Thirty-something speaks
Fire, brimstone, and...fun?

Mike Maddock

When I was growing up, a lot of my friends liked to tell me I was going to Hell because I didn't go to church. I had my doubts as to whether God would condemn a small child to eternal damnation just because his parents preferred to sleep in on Sunday mornings, but when enough people tell you something, you can really start to wonder.

My mom always has been, and always will be, one of the most spiritual people I know. She probably would have chosen to take me to church more than the handful times I can remember going, but my dad had different notions. It wasn't that he was a heathen. He is the only man I know that would catch a moth or spider lounging on our kitchen counter and set it free outside, as opposed to squishing it with a wad of tissue and flushing it down the toilet. But it was the '70s, and some of his priorities were different back then regardless of how many bugs he saved.

So I grew up pretty secure in the notion I was safe from the underworld and convinced church was the place where priests and preachers told their congregations anyone outside their little circle was to be denied entry into the kingdom of heaven. Church was the place of fire and brimstone and guilt. Who needed that?

My wife grew up completely different. Church was not a place to be feared for her, but a place of fellowship, forgiveness, and, much to my disbelief, fun...and she grew up a Southern Baptist! Those people weren't supposed to be having fun.

Still I was not filled with any kind of Devine inspiration, and I managed to keep us both out of church for the first few years of our married life. Then my first child was born. As I watched her squishy, squinty-eyed, pink, little face emerge into this world for the very first time I was convinced there had to be a higher power. I've been going to church with my family ever since. My wife and I have been blessed with two more children, and each one has been a reaffirmation for us...God is good.

I am glad my children are being raised in faith, and I hope all the influences out there won't change them. They'll be much happier and more educated than I ever was because of this spiritual foundation.

Church is a place filled with flawed humans seeking a greater good, not a place of fire and brimstone (although some of the germs crawling around those nurseries can make you feel like hell).

I still don't go enough. I don't participate enough, and I probably don't give enough, but my kids won't grow up with the fear I had. They'll always know church as a place to be safe, meet new friends, and be closer to God. That alone is something I am truly thankful for.