I’ve been attending my church since early this year. I started out lurking in online services and then started coming in person when we opened back up for that. I grew up with no religion in particular. I never felt much of a need for it in my life. But now I’m in my late thirties and after the isolation of the pandemic I felt a real need for community, and a welcoming place for open spiritual inquiry.

So now I finally found a weekend Journey to Membership class that works with my schedule. I would have done it sooner—I’m not having cold feet or waffling on commitment—I just have a conflict with the usual dates they’re held. And I’m kind of excited. Membership isn’t a prerequisite for most church activities, but I feel like I want to more meaningfully participate in the community. I’ve started to really appreciate having ritual, and even social obligation, in my life. I see it less as a burden and more about contributing to the larger human project.

Guess I just wanted to put that out there. I’m a little introverted and I want to be more of a “joiner” in general but I also don’t want to overcommit to things and lose interest when the novelty wears off. So I think I’m taking a good step.