, pastor, at St. Lawrence Parish,
admires the work Carol Gelsen has done in the parish Prayer Garden.
"It is just outside the entrance of our parish hall, so everyone who
comes to our parish activities gets to see how beautiful it is."


Mary gardens date back to the Middle Ages, when flowers were named in
honor of Mary as symbols of the life, virtues and mysteries of the Blessed
Virgin and her Son. Early gardening books often omitted these religious
names, but thanks to the efforts of botanists and folklorists, the
traditional names have survived.









Several statues of angels share the Prayer
Garden with a statue of the Blessed Mother
at St. Lawrence Parish, Greenville.









The Mary Garden movement began in the United States in 1932, when
Frances Crane Lillie researched plants and herbs with religious names. She
then planted the first public Mary Garden in the United States at St.
Joseph's Church in Woods Hole, Mass.

The National Council of Catholic Women is raising money for a Mary
Garden for pilgrims on the grounds of the Basilica of the National Shrine of
the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Groundbreaking ceremonies took
place June 12, and the garden is expected to be completed by June 2000.

Mary's Gardens, a not-for-profit group in Philadelphia, was founded in
1951. It opened its Internet site in 1995 at www.mgardens.org. Hundreds of
botanical names for plants, along with their common names and their Mary
names are listed on this internet site, which also includes numerous
articles, photographs, garden plans, prayers and much more.

"The Internet brought the flowers of Our Lady and Mary Gardens to the
attention of a vastly greater number of people than had been reached in the
previous 45 years through press notices, articles, lectures, and exhibits,"
writes John Stokes, founding partner of Mary's Gardens, via e-mail.

In the spring planting season, the site averaged 3,000 hits a day, and
now in the off season, it is still averaging 1,500 hits a day.

For those not on the Internet, write Mary's Gardens, Box 30290,
Philadelphia, PA 19103.





In late August, the Prayer Ga

^^Those things are called devotional gardens,people use them to prayer,meditate,etc. religiously or just to escape for peace and quiet.Read about em in a magizine a couple years ago.