One Girl in Christianity

"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - Declaration of Independence

Well, we didn't always!  And if we do, we can trace our ideas back to one radical Palestinian Jew.

So went the sermon I heard at a nondenominational Church yesterday.  Cursory overview below.

From a moral standpoint, the ancient Roman world was a nasty place.  Society was extremely stratified (Gods, Kings, Priests, men, women, slaves, children).  Children weren't even considered to be fully human until they reached a certain age, and so it was acceptable for parents to leave unwanted babies on a trash heap if they wanted a boy instead of a girl, etc.  Women were property.  Sick people were considered to be "cursed" and were merely quarantined, not cared for.  Prisoners starved to death in prisons if friends and family failed to maintain them.  Forget any code of sexual conduct.  Religious ceremonies often involved women being given to men in orgies and child molestation was okay.

Yuck!

Enter Christianity with Jesus's radical "Parable of the Sheep and the Goats" (Matthew 25: 31-45).  Jesus teaches that when Christians serve the downtrodden in society, it is as if they are doing it for Jesus Himself.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Compassion became the "brand" of Christianity, as the pastor put it.  Christians were required to love and serve people of all walks of life because every person is equally loved and valued by in God.

Christians became known for rescuing babies off those trash heaps.  They'd given them the Roman word for "trash heap" as a last name, and it became quite a common last name starting around 40-50 A.D.  

Roman historians wrote that during the Small Pox outbreak under Marcus Arealius (approx 160 AD), Christians shocked the rest of the Empire by caring for victims of the disease.  Same thing during a bubonic plague about a hundred years later.  They'd rush into quarantined areas, "here's our chance to serve Jesus!"  Sadly, many of them contracted the diseases, but they served willingly out of a love for Jesus.

A standard prayer said by Roman prisoners was for a fellow prisoner to be Christian.  If there was a Christian prisoner, then the prisoners could count on the prison being visited and maintained by the Christian community.

Christians communities became known for 1) orphanages and 2) maintaining leper colonies.

Further, Christianity uplifted women by teaching the doctrines of chastity and sexual fidelity.  If you went to Church as a Christian woman, you'd hear talk about the sanctity of sex in marriage, and of it being exclusively between you and your husband.  If you went to a Roman "Church" as a non-Christian woman, you'd be handed off to the other men present . . . 

And that's just a brainstorm covering some of what I heard yesterday.

The long and short of it is that Jesus's teachings changed our modern notion of morality and human rights for the better.

Chapter Summary

Wise Men from the east follow the star to Jerusalem.  In search of the promised Messiah, they enter King Herod's court demanding to know where the baby is so that they can worship him.  Herod doesn't know and sends them on their way.  "Find the baby and then let me know, so that I can come worship, too!" he lies.  Herod--who was lawfully made the "King of the Jews" by the Romans--is disturbed by the idea that the prophecies might in fact be fulfilled.  He summons religious scholars to tell him where the Messiah will supposedly be born.  "Bethlehem," he learns.  So he has all the children two years old and under in Bethlehem and the surrounding coasts slaughtered.

That's the kind of world the Baby Jesus was born into :(

The Baby Jesus is spared because Joseph is warned by an angel to flee with his family to Egypt.  An angel later reveals to Joseph that it is safe to return.  The family then settles in Nazareth.

Favorite Verse

Of the wise men:

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."  (2:10)

The spirit of Christmas!  :)

The Power of The Wise Men

Matthew Chapter 2 is the only place in the New Testament where the Wise Men are mentioned.  If they're your favorite "characters" in the Christmas story, then this is your chapter.

"1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." (2:1-2)

Growing up, my Dad always liked to point out that the Wise Men must have been insanely powerful to walk into Herod's court and make such demands.  After all, Herod was the lawful, reigning King of the Jews.  Yes, he swore allegiance to the Roman Empire, but in his own realm, he was King, and a bloody, despotic one at that.

In spite of that, the Wise Men presumed to ask Herod, in his own court: 

"Where's the real King of Jews?"

