Pewsitting (not).

Going to church is good.

But these words from St. Francis of Assisi remind me not to get too comfortable in my pew. (Which is not, of course, possible in the strictest literal sense, given the activity level in my pew. But you know what I mean.)

"It is a great shame, to many of us who are known as servants of God, that while the apostles and early saints actually walked with Him through every kind of trial, we think we are deserving of heavenly glory and honor merely because we know their deeds from Scripture and can easily recount all that they said and did (James 1:22)." (from The Admonitions)

When I read these words, I immediately recognized the CSPP edge in the Christian struggle to walk the faith rather than merely to know the faith. As Gauntlets pointed out awhile ago, with the little ones always underfoot, we're always onstage. We're constantly trying to translate theology into something that's meaningful for a variety of age brackets, and we have all day, every day, to model how faith matters in every moment. (Yeah, it also gives us more opportunity to screw up--but then, may grace increase!)

The CSPP life may be particularly--appropriately--humbling for those of us who have studied theology in a formal setting. We may, for instance, find ourselves trying to make meaning of those lofty seminary discussions on models of atonement for a preschooler who is working on a bowel movement. (For some reason, the 3-yr.-old always comes up with a deep theological question when he assumes the throne. Serious discussions for serious business, I guess.)

Almost like God intended this whole marriage/parenthood thing as a path to greater holiness...hmm...