FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH COLORADO SPRINGS

Building Aesthetics: t t. First Presbyterian is my first mega-church, and it is big! Its campus takes up a full city block. The outside of the building is brick and concrete, with parts looking more like an office building than a church. The sanctuary inside is imposing and dark, but does have a beautiful stained glass backdrop. I've never really understood why churches attempt to awe with grandeur. I've never been much impressed with it; it seems too deliberate. Give me a small intimate space. They're much more condusive to spirituality. The service today was also live-streamed on the web, and the preacher gave a special "shout out" to all those watching around the world.

Creepy Glazed Eyes: t t. Definitely some creepy zombie-type eyes in church today. But even more creepy than the creepy eyes, were the raised hands during singing. This has got to be one of the most insincere ways I've ever seen to enjoy music. Never have I been moved to the point of raising my hand during a song. Lots of people at First Pres (as they are hiply known) were so moved, and it creeped me out big time. I kept thinking they must have a question about the lyrics. I also found their clapping to be a bit out of sync, like in middle school when we would clap out a beat to "We will rock you" on the school bus, and the special ed kids in the front seats could never quite get it right.

Hassled by Members: t t t t t. This church may have been too big to remember to hassle me. No one introduced themselves to me and I wasn't asked to stand and be recognized. I felt anonymous there, which I like, but it might not be the best for building a community.

Religious Time Management: t t t t. Not bad here. What seemed long were the songs, especially the intro three song medley that everyone had to stand for. I'm youngish, but I still thought it went on for a bit too long. The heavy-set lady next to me gave up after a few minutes. The sermon itself was a good length, and was called, "Leaning Into Full Life". It was about finding heaven in the present moment, and to be honest, it was pretty thought provoking. The preacher used multi-media, such as a clip from Field of Dreams, and relevantly brought bible versus into a 21st century understanding using boxing and skiing analogies. What bothered me was that his delivery sounded off the cuff, but was actually very polished and calculated. Overall he (Graham Beard) seemed like a decent guy, and even showed his vulnerablity when mentioning having had to visit a therapist.  

Misinformation: t t t. "The race that God gives us is designed for us to win" says the preacher. What about the kid that get molested by their uncle or the baby born without legs? Those sound like races that have been sabotaged a bit. It tends to bother me when a philosophy is clearly born from a middle/upper class perspective. Looking around the sanctuary, I would guess many of the members had fairly easy races. The preacher also said that dancing was a good way to experience heaven in the present moment. I must be doing something wrong in my breakdancing.  

Presence of God: t t t. Against my better judgement I was moved by the music a bit. I really wanted to hate it. The service I went to was a "contemporary" service, which meant that the church chorus was replaced by a rock band, and the preacher dressed down into jeans and cowboy boots. I hate Christian rock, and though the band had a drummer and an electric guitar, their music landed more on the side of folk. The highlight was Sign No More, a Mumford and Sons song that was rather beautiful. I felt the chill of inspiration run through my old bones a handful of times during the sermon as well, most notably during the Field of Dreams clip when Kevin Costner says, "No, this is Iowa", when his father asks if this is heaven.

Overall Inspiration (total score): t t t t. I didn't think I would, but I liked it here. Not totally, a lot of the people creeped me out, and the church itself felt uncomfortable, but the sermon made me think, and I suppose that's really the point of going to church. The message of the sermon was, "pay more attention to the present moment, because living fully in the present is as close as we get to heaven in this lifetime". Amen to that!

SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT DOG

Julie and I have been looking for a puppy for a few weeks now. I originally really wanted a pug, but a few other breeds have entered the mix, like, in order of appearance: the Goldendoodle,  the Labradoodle, and the French Bulldog. Labradoodles are a mix of Labrador Retreivers and Poodles, while Goldendoodles are a mix of Golden Retrievers and Poodles. They are both bred to make designer, non-shedding crossbreeds. I'm on the fence about the French Bulldog because they hate our freedom so. I want our puppy to bath in the slightly less oxygen rich American freedom that fills our Colorado Springs skies and not sit and silently condemn my choices. I originally wanted a pug because they make me laugh, but then I started thinking, "what if that wears off and I really want a dog that will go running with me", and our pug is like, "hey look at me, I'm still hilarious", but he actually comes off as pathetic, and then starts using catch phrases and broad physical comedy to entertain me.  