Herod was so convinced by their testimony that he murdered some of his own population in the attempt to kill off the baby Messiah.

The Bible itself is silent on the exact identities of the Wise Men, though scholars have taken plenty of guesses.  Matthew only tells us that they came "from the east."  It's a topic I'll research for fun in the future.

Who was Herod?

While this information is of little "spiritual" value, it's fun trivia all the same.

In short, he was a client Roman "King" of the Jewish state of Judea.

It turns out that Herod (73 BC - 4 BC) was born of a local ethnic population that converted to Judaism.  He was a practicing Jew (well, not really, but in name).  However, the Jews he ruled over resented him because they thought he was racially impure due to having an Arabic mother.  (It was thought that to be fully Jewish, one's mother had to be Jewish).

Herod's political success was jump started by his father, who gained favor with Julius Caesar.  (His father backed Caesar up during a civil war).  Herod's father was able to secure the "governorship" of Galilee for his son.

Then, Caesar was murdered.  His murderers, Brutus and Cassius, fled and started demanding tribute money from Roman provinces to help them defeat Marc Antony and Octavian (Caesar's grand-nephew and adopted son).  Herod's father made the mistake of donating money to their--ultimately fallen--cause.

Marc Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius in battle and Herod's father was poisoned due to his involvement.  Herod, who wanted to remain in power, tried to convince Marc Antony and Octavian that his father donated money to Brutus and Cassius only because he was forced to.

Antony and Octavian believed Herod and awarded him with an even higher title in the Kingdom of Judea.

Next, there was civil war in Judea.  It was Rome v. an anti-Roman faction backed by the Parthians.  Herod fled to Rome and begged for help.  Marc Antony kicked the Parthians out and Herod was made King of Judea.

Herod is remembered for being 1) extremely brutal and 2) his construction projects, one of the most famous being the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

The First Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians approximately five hundred years before Herod's time.  Herod built a new temple on the site.  It was destroyed by the Romans when the suppressed the revolting Judeans in 70AD.  

The famous Arch of Titus in Rome shows Roman troops carrying away a menorah and other Jewish treasures from the looted/destroyed Second Temple.

The Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum 

Closeup of the Arch.  Can you see the menorah?

Oh and . . . 

For a while, the Roman Republic was split between Octavian in the West and Marc Antony and Cleopatra in the East.  Herod supported Antony and sent him and his queen gifts, which proved to be problematic when Antony was defeated by Octavian in battle.  (Ultimately, Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide).

Tricky Herod successfully shifted allegiance to Octavian.

A few years later (27 BC), Octavian was renamed "Augustus" by the Senate (translates to "the illustrious one").

Augustus--also known as Caesar Augustus--became the first Roman Emperor (reigned from 27 BC - 14 AD). His reign initiated the Pax Romana.

Wow!

Jesus as a Fulfillment of Jewish Prophecy

While reading, I was struck by how many times Matthew said, "for thus it is written by the prophet," etc.  Winning over Jewish readers does seem to have been Matthew's primary aim.  

In Matthew 2 alone, I counted four instances where Matthew claimed that something in Jesus's life fulfilled Old Testament prophecy:

Jesus the Nazarene

The prophecy of Jesus being a Nazarene is less concrete per Old Testament writings.  The word "Nazarene" isn't actually used, and yet Matthew states of Joseph:

"And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called Nazarene." (2:23)

The theory that made the most sense to me is that a number of prophecies exist which say that the Messiah would be poor and humble.  In Jesus's time, the Nazarenes were looked down upon; they were like the "ghetto" population of the time, the people on the wrong side of the tracks.  By being a Nazarene, Jesus fulfilled OT prophecies that predicted that the Messiah would come from humble, even despicable circumstances.  

"2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." (Isaiah 53: 2-3)

The Importance of Obedience

Every "good" thing that happens in this chapter happens as the result of people following divine promptings.

The Wise Men, for example followed the star all the way to the baby Jesus. And then they were warned in a dream to not return to Herod and report the baby's  whereabouts.

