Lazy Sundays

We've gotten into some lazy Sunday morning habits lately. Sleeping in, newspaper perusing, big breakfast consuming... It's just so tempting. Nothing wrong with lazy Sundays, except that we've become less than, oh shall we say, religious about going to church. Sorry, some puns are just too easy. We finally dragged out butts to church this Sunday (at the crack of 11:00 a.m. no less!) for the first time in a few weeks. It was a great reminder of why it's good for me to stay in the church habit (no nun jokes, 'kay?). I affectionately refer to St. Joan's as "the world's most liberal Catholic church." I grew up Catholic, and, unlike 90% of those I seem to meet, I had no traumatic experiences. AND I went to Catholic schools to boot! No ruler beatings, evil nuns or guilt-ridden tirades. Just nice nuns and groovy 70's guitar masses. Anyway, it has taken us a while to find a church to call home, but we joined St. Joan of Arc (SJA) a few years ago, and it has been a great fit. Engaged community, contemporary music and the occassional "Our Mother" instead of "Our Father" are all appealing aspects of SJA, but most of all, this church is definitely about putting your Christianity where your mouth is. Social justice, ecology, equality, selfless giving, and welcoming others "wherever they are on their journey" (that's actually their motto) are all central at SJA. This Sunday, the speaker was a professor of ecology from St. Olaf's -- a nearby college. He was not the most dynamic speaker, but his message was excellent. One comment that jumped out at me was that we all throw so many things away, yet there really is no "away" when it comes to trash. The speakers at SJA often make me think about leaving a smaller footprint in our planet's surface, and this was a prime example. Wanting less stuff, using fewer chemicals, leaving less of a trash trail, and just generally thinking about the impact we make on our environment by our everyday choices. Although it wasn't something he mentioned, the presentation made me re-consider an earlier thought -- I might consider using cloth diapers. If anyone has experience in that area, please let me know. I'm just considering at this stage, but I think it's a good option to ponder. We're also researching the option to switch to wind-powered energy at home, and next summer, I think we're going to purchase a weekly supply of produce and other locallly-grown goodies from an area farm (we're going to see if we can split it with a neighbor since it would be a lot of food for two adults and a toddler). I talk a lot about being environmentally conscious, but I think it's time to take it beyond the basics. Anyway, we also saw friends we haven't seen for a while, and I ran into my cousin, who is just a dear (and my only "local" cousin), and I wish I saw him more often. So, my lesson from this Sunday is that going to church is a good thing... Shoot, if I'd listened to those nuns a little more closely, I might have learned this lesson 30+ years ago, right?