(or why I don’t feel good when I sleep in)

A recently released Pew Research Center study of the ways religion influences the daily lives of Americans finds that people who are highly religious (those who attend church each week and pray daily) are more engaged with their extended families, more likely to volunteer, more involved in their communities and generally happier with the way things are going in their lives. Check it out at: http://www.pewforum.org/2016/04/12/religion-in-everyday-life/

My mother curiously, or so it seemed to me at the time, once said that she was “hungry for church” (we lived in the country, 20 miles from the nearest Episcopal church and could not attend regularly). At the time I didn’t understand what she meant—the little wafer and sip of wine (which prior to confirmation I couldn’t have anyway) didn’t seem like any substitute for the hamburger and fries I craved when hungry at that age.

As I’ve grown older (much older), I believe I now know exactly what she meant. There’s an unexplainable, mysterious and positive effect that church attendance has on our lives. The Episcopal liturgy is one of the true gifts of our denomination, and it never seems to lose its beauty or significance no matter how many times we celebrate it.

– Dick Comstock