Joseph was warned in a dream by an angel to escape to Egypt with Jesus and Mary.  And when the danger had passed, he was told again by an angel in a dream to gather his family and return.  In doing so, he saved the baby Jesus's life and also fulfilled Old Testament prophecies.

Goodness is Vulnerable, but God Finds a Way

It is awesome to comprehend the idea that Jesus entered the world just like any other human being: as a baby.  And that, as such, he was completely at the mercy of the world around him.  

The lesson I took from this is that sacred things are vulnerable.  Even the most precious things in life can be destroyed if we don't take care of them.

But no matter how the odds may be stacked agains us--even if it's Herod with all of his armies--a way is found.  The Lord protected Joseph and his family by providing them with divine guidance and an escape plan.

The Role of Parents

Matthew 2 shows the importance of family relationships.  The baby Jesus was powerless to protect Himself.  He never could have gotten Himself all the way to Egypt and back without his loving parents.  That's what parents do.  We all come into the world completely vulnerable as babies and flat out wouldn't survive without them caring for us.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Sources

http://www.blueletterbible.org/study/harmony/index.cfm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great

http://www.livius.org/he-hg/herodians/herod_the_great01.html

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080611124424AAqN8Cb

:)

And now with that outburst out of the way, here's why it's important to labor over the fine print of Jesus's genealogy.

Wisdom

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (7: 7-8)

"Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." (7:20)

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (6:19-21)

"Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind.  And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." (15:14)

Tolerance

"Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." (7: 1-2)

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust."  (5: 43-45)

Courage

"Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  (5:14-16)

Knowledge

"36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  38 This is the first and great commandment.  39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (22:36-40)

Peace

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (11: 28-30)

Jesus Calms the Tempest

"23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”  26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”" (8: 23-27)

Peter Walks on Water

"25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.  26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.  27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.  28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.  29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.  30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (14: 25-31)

Jesus Heals the Diseased

"34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.  35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;  36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole." (14: 34-36)

Jesus Heals the Blind

"31 And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.  32 And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?  33 They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.  34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him." (20: 31-34)

"Fear God" . . .

In my opinion, it's the most intriguing of Lil Wayne's facial tattoos.

He has the word "Fear" tattooed on his right eyelid, and "God" tattooed on his left.

When his eyes are open, you can't see it.  But I have his April 2009 Rolling Stone magazine cover blown up and hanging over my bed; his pose is slightly bent over, he pensively looks down.  I see those tats every day.

"Fear God."

Photo: "Life on Planet Wayne: Rolling Stone's 2009 Lil Wayne Cover Story"

Nowadays, most of us aren't accustomed to spiritual ultimatums.  The expression sounds so "Old Testament," almost terrifying.  What does it mean?

First off, it is a concept that comes from the Old Testament.  It really is so "Biblical."  So "quaking and trembling" and get down on your knees.

Why did Lil Wayne put it on his face?!  lol 

Well, of course we can take him at "face value," that he really does "Fear God."  But then of course there's also what religion has meant to the African-American community.  For Lil Wayne, I think "Fear God" is a stamp of joy.

As we all know, the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible, tells the story of the Jewish people.  In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, God promises Abraham that He will bless and protect his posterity in exchange for obedience.  

That promise came during what was a rather frightening, chaotic time for humanity.  It was an era of seemingly many Gods and many "truths," warring tribes, and lawlessness.  God stepped into that chaos and said: "I'll take care of you."

"Obedience to the One True God" sums it up.

Why be obedient?

Because God knows what's true and what "works."  If you choose to play for His team, guaranteed you'll win, because . . . 

He's God.

He's there to educate and to lead.  But most of all, he's there to redeem.  He's a God of miracles.

God famously liberated the Jews from slavery to the Egyptians.  With His help, they conquered the land of Canaan (modern day Israel).  Even the walls of mighty Jericho fell down.  

God was there during the tough times, too.  When the Jews fell into wickedness and enslavement by the Assyrians and Babylonians, prophecies of a liberating "Messiah" just kept coming.  

