Strip Mall Church

You definitely haven't lived until you've been into a strip mall church.

My great aunt passed last week and there was a memorial service today for her. Her children live in California, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Since she lived in RI, her RI son set up the service. He did not approach the congregation where my aunt had been a member of many years, instead he opted to have his golfing buddy host the memorial service. This golfing buddy is a pastor (?) in a strip mall church! I was convinced that we were entering a cult den by looks of the exterior of the building but was not worried as I am into wearing foil hats and writhing on the ground. Luckily I was mistaken. The interior was a modest room where family and friends sat comfortably. The pastor was a pleasant man and freely stated that he did not know my aunt and that he could not heal our pain and that the pain will never go away, just get better over time. I thought that was nice. While the attendants bowed their heads to pray, I came up with this list as my attention span in minimal in church.

The Pros of a Strip Mall Church:

1) Small congregation so more chance to socialize

2) The pastor was married so he won't lecture you on sex

3) You can walk next door to get a sandwich and lottery tickets

4) Service was over and done with in 30 minutes and the only people who spoke at length were family.

The Cons of a Strip Mall Church:

1) It's a little "shady"

2) Terrible paneling

3) C'mon...it's in a strip mall!!

4) No starchy wafers and cheap wine

Family

OK, what does the word "family" really mean? http://www.dictionary.com/ has 20 different defintions for this one 6-letter word. I'd like to first focus on their 4th definition. Family: any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts, and cousins. According to this definition my family consists of my mother, 2 uncles, an aunt, 3 cousins, and me. Very small. Could be close knit and easy to keep track of. However, I talk to my mother and 1 uncle on a regular basis. The rest I have rarely seen in my life. They weren't at any major event (i.e. high school or college graduation) in my life and I haven't been to any of theirs. This has nevered bothered me, I just assume this is how my family works. Over the past few years I have become more aware of the fact that I am an outsider to my "family" due to location and loose ties.

The second definition of family that I'd like to focus on is: a group of people who are generally not blood relations but who share common attitudes, interests, or goals and, frequently, live together. Though the people I consider to be family do not live together, we are true to the rest of the definition. So, do I have 2 families or do I have the privilege to pick those I consider to be "family"?

I ask this question because my cousin, KC (pictured to the right) was in a serious auto accident that has him in the hospital in a medically induced coma. There is no certain prognosis but everyone will remain hopeful. I have not seen KC in 2 years. I know little about his day-to-day life and interests. I don't know any of his friends and haven't spoken to "the family" since the accident. I don't feel guilty about our lack of relationship but I do care about both him and "the family". My plan is to see him on Friday. I feel that I should see him again in case I don't get another chance. It's weird though. To walk into this group of people, family, barely knowing them and assuming I belong there.

Life has funny ways of bringing people together.