Joel Stein - Unable to Understand
I was pointed toward a column by Joel Stein in the LA Times called, An Atheist Tries Jesus - Los Angeles Times by The Anchoress.
He obviously doesn’t understand that he’s in a "foreign land" when he’s in a church service. Customs and behaviors are different for different underlying reasons. Not knowing the "why" guarantees confusion about the "what," or in Stein’s case, mockery and denigration about the "what."
He ignores the symbolic nature of communion in a Christian worship service - apparently taking offense at the baguette and grape juice used in the service he attended. For Christians, the what isn’t important - oreos and Fanta grape soda would do. It’s the symbolism (or the transubstantiation for some - the miraculous transformation into body and blood of Christ) that is significant to the communicants.
Only at the end of his article does he even acknowledge something other than the contempt prior to investigation that he brought with him to the service:
Hmmm. Maybe a miracle did take place?As we stood outside talking to the congregation, I liked how even our shared snack bonded us as a community. The interaction and solemnity was personal and communal at the same time.