God never gives up on His people.  

But . . . 

He asks that they not give up on Him.  To play on His team, they have to play by His rules.  His ways--the ways that work--are true.  People have to get themselves in alignment with true principles or else God can't work through them. 

And if they do . . . 

Nothing can keep even the walls of mighty Jericho from falling down.

When Lil Wayne tattooed "Fear God" on his face, I think that's what he was getting at.

"Fearing God" isn't just some mindless, fearful act of prostration.  It means knowing who's in charge, who sets the rules, and having respect for that, so that God can work miracles in your life.

The miraculous, transformative power of God and the principle that "obedience is freedom" is something that African-Americans have historically celebrated.  Enslaved in America, they identified with the enslaved children of Israel.  Humbled by circumstance, the message resonated.  And it's probably why the church has played such a big role in African-American culture.

Even today, you can feel it.  My brother sang in a Gospel Choir that performed once at a Baptist Church in San Jose (predominantly African-American congregation).  The joy that community felt in religion was palpable.  Above all, you hear it in the music.  They literally raised the roofs praising Jesus.

"Obedience is freedom" and God is a God of miracles.  

"Fear God."

"I just can't do this on my own anymore."

That's how I heard someone else describe what motivated their search for God.  That pretty much sums it up for me, too, although my experience wasn't as direct as, "I feel alone and frustrated, now I want to go to Church."

I'd been feeling like something was missing for a long time, but I didn't know what it was and I didn't know where to find it.  All I knew is that I had a "happy place" I could always count on.  That "happy place" had something to do with my favorite Rolling Stones records, trips to the City, playing the guitar, daydreaming.  

I was raised Mormon and thought I knew what it was like to have God in my life.  "Been there, done that" so to speak; I was inactive for five years.  I loved the "standards" and many of the doctrines taught--and still do--but spiritually, something was missing.  Something about going to Church didn't sooth my anxiety.  It didn't heal me in the ways that I needed to be healed.  So I just gave up on organized religion as having the answers.

Meanwhile, life kept happening.

Once you get to be twenty-seven years old, you start seeing patterns.  You start running yourself into the same ground, over and over and over again.  You get your heart broken one too many times.  You flee to your music and favorite records one too many times.  If you're like me, maybe you struggled to find close, true friends.  You start getting bitter.  "Thank you art for always being there for me,  but is this really all there is?"  All the things that constitute your personal "happy place" still comfort on you, but relying on them solely starts to feel like a dead end.  

No one likes being cynical or feeling alone, so you fight the feelings.  You start really wanting to be happy and think well of people, so you try to be positive on principle.  You try to be strong and independent.  You work on you.  You try to fill your life with those things that make you happy.  You try to say, "I can do this.  I can make life good.  I can take the high road."

But then all it takes is for something to go wrong.  Maybe someone's rude to you or you get frustrated with your art, whatever.  It's a daily battle.  And that flood of negative feelings comes back.  "See, the world's a bad place, and people don't really care so I have to be strong for myself" you say, again.  But maybe this time it's starting to ring a bit hollow.  You're tired of relying on self-manufactured happiness and positivity.  You get tired of trying to do it all on your own.

The reality is, you can't do it on your own.

But you don't know that.  If you're like me and you didn't have a great experience in organized religion, you don't think God can really help you.  So you just keep plugging along.

I'm still very much in the process of investigating religion and I don't know exactly where I'll land.  Prayerful, careful study of the doctrines of every denomination including Mormonism  is in order.  All I know, is that I'm having a positive experience in Catholicism so far and it's giving me hope that all the good things I'm fighting to find in my life--hope, happiness, self-esteem--are real things that I can find.  I can find them not as a matter of my own self-manufactured "positive thinking," but because they really exist.  They have a real basis in something that's true and eternal: God.  God created me to feel those things, to find those things.  God-not my circumstances--can be the rock I base my happiness on.  So it doesn't matter if I feel liked or loved by other people.  It doesn't matter how successful I am.  It doesn't matter if the world seems to be a good place to live in or not.  My faith can give me the courage to keep my chin up, feel loved, and put love back into the world no matter what it gives to me.

