Introduction to Pillars & Foundations

Introduction to Pillars & Foundations, an Exploration of Churches

Pillars & Foundations: I intend this to be a blog that details visits to churches, mostly in the area that I live, but perhaps it will be expanded in then event of travels. The intention isn't to be critical of these organizations, in fact I intend to work to avoid this. I want to describe these community centers, these hearts of the community that many of us pass by daily and presume to know. We all have had different prejudices, be it personal experience or word of mouth or social perception of these cornerstones that is fed to us. I came upon a Buddhist quote recently, "Those who cling to perceptions and views wander the world offending people," (The Buddha - Magandiya Sutta). I want to understand what the churches meant to the communities they are part of, and what they currently mean. What sort of activities and community events are they fostering and who are the priests and ministers? During the sermon, is there a particular point of discussion, or maybe expression of gospel or ideas that is worth expounding on?

Initially I see this primarily being focused on the various Christian denominations in the area due to their accessibility. However I will keep my eyes open for opportunities to get windows into other faiths if it becomes available.

My background personally has been someone who discontinued practicing Catholicism. After confirmation, for a myriad of reasons I didn't feel connected to the institution or the beliefs. I've waffled through the years between atheism and agnosticism. My education, my environment, and my view by choice have served to reaffirm this. Despite these experiences, I feel that the chaos of life, our disconnected nature as people, and rapid societal and even technological change can be frightening. The increased divisiveness in people is reason to revisit an already existing infrastructure that can bring change in the world. I've spent years, my whole life really, complaining about things, events, and people. If I stop to reflect, maybe I've been naïve about what I am truly doing to making the world a better place. I'm sure I've fallen short of who I could be or who I should be. I want guidance to do more for those in my life, my community, and by extension myself. Perhaps this journey of observation can help me to achieve this.

Can I make this interesting? Who will want to read a blog about a bunch of local churches and my experiences in them? That is a challenge. Perhaps they can serve as informational pieces for new community members looking for a spiritual home. Perhaps they will be launching points for discussion. Ultimately I want this to be more than just an interesting activity that I write about. Can I accomplish that?

It has been since 2015 since I've done anything that remotely approached "blogging," and I've decided to return to this activity for the short term and see what develops. Historically my blog was an unfocused space to write about my life which included a vast array of topics ranging from politics, reviews of dining experiences and travel. In the past several years it was travel that formed the brunt of my posts. Perhaps due to the incoherent nature of the blogs, and their low quality, readership deservedly was limited to a handful of friends and family, with occasional topics brining in unique outside audiences. I began blogging in 2005 at a time when Myspace had not yet even taken hold of social media, let alone Facebook. Yelping was not part of the lexicon, and most people probably weren't even "texting" each other on a regular basis. I take for granted the incredible changes that have happened over the past 13 years. A blog today needs a focus, something coincidentally I intend to also help provide for myself. Can I kill two birds with one stone? We'll see.

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