How to do Church

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Bible

Unless you live in Tokyo (which I do not) it can be quite difficult to find a church that has religious services in English.  Okay, so the second choice, of course, is to do it in Japanese…bit of a learning curve here.

Of course the Bible is the Bible in any language…but even when the Bible is in English, well, we are not talking about street language are we…So as you may imagine, the Japanese translation of the Bible is on the,well,  formal side (meaning "get out the dictionary").  But that being said, if you can catch a Japanese word or two that you DO know, and if you know the stories (which I do) then you can sit in Service and imagine what is being said.  This works okay for the most part, but on a regular basis it can be rather exhausting.

I found a church in my city and even one in a city a bit away, that has a Mass, once a month, in English.  In the church one city away, I was actually warned against attending the Mass there by a very nice Nun…now if a Nun tells you you might want to stay away, you’d better listen.  Why?  Well, apparently it turns out to be a bit of a free for all for the kids…which is great for the kids, and I am all for that…but apparently exhausting for the adults (even those WITH the rambunctious kids) so I decided to try the Mass a bit closer to home.  It is a small church and those around here that attend the English mass tend to be from the Philippines and a few Americans like me.  Most of the Americans, though, unlike me, are temporary residents, right out of college, here for a year or two to experience Japan and teach English while they are at it.  We permanent residents call them “tourists”.  Some do end up falling in love and making Japan their home and then they are upgraded to “lifers” ….for no extra fee.

Back to church.  So yes, deciding to give myself a break from the Japanese Mass, which is nice but in Japanese, I decided to attend the English version.  I was actually very excited.  It would be fun and meaningful to connect to others in my language and in my religion (which happens to be Catholic but I will not get into the man-made messiness about this denomination here but…ya….).  I knew that many of the attendants would be from the Philippines, but I have met many people from that country and culture and the experience has always been marvelous and I was expecting much the same…and I was not to be disappointed in many ways.  At the same time I also expected to see a few of my fellow Americans, perhaps a Canadian or two….an Australian maybe…so my enthusiasm was fairly high.

When I arrived at the church, as expected, most of those filing in were from the Philippines.  They were smiling and friendly, but naturally I still hoped and expected to see one or two from my culture as well.  By the time Mass was about to start, it was fairly clear that all good people that day were Filipino….and only one was American….me.  Well, never mind, I thought, the Mass will be in English anyway so I settled back.  The opening hymn began with guitars and a very lively group of singers and in strode a very friendly looking Filipino Priest (oh what fun).  Once all the commotion had settled, the priest, looking rather impressive in his robes, began the opening prayers….and at first I didn’t understand what he was saying….I couldn’t quite hear well…didn’t his mic need a bit of adjusting….ah, wasn’t he saying the usual opening prayers?  Why, yes he was….he certainly was……but in Tagalog!  

Well, the Priest, bless his heart, noticing the lone American face, took pity and said that since so few Americans show up, if ever (those darn tourists), that they had decided to do the Mass in Tagalog instead.  But because this fine group also understood English, that day he did the Mass in both  languages, switching seamlessly from one to the other…all for my benefit!  Now was that kind or what?!

Now usually, I am one of those people who likes to sit  in the back drawing as little notice as possible to myself while quietly contemplating my existence…this was not to be.  Suddenly, I was quite aware of everyone being quite aware and it was a little difficult to relax into all this.  I have to say it was quite a surprise having gone to Mass looking forward to a break from a foreign language only to be confronted with another...  Ironic, isn't it?                                                        
                                                                                       It all ended ok…..of course!

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Pretty church in Tokyo

 But I was unable to find my comfort level attending a Mass in Tagalog, and especially since I was the only one, it didn’t seem quite right to force all the others to English just on the account of one, so that was my first and last time.  It is not that anyone said anything to me, but I understood that these kind people, just like me, were trying to find their comfort level as well…and for them that was Tagalog….it wouldn’t be nice for me to throw a wrench in their respite from Japan…would it? 

Well, that was a few years ago and I have found my way here…it does not include Sunday Mass every week, or every month or even (gasp!) every year, but in many ways, I feel that this lack of church community has forced me, in a way,  to search more on my own….so I read.  I read the bible, in English, I read Francis Collins, C. S. Lewis, and St. Augustine and any other heavy stuff I can get my hands on.  And when I feel like my head is going to explode with all the weight of that,  I read the lighter stuff too:  Taylor Caldwell and even Elizabeth Gilbert….you never know where you may get a bit of an uplift and encouragement by someone else’s struggles.  And…on occasions, I get in heated discussions with my friends.

I won’t get into the ins and outs of my Catholic religion  and what faith is and what it means….we all don’t fit into neat little boxes.  It is not always easy to maintain a devotion to a Christian religion here in Japan…going to Mass, being involved in church community …well, that is my case anyway…I suppose many other “Lifers”  in this country are in some sense “tougher” than me and just go with “what-the-heck” kind of attitude and plunge in every week…but I find I get very little out of that….just sitting there, not understanding, guessing…and more often than not this kind of church going becomes just an added source of stress…and I guess it is my belief that God did not intend for me to go to church to get further stressed.  I find, and have found, that I can still maintain my devotion to my beliefs and faith in many other ways…and perhaps even more meaningful ways.  I sometimes wonder if I had remained in the States, would I have read and explored my faith as much I have here?