Catching Up

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. I've become a little more separated from the mainstream church, although I cannot seem to get away from semi-regular attendance and even participation in the Sunday worship. But it is OK. I still believe in the mission of the church, but I have a hard time focusing on that mission for myself, and achieving by participation via the medium of the church. Some of this can be explained in a comment I posted over on davidhayward.ca this morning, and it included this paraphrase form the Lord Of the Rings, along with the intro:

This discussion brought to mind a short excerpt from near the end of the Lord of the Rings. Forgive me if you are unfamiliar with this book. What you need to know is that these two have literally been through hell on earth together, but one received a grievous wound, and must leave to a place of healing where the other cannot follow. Also I changed the name of their homeland (the Shire) to “the church”
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Sam: ‘I thought you were going to enjoy the church, too. for years and years, after all you have done.’

Frodo: ‘So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the church, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.

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I really like this a lot, but it does sound like I feel I am more persecuted than I am. I tend to think that many Christian sub-groups in this country, especially politically conservative evangelicals, go a little overboard with the whole persecution complex. Still, I do feel that I have done my best to support the greater organization all the while knowing that it was not going to really help me where I needed to be helped. But it does seem to be what God is calling me to to right now, so who am I to argue?