Purl & Java

There has been a lot of press lately about Mother Ann, the Episcopal priest, who converted to Islam without leaving the Church. Most of the reaction to it that I've seen has been largely emotive, so I've mostly ignored it. J-tron's post on the 23rd changed that. His response was both thoughtful and compassionate, and I've been musing on what he said ever since I read it.

The thing that struck me most was the section where he talked about all of the ways that the Church should have been able to give Mother Ann what she needed. I had a big problem with this section. The problem that I have isn't with J-tron's facts. The problem was that he is right.

There is a universe of difference between orthodoxy and orthopraxy when it comes to submission to God and communal prayer, two of the big things that Mother Ann has found lacking in Christianity. The Anglican Church technically endorses the Daily Office, but most of the Anglicans that actually know about it don't do it because it's just religious extra credit points. And who has time for that?

The Church is full of the lonely faithful wondering why praying the Office alone feels like taking cod liver oil. I know because I was one of them. I know because the downloads of the few weeks I read the Daily Office readings and posted them on ITunes has been insane. I wish I could have kept it up. People obviously need that illusion of community. Praying the Office alone is torture because the cycle of prayers isn't supposed to be an individual discipline. We call it the Book of Common Prayer for a reason. Knowing that there are hundreds of other lonely people out there somewhere doing the same thing simply isn't enough.

The problem with the Daily Office is just a symptom of a larger problem in the Church. Christianity today requires absolutely nothing...

[I looked at that last sentence for a long time after I wrote it. I kept asking, "Is that true? Is that really true?" The first thing that came to mind was Roman Catholicism/Orthodoxy. But would it really be better there? There are heretical nuns and priests and faithful-in-name-only laity. I've met them. But is there common prayer and local communities of faithful submitting to God, too? What about my call? What about hospitality? I've been pondering these questions for awhile, and I haven't gotten anywhere, so I decided to just post this.]