Golden

[yogi]

I've not checked Google Maps Street View lately, but that huge empty Hanson Park field I played in is now filled with residences. You are a much better researcher than I ever will be. LOL I'm surprised you could find out anything about the church and much less anything about the architecture. They probably have a web site. Maybe I should look into it for old times sake.

[Kellemora]

Because of my delivering flowers for the florist, I've been in some really elaborate churches of nearly every denomination one could think of. Some of the Greek Orthodox churches were really elaborate. And of course the Jewish Synagogues.
Hard to believe, it's been 38 years since we closed down the florist, so many things are now just a vague memory.

[yogi]

I've been inside many old churches, mostly to attend things like weddings, baptisms, and funerals. All of them are ornate beyond description. It got me to wondering one day why all that opulence seems to be a requirement for a house of worship. I don't know much about other religions but the Catholic nuns taught us to be humble. Those churches are anything but humble. I guess I'd feel better praying in a gold gilded sanctuary than I would in a store front church. But does it really matter to the gods listening to my supplication? I doubt that they listen to us mere mortals anyway.

[Kellemora]

In my opinion Yogi, all churches are nothing more than a business of selling religion for a profit.
I honestly don't see anything holy about any of them. Not even the little store front churches.

The idea is to go win new souls to Christ, not preach to the same group of already saved week after week, if in fact they are saved at all. In some cases, it sure don't appear so. I would say most are hypocrites.

WE are the Church, not some building somewhere!

[yogi]

I have to agree with you for the most part. One of the many things I recall being taught by those Franciscan nuns was the meaning of Catholic. It has nothing to do with the buildings used for worship. Being Catholic is supposedly a reference to the entire body of souls who have the same beliefs. In my case it was about Jesus but the Prophets, the Yogis, the Gurus, the Imams and all the founders of the major religious philosophies have a catholic following in that they are like minded. Because catholic is so generic the (Roman) Catholic followers of Jesus modified their identity a bit and like to call themselves the Catholic Church. Adding the word Church to the description didn't clarify things because it has a double meaning now and days. It refers to the souls and well as the building.

I've been to a synagogue for a wedding and was impressed with the ritual more than then temple. Been to Bahá'í Temple in a suburb of Chicago and that place looked like a palace more than a house of worship. I've seen some Hindu and Sikh Temples in photographs and videos and not one of them were plain and simple. Outrageous opulence seems to be a common theme for those houses of worship. To be honest I don't know what I'd expect a church for the average man to look like other than it would not be mistaken for the residence of the Royal Family.

[Kellemora]

Ruth and I were married both in a Synagogue by a Rabbi and in a Baptist Church by a Methodist minister, on the same day, hi hi.
Debi and I were married in a Baptist church by her retired family minister, as his last wedding service, and he did it up good too.

[yogi]

I've seen and heard of a few marriages that were not quite traditional. Actually the ceremony was unusual but all of them ended up in what we all know as a marriage. The weirdest one I know about happened about 5 years ago up in Minnesota. Three people fell in love with each other and decided they wanted to be married. Liberal as they are up there, multiple marriages were not legally allowed. Same sex marriages were allowed. So the three of them went out to a secluded part of a forest nearby and said their vows. I don't recall now if they had any witnesses to the event but I do know they consider themselves married. I'm pretty sure for legal purposes two of them did make it official, but I'm not certain of that either. The three of them had children so that it could be messy at some point in the future. Regardless, marriages do not have to be sanctioned by a church or conducted in a house of worship. In fact if you don't need' the legal amenities you can do away with the state as well. Wife and I considered opting out of a church wedding, but the family on both sides didn't quite see it our way. So, we went through the formalities but in effect were married to each other well before the ceremony.

[Kellemora]

Ironic you brought that up.
One of my early girlfriends, the one everyone thought we would be married some day.
Out of the blue, took off and joined a commune with three of her friends.
I guess those were the days of free sex in those places, hi hi.
But at least her and her three friends stayed together which is seemingly like forever now.
The commune eventually went belly up, and she did finally marry one of her friends and settled down.

[yogi]

Nothing today is remotely like it was when I grew up, even as late as when I got married in my early 20's. My wife (girlfriend at the time) and I were part of the leading edge for the movement involving changes in the traditional social institutions. We didn't see the value of church weddings, but we did see the benefits of being married even if we knew in our hearts it was an obsolete concept. Our little deviation from the norm was insignificant compared to all the other changes brought about by later generations. Both my gals were married but we did have some doubts about the younger one. My grandchildren's generation apparently consider marriage optional. Only one of the three is actually going to do it this fall. Then there is the gal who does not identify with either gender. She has her own pronouns that she asked us all to use when referring to her and changed her name to something gender neutral. No, she is not odd in that regard. In fact so many people are following her line of thought that it has become a legislative issue in several states. They can't seem to deal with transgender folks.

So, not only have the social structures changed but also the idea of self awareness has become unrecognizable. I used to think the people who went off in those directions were aberrations and rebellious. Not so in 2022. It's the norm. Old timers like us with traditional thoughts are the odd balls now.

[Kellemora]

Debi and I know a lot of folks who chose not to get married. Her son is one of them, as are a lot of his friends.

Yes Sir: Looks like us Olde Folks are now the odd radicals of traditional everything, hi hi.