PIKES PEAK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Building Aesthetics: t t. Pikes Peak Methodist is your run of the mill small church. There is nothing particularly interesting about the building. It is actually rather boring save some pretty cut glass windows. Inside the sanctuary feels a bit claustrophobic with it's narrow design and lack of natural light. Because of the lack of windows, the church  has to be lit by florescent and tungsten lights. I think God prefers natural light. Pews are comfortable though a little close together. I kept brushing my groin into the hymnal in front of me.  

Creepy Glazed Eyes: t t t t. There were some unique eyes at church today, but I think that was mostly from glaucoma. People were friendly and seemed sincere and honest. The creepiest person award goes to the homeless guy sitting out front of the church who kept telling me that if I hung around for thirty minutes I would be able to see police arrest him. The church noted in the service that it was particularly sympathetic to the plight of the homeless.

Hassled by Members: t t t t. This church also didn't make me stand up and introduce myself, though several pleas were made for new folks to stay after the service and introduce themselves to members. A few folks came up after the service to say hello and were very friendly. One woman yelled to us as we were leaving, "see you guys next week, right?"

Religious Time Management: t t t t. The service was concise with a large chunk of time going to parishioners concerns. A lot of people had concerns. A lot of people recently had heart attacks. There is something to be said for the peace that comes in hearing others more pressing struggles. If I had to say something today it would have been, "please pray that Julie and I find a puppy soon." 

Misinformation: t t t t. I can't say I heard any misinformation today, though the minister did say that God used her as a medium for poetry. It was a nice poem that she read, but I think God would have done a little better.

Presence of God: t t. I seem to consistently find God in the music. Today it was "What a friend we have in Jesus". I have an old recording of Doc Watson singing this song, and hearing it today made me happy, so much so that I learned it on the guitar when I got home. The Lord's Prayer also sent a shiver up my spine, which I think speaks to the power of repetition and tradition. I'm pretty sure the lay minister of the church is gay, unless Margo is also a boys name. She had a good sense of humor and spoke passionately.

Overall Inspiration: t t t. This church had no real diversity to speak of, not even age diversity. Almost everyone there today was white and over 60. The sermon was really specifically aimed at that age group as evidenced by these comments: "Who here knows what a Nook is, and it's not where you ate breakfast?" and "We all know what prunes do" and "You know how it is when you forget things". The congregation was so old in fact that only half were able to stand for the songs. At one point the minister hit on what is surely their biggest collective fear: to be abandoned in a nursing home, for which she was showered with several "Amens". 

CHAPEL AT THE US AIR FORCE ACADEMY

The chapel at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs is quite beautiful. It contains 4 separate houses of worship: Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Buddhist (notice any major world religions missing?). The largest sanctuary is claimed by the Protestants and is bathed in a lovely bluish purple light. Jews and Buddhists are relegated to the basement, and the Hare Krishnas have been moved offsite to terminal 3 at Denver International airport. 

INVASION OF THE HOT AIR BALLOONS

Yesterday around 20 hot air balloons descended on the city of Colorado Springs. It was for some sort of festival, but what made it interesting was that they landed all over town; in parks, streets, and on one occasion, almost on a house. An old lady came out of the house yelling that her house wasn't on city property and that the balloon would have to move. 

GARDEN OF THE GODS

This is a good example of poorly placed subjects inside the frame. As you can see from the bottom photo the most interesting part of the landscape is blocked by us. Whoops! This is what happens when you use a scooter as a tripod. These photos were taken in Garden of the Gods, which is located in our backyard (just about). It is a free park that was donated to the city of Colorado Springs by railroad baron Charles Elliot Perkins. The only stipulation was that the city could never charge an entrance fee. Julie's dad and I rode through on scooters, arguably the best way to see it.