Meditation: Post-GC Faithful Protest
On the last day of GC, Karen Oliveto nudged me towards this poem by Italian writer Carlo Carretto. I hope it means as much to you as it does to me!
How much I criticize you, my church,and yet how much I love you!You have made me suffer more than anyone,and yet I owe more to you than to anyone. I should like to see you destroyed, and yet I need your presence.
You have given me much scandal,and yet you alone have made me understand holiness.Never in this world have I seen anything,more compromised, more false, yet never have I touched anything more pure, more generous or more beautiful.
Countless times I have felt likeslamming the door of my soul in your face—and yet, every night, I have prayed that I might die in your arms!No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you,even if not completely you.
Then too, where would I go?To build another church?But I could not build one without the same defects,for they are my defects. And again, if I were to build another church, it would be my church, not Christ’s church.
No. I am old enough. I know better.
(cross-posted at Religion is a Queer Thing)
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I thank you for sharing this poem. It is important that we realize that what we consider a perfect church someone else may not, and what we consider imperfect, someone else may consider heaven – and we are all part of the body of Christ. (Of course, ours are the better ideas!)