2008-05-04 No Ordinary Sunday

You won't believe what I did at 7.30pm today. Really, you won't.

I went to church.

They had this huge sign outside saying "For people who don't go to church much, hardly ever, never, any more". As a matter of fact, that describes me pretty good. My first impulse was to ignore the sign completely. But that's just the thing with first impulses -- you cannot trust them. My first impulse when I saw the roller coaster last year was to run the other way. And my first impulse when I had my first beer was to never ever drink that awful stuff ever again.

So anyway, there I was, in the Cathedral on Cathedral Square, in the middle of a service. But it wasn't like a real service after all. For starters, there was no pastor. Just a plainclothes woman and a choir. Oh, and a big silver screen. There was no standing up and sitting down again, no singing (the choir sang, of course, but the spectators didn't), no frankincense and no collection box. Nobody even talked about God! But yeah, it was okay. Next time there should be food, though.

Also, living in Christchurch without going to church at least once is like going to Taupo without doing something crazy. And it sure as hell beats sitting at home all by myself (no pun intended).

(Just to make it clear: I have no objections against God or religion. Only against the church as an institution.)