How Did I Get Here?

by Elizabeth Gilbert

[The Deacons have a tradition of getting to know the new members of the church by going around the table in that first orientation meeting and sharing stories of how each person got "here" -- here being Old South Church. Here is the first in what we hope will become a series of those stories of witness and faith to appear in the Reporter.]

I was raised in Michigan. My mother is Lutheran and my father is an atheist, the son of (totally un-religious) Jewish immigrants. Their marriage was not exactly welcomed, especially by my mother's family. My folks agreed to raise us as "neutral" and not to have us baptized.

Well, the problem with this arrangement was that, even though we went to church only 2 or 3 times a year, (my father offered no hints about Judaism, and that's another story) every single Sunday my mother would conduct a complete Lutheran service in our living room.

She would call out, after breakfast, "Bible!" and we three kids would troop in and take our places. She would read from a little white book and a big black Bible (we did not attempt communion). Sometimes during the service, my father would sneak into the room, stand behind my mother's chair and make faces at us, trying to get us to laugh. There was a lot of choking and sputtering. My younger brother kept his head bowed reverently in order to avoid being tempted. I still have a problem with giggling in church.

At 18, I had myself baptized Catholic, thereby antagonizing everyone on both sides of my family. The chaplain at my college was a dynamic, bright young priest, I wanted to belong to something, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I am glad I did it; it was my move, my declaration of belief in the love of Jesus.

In the following 10 years or so, I practiced Catholicism to the best of my ability, but found myself not feeling true to myself and was troubled by it. I lived in Cambridge at the time and a good friend told me about First Church, Congregational, where she sometimes preached (she was a chaplain at Harvard Divinity School). I went. I liked it, and I joined. Galen and I were married there, by my friend.

Living car-free in the Fenway, after our first child was born, we decided to try to find a church we could walk to. People at First Church steered us to Old South. I found it different, much "straighter", but have come to love it. And what fun I have had in the Blue Room!

Still, things are not so simple; Galen belongs to Emmanuel Church and we do a bit of dancing back and forth. Also, my family is still a motley crew: my older brother became a devout Jew (take that, Dad!); my younger brother is an agnostic; and I practice a Buddhist form of meditation as part of my daily life. My mother has been set free by the growing-up of her children to really go for it, Lutheran-wise; she is now in the Altar Guild and the Church in Society Mission, and attends every Sunday. My father accuses her of doing all this in order to set up a support network for after he dies, but I knew she was devout like that all along. You should have heard her read those Epistles! +