Electric Circuit Rider

Ron Delbene asks, “Have you have ever felt vaguely hungry and gone to the refrigerator and looked inside? You don’t know what you are looking for, but finally you take something out and eat it. Then you are still not satisfied. Perhaps you want something to drink? You find something to drink. You are full and you aren’t thirsty, but you still aren’t satisfied.”

That is often the way a spiritual search begins. Our century is seeing more and more people on this search. Many of them are young. Many of them have very thin spiritual resources like Julius, a character in the movie Pulp Fiction. After miraculously surviving a fusillade of bullets, Julius decides to “walk the earth” like Caine in the TV show Kung Fu, which was his only exposure to any kind of religious tradition.

In a sermon, Pope John Paul II described a young man who had grown up in an atheistic communist home in Poland , since his parents were minor government officials. The young man had almost never heard the word “God” mentioned during his youth. Yet one day he stood knocking at a monastery door because he was looking for something and he believed the monks might know what it was.

Fruitful churches recognize that people open the door of a church like we so often open the refrigerator door; looking for something – but they don’t know what. So these churches offer to help people find what they are looking for. Much of this takes place in Intentional Spiritual Formation. This goes way beyond Sunday School for kids.

They offer small groups that get together for study, prayer and service. They give people a chance to learn the “basics” of the Christian faith. They give people a chance to reflect on the meaning of their life experiences in the light of scripture, tradition and reason.

In our church, we have Disciple Bible studies, and other mid-week studies – some that run all year and others that run for only a few weeks. These help people find meaning and faith. So does the Faith Weavers class on Sunday morning.

Right now, we are looking at ways to bring together men and women, seniors and teens, singles and families, in different groups in different ways to help each other grow in faith. One of our current projects is setting up a series of classes on just the “basics” of the Christian faith that will run through May and into June. Designed primarily for those who would like to explore membership in our church, it will also be open to members who want to “begin again” – or maybe for the first time – in growing in faith.

OK, you’ve stared into that refrigerator so long the butter is starting to melt. What are you really looking for?