To those who celebrate it,

[rebeccmeister]

Happy Easter!

I received an incredible gift in the mail yesterday--a letter from my mother about what Easter means and has meant to her. I'd had some appreciation for how the Catholic church has fit into her life (i.e. being given no alternatives as a child), but it was good to learn about how she developed a renewed relationship with the church as a young adult. I must respect and honor where she's coming from because I benefited greatly as a result of that renewed relationship (that's where she met my father and my best friend's parents; that's the community I grew up in). My parents' commitment to their church community is the sort of commitment that seems to be rare these days, and it's commendable.

I feel somewhat similarly about my commitment to rowing--somewhat. Rowing at its best teaches many of the same values as a religious community, and requires the same sort of persistence and dedication (even on those mornings when you just don't feel like going, you still go; here I am, 11 years later, and I don't see myself stopping any time soon). The rowing community here isn't quite as stable as a community like my parents' church (although it has experienced no small number of shake-ups over my lifetime at least), and yet rowers still share a sense of community.

One of the most admirable qualities of my parents and their church is their ability to continue to reach out to others in all sorts of positive ways. The reaching out happens through such diverse things as helping communities in war-torn countries like El Salvador, through interfaith dinners and dialogues, and through writing letters that remind me to celebrate renewal in my life. And for that I am forever grateful.

Comments

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

There's also the benefit that, like a church, it's an extended community. Your parents would probably start out with the local church, as a place to meet people when they moved to a new town. Ted got us hooked up with the local club before we even officially moved here, and we're now trying to find out about rowing in Taiwan for when we go there. That club has given us everything from the closest thing to a social life we have here, to this weekend's trip to A'dam to participate in the largest regatta in the Netherlands* to a catsitter when we went away over Xmas.

* Me: 16/23 in the W2X; Ted 8/28 in the M2X and 25/34 in the M1X, all races had all the Veterans (~Masters) all mixed up together. Could be better but not too shabby given the high level of competition.