being here

Having a blog that no one is watching is like publishing a newspaper no one buys. But with time I hope to make this a worthwhile blog. If people are meant to find it, they will. I was raised a Presbyterian of the old (Calvinist) school. I was convinced of the fundamental truth of Christianity in my teens, but some of the smaller details eventually began to seem...awkward. In my early thirties a friend asked me a question that started me on a journey. That journey eventually brought me to the Catholic Church. Although the Church is huge, and an institution, and (gasp) "a religion," it is also immensely exciting. For me, the Catholic Church had the answers to the nagging questions I had as a Protestant, the loose ends of Christianity. I am far from having settled all questions, but I believe Jesus did not want to leave us just with a book and the Holy Spirit to guide us. That would ignore the way created things, and people, are brought into the divine plan throughout the Bible. For example, God chose Moses to free the people of Israel, and made a special instrument out of his stick. He established a priesthood to lead the people in sacrifice and worship. Later he chose David to give his people political independence. There are signs (embedded in the New Testament) that Jesus chose certain disciples for certain tasks. As a Protestant, for example, I think I skimmed rather quickly over such verses as John 20:22-23: "Breathing on them, he said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.'" And quite a few others. I found in the Catholic viewpoint and tradition a way of looking at the Bible that brought it together in a new way for me, a way that made wonderful sense. But my intention in this blog is not to pick on Protestants, nor to get into theological fights--although the occasional discussion might be fine. I want to share the immense adventure that is life in the "one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church." It may take me a while to get going (with the blog). I've been a Catholic for almost 10 years, and it is wonderful. We'll see if the blog can reflect some of that excitement: for Catholics, for other Christians, and for non-Christians as well.