Usual Attitude

(Names and places were changed. The rest is as it was)

picture by flickr.com user phill.d, cc-by-nc-sa

…so last Sunday evening I find myself downtown in a food court, with a sweet Chinese dish made mostly from chicken, after traveling around the city all day. This is a new city for me, so I spent the entire weekend using public transportation and scoping the neighborhoods for a place to rent. Not that I have the illusion I’ll find something as I travel, it’s just so when I search online I’ll have some inkling about what the neighborhood looks like. But I digress.

As I sit down at a long counter, I looked at the people around me. A chair away sat two young guys, toting skateboards. The one closer to me held an iPhone. Being that the new iPhone 3G just came out, I asked him if it was a new one. It wasn’t, it turned out - but we kept talking anyway. I told them about being in town for a short amount of time and looking for a place to live long-term and the guy, who’s name I learned was Manny, said that there is a large apartment complex near his church, where he happens to be going, and if I come along he would show it to me.

Being that it was already dark outside and I had nothing better to do, I joined them. The evening air was cool as we walked to the nearby bus station. During the ride I learned that Manny is 18, that he came from China when he was 8.

I assumed that Manny is an English-ized name, but it turned out to be an alias. The alias reminded me of a popular book I read and I asked him if it’s from the book. He didn’t know the book, and his friend laughed and mentioned that Manny dropped out of school.

I asked a few questions about that. Yes, he could read - I recommended him the book. He never was any good in school, always failed. He’s working for his church now, as a volunteer. Yes his parents concurred with his decision, as long as he’s doing something worthwhile.

The bus came to a stop and we alighted at the appropriate station. I followed Manny and his friend as they showed me around the block. It was indeed a huge apartment complex, some of it was still under construction. It occupied several consecutive blocks. The only downside is that it was out of the way for public transportation to where I work. Too bad.

Once the tour was over, Manny declared that they were going to church, and asked me if I would come. I considered the suggestion for a brief moment, and decided to come along, saying that I’ll probably sit in the back and depart if it becomes to “preachy” for my taste. We walked along the street to the church and went in.

Coming inside the church I was left speechless. This was not an ordinary church. It was in a modern building which outside of the sign above did not convey any clue to the fact that there was a church inside. A lot of AV equipment was installed inside. Professional video cameras, 5 big screens with projectors, 4 on-stage plasma displays, a large band with a drum set and electric guitars was on-stage and volunteers were showing people to their seats, on top of which some brochures were waiting for the occupants.

As we sat down, Manny left to go to one of the first rows, and I was sitting between a 20-something black girl named Miranda and a tall white guy named Steve in his late 30s. The show started presently, where the screen burst to life with pictures from several cameras covering the band and subtitles of the songs turned hymns. It was a good show.

Later on I listened as a very dynamic man in his 30s dressed in a suit, Reverend Jack, talked to the group about the church and its achievements, and the topic for the day. It was an interesting talk, and as an outsider in more ways than one I listened with interest.

Then up came an older person - I give him 45 - again very dynamic and well dressed, Reverend Tim. This guy talked about a topic I was very familiar with - failure. He was very entertaining and he echoed ideas I had played with for a while and which I have heard before. One quote that I liked the most:

If I could rewrite the dictionary definition of “failure” I would write: “Important lesson learned by champions”

He went on talking about the monkey experiment, the one where monkeys are collectively punished if one climbs a poll to get at food, and once the lesson is learned, a monkey is replaced by a new one and the old monkeys prevent the new one from climbing the poll. The story goes that eventually all original monkeys are replaced and maintain the learned behaviour and don’t climb the poll without knowing why. He botched it though, and forgot the part where the monkeys are punished collectively. He tied it to the idea of trying things, but I fail to see how he tied it to failure.

Of course, somehow it was all tied to Jesus. I don’t really know how, he wasn’t very clear on that point. At one time it was a failure of dedicating yourself to the lord’s work, but I don’t think he was consistent about this. I guess I missed the point.

After this very entertaining presentation, Reverend Jack came back urging the congregation to support the church. Plastic donation bucket were spread around and collected. This happened twice. A video call was established with another church, apparently a bigger hall with someone who was apparently more senior talked to both rooms at once about how well everyone was doing. Prayers ensued, some testimonials were played on the screens, and the band went back up to play again.

When it was all over, after two hours, I located Manny and went to thank him for inviting me. He was flush and gleaming with excitement. He asked me if I enjoyed it, and I did. He asked me if I will come to the church again. I said it was very unlikely, and there we parted ways.

I reflected on the experience as I took the church-supplied bus to the nearest train station. I think that if I was a deity and craved power, I would definitely be more pleased by this service than by the old fashioned people-on-wooden-benches, reciting-from-a-book kind of ceremony. Then perhaps this is only my preference. The whole experience felt very energetic and very appealing to the young crowd that filled the room…

Yet it also felt somewhat artificial. Communion with your deity has turned from a personal affair into a well produced event. I felt that the event was perhaps 80% appeal to the crowd and 20% communion. Perhaps in today’s world when attention is in short supply and we’re bombarded with information, 20% is the best you can do if you want to keep the attention of the crowd.

I also thought about Manny and about failure. This young guy has barely started on life and already experienced a lot of failure. It was clear to me that he did not apply the lesson of the day to his own life, choosing to quit instead. I can’t really say whether the act of dropping out of school is good or bad for him, but the experience of failing and then giving up is probably not a positive one. I wish him well.