Salvation lies Within
[size=4]Salvation Lies Within"}kUAZ6Z0B--My first experience in a church$f ]v#@ e
I had a really big day today and never have I felt so exhausted but cheerful since I was in the US. The departure from home was 8 o’clock in the morning and we arrived at the house in the evening with a wonderful lunch at Aunt Sharron’s house.
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[size=4]Although exciting places like Columbus Zoo and City’s Main Library were in our schedule today, what deeply touched my mind was the scene I saw and the voice I heard during my 3 hours’ stay in the church near Aunt Sharron’s house. The church looks ordinary without magnificence decorations but it certainly shows its elegance through the red adobes and neat arrangement.T8n:X _ K:LV
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[size=4]Actually, I had no clew what usually happened in a church except some obscure memory from movies until I step into the church and sighed. There were approximately a hundred people attending the ceremony and each of them looked tranquil and decent. I was not surprised at all to recognize the fact that mum and I were the only Asian there and it couldn’t be more obvious that there were two non-Christians among all the listeners. However, I felt a warm welcome when I stepped in and met Dan, the pastor and everyone nearby. Smile and greetings flowed, hovered and acted as a graceful prelude before Dan finished greeting everyone and strode to the front. Dan is a humorous and energetic man with a standard American belly, his voice is quite sonorous and I knew I would like this gentleman once he greeted me.
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[size=4]Welcome everyone”, said Dan, “now before we start, I suggest we all stand up and meet people around you, people you never know before…” I do love the way he started, it touched me with a sense of equality and harmony. People walked to each other, shook hands and embraced. There rose a sound smell again. The next step was to sing the anthem. [color=blue][color=black]However, it wasn’t as serious as my impression gained from the arias of Hander—Hallelujah in which classical melody glows from everyone’s praise and loyalty to God. A music band consisting of 6 musicians were on the stage leading people to feel the connection and existence of Holy God through the music.[/color] The music, although not classical, is the same sacred and pure. All the hope and faith born in every Christian’s mind is perfectly reflected in the music so real, the melody so faithful, the note so innocent and the most significant of all, the souls so devoted. Words failed me at that moment, because I was listening to the sound arose from the bottom of one’s heart. I could feel it as a vivid description of a powerful play for God in which everyone was contributing their own verses, unique, but all converged to God. Isn’t it a marvel that the power of religion is so strong and unshakable? Every time I encountered facts involved Christianity, shocking proposition announced by Nietzsche, “God is dead”, kept occurring to me. And this time there is no exception. But this time, I saw Nietzsche crouched in the corner, trembling and screaming in horror with fingers pointing to the sky. God returns, at least at this moment, in all the praise, verses and melody.[/color] (DA-BA:O1A
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[size=4]ANYWAY, I LOVE THE MUSIC and I see SALVATION lie within.L"? Ax;w&i6x(K
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[size=4]Then Dan talked about hope and life.'_ZU3kA s
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[size=4]“How may times do we read or heard about people commit suicide? It happens every minute, every second, another life is deprived during the time I say these words…” “There are too many circumstances in life where people stand out and say, I trust in God, but why God let me down… The truth is God never let you down. In fact, if you give up your trust in God and leave, you let yourself down.” He read the lines from the Bible and emphasized the phrase “[color=red]UNFAILING LOVE[/color]”. “We shall always hold tight the unfailing love to God and then we hold the hope of life…” And hope remained to be the theme in the time left.
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[size=4][color=darkorange]I can still recall lines Andy wrote about hope in Shawshank Redemption: “Hope is a good thing…perhaps the best of things… And good thing never dies.” Precise! The unimaginable eternity and immortality always lies in the good things in life, because every one of us supports them with our unfailing love. Oh I love to capture the trace of spring when she tiptoes in; I love to chase the steps of wind among parsley, sage rosemary and thyme; I love to see the mountain kisses the sky in the sunset; I love to see her soft cheek and crescent brow, smiles that win, tints that glow…I remember Thoreau wrote: “I want to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life because life is so dear and so short”. Sometimes we sigh and weep for the sorrows of life but time simply won’t stop burning. Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone. This is the golden rule according to which the world works. So let’s free the humanity from the painful drudgery of life and borrow its mirth from God or, for a non-Christian like me, from the unfailing love of justice, romance, passion and beauty.
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[size=4]I SEE SALVATION LIE WITHIN LOVE AND HOPE, BECAUSE LOVE IS HOPE WHEN HOPE UNVEILS HER HOLY FACE.[/size] I like those words in orange~ M8Iil~SI3f m
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Nice experience
You went to the church for a tour? thanks for shareing`
回复 #2 lincoln_8513 的帖子
Actually I went there with my parents and aunt Sharron. Faithful Christians are required to attend the ceremony in the church every week. My aunt is a Christain and she invited me to go with her.m5HWK-|W|#WAnd I must admit everything here just captures my curiosity which is pretty easy to understand considering this is my visit trip to the US.S [jL cD
PS I'm a just freshman and I come to spend my summer vacation here~:loveliness:
I tried that,too
But people don't seem to welcome strangers in big churches,while I went to a small one with friends of my age,all the people there were friendly and made me feel warm even I believe in Buddhaism. Cool article! I like it.::p7 I do really like you post very much, sometimes, I fell guilty and I can do nothing about it, it's a good way to go to the church to purify my soul,even at home, calm me down and ponder,as long as my soul staying with god. Never think about having a religion. nice, very nice. it's very touching~~however, i've never been to a church for praying before~~
回复 10# susancoffee 的帖子
What really matters is the positive attitude towards life, wherever it comes.You will made it if you want anyway.::z1 I know there is a way, the practitioner of which will reach enlightenment. i have gone to the church before.I think the music is very nice
but i did not pray ,because i do not think the god is exist
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