Footnotes; May 2026
This past month I received a wonderful real life photo shoot of polar bears and sled dogs becoming friends, hugging and kissing and playing together. You can see it on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE-Nyt4Bmi8
That got me to thinking about a number of things including what a couple
of my friends think of themselves, leaning toward paganism. This is a term ethnologists avoid using (with its uncertain and varied meanings, when referring to traditional or historic faiths.) Their preference is a more precise category, such as polytheism, shamanism, pantheism, or animism. But I suspect my friends are part of all of these in their thinking. And I was recently at a memorial service that included the burning of sage and incense, an American Indian and African drumming, sort of, and African songs. An Episcopal woman minister was also present. Seems they had all their bases covered…a common phrase I hear from them regarding the possible after-life.
All of this got me to thinking more about why, as our recent study tried to discover, "they like Jesus, but not the church." Part of my thinking process was also brought about by an article someone had submitted to me for publication. The article described a situation wherein the writer left the church over one incident, as a small child. To me, such actions seem to be inconsistent with intelligent beings; it's like not ever going back to a library because you couldn't find the book or information you wanted at that particular instant.
In one of the on-line discussion lists, also this past month, some librarians were talking about students, and Ph.D. candidates who had no clue as to how to use the library. One such person was in the library, with a librarian present, who, instead of asking a librarian, called a friend to ask how to search for something. Another person who, while working as a clerk in one small library, wrote to another very large library, asking for answers to a question, when the answer he was asking about was available in his very library. He explained that he didn't think such a small library would have such information…but failed to ask…because of previous experience.
I suspect that each one has a different perspective on what the church is or should be, and that is often based upon past experience. Sometime, unfortunately, it is based upon only one event. Many persons do not seek out other possible congregations or ministers to see if their experience might turn up something good or better; fitting their expectations. Like the student in a library not asking a librarian, maybe because at some point in this person's life he/she had a bad experience with a librarian, or was just afraid to approach someone who might have appeared too authoritarian.
Getting back to the animals and their ability to join together in play and love, I think the church can offer that role for many. Those outside the church can only have a new experience if we bring it to them so they can experience that play and love they expect. Since they don't know Jesus' Love instinctively, we, as part of the church need to exhibit that, rather than being exclusionary, and not being friends to those who have other ideas than our own.
We should all be as little children and polar bears at play, and play and be friends to whomever comes our way.
Matt. 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Go on with God,
Paul Jackson
[written Dec. 2009]
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