For me, the "a-ha" moment was sitting in Mass, both at St. Joseph's in Mountain View where I live, and at St. Dominic's in San Francisco.  

For starters, the Mass is an extremely reverent, spiritual experience.  It's mostly music.  But there's also a lot in the way of prayer and meditation.  It has the quality of making you feel small before the greatness of God, and yet counted for.  An awesome paradox.  But mostly, it makes me feel peaceful.  It makes me forget myself for an hour or two.  It makes me feel at rest and refreshed.  I just feel better about myself.  I feel hopeful.

The "a-ha" moment was when I thought about how the Mass made me feel and realized that those feelings were surprisingly familiar.  In fact, they were the feelings I had been fighting to have.  They were the feelings that I would run to my "happy place" in search of.  In other words, they are the feelings I get from my favorite music, from travel, from learning.  That feeling of "awe" and "wonder."  The feeling that life is amazing and that there's so much to do and enjoy.  Curiosity, creativity, peace, self-worth.  I was experiencing those positive things in a religious setting.

I always trusted implicitly in my "happy place."  Having a religious experience that harmonizes with--even reinforces it--is proving to be a wondrous, thought-provoking experience.  The linking of the two is what's helping me make that "leap of faith" that the religious experience I'm having is true, real, and good.

So maybe God has always been there.  In my music, in the art enjoy, in all the hobbies and things I would cling to when I didn't feel like I had anything else.  But this time, it feels wonderful to think that those things make me feel amazing because they come from God.  Not because I just happen to like them.  Not because my particular imagination enjoys them.  But because they are gifts from God.

All in all, it's the feeling of God coming out of the Church, the feeling of finding God in the things I enjoy.  The feeling of not being alone.

Feels good.

Thank you, God!

A Mormon service is just different.  Mormons have a Eucharist too, (The Sacrament), but they have much less in the way of singing.  No candles.  Very little artwork in the chapel.  The space of worship is bright and well lit.  The spiritual focus of the meeting is the Sacrament; the vast majority of the meeting--in terms of time spent--is on sermons or "talks."  All in all, it's pretty information intensive.  Listen, learn, apply.  Listen, learn, apply.

The way I experienced Christianity as a Mormon was very much about learning what I needed to "do."  I make covenants with God; he promises to bless and protect me if I am obedient to my covenants.  I go to church to renew my covenants (take the Sacrament) and learn what I need to "do" in order to keep my covenants.

Standars are extremely important in Catholicism, too.  But the preaching of doctrine and what one must "do," seems to not be the emphasis of the Mass at least.  Yes, there is a homily and a few readings.  The rest of the service, however, is music, prayer, meditation, and the partaking of the Eucharist.  All of this is done in a space with stained glass, lower lighting, candles, statues, and other artwork.  A mood is set.

What I enjoy about the Mass is the feeling of losing oneself in a spiritual experience.  All the music, prayer, and meditation makes me forget myself in a way that is very soothing.  In Mormonism, constant contemplation of what I must "do," made it difficult to let go in that way.  I was always very "aware" of myself, and, as a result, my life/ego/day-to-day.  The structure of the Mormon service I suppose, made it harder for me to get "in the zone" spiritually.  If we define spirituality as getting in touch with a higher power, the Mass really helps me do that.

I'm finding that with all that music, prayer, and meditation comes an amazing feeling of being at once small in comparison to the greatness of God and yet counted for.  An awesome paradox.  I'm also left with a feeling.  This feeling is a mixture of wonder and awe for God, peace at knowing he's there for me, and a feeling of hope and general well-being.  And this is where things start to get a bit mystical, lol.  What is that feeling?  The feeling of being in contact with God?  The feeling of letting Him into my heart?  I'm not sure, but I enjoy it.

Interestingly, this "feeling" is something I recognize.  Honestly, it's the feeling of happiness.  A feeling akin to what my favorite music makes me feel.  The way it feels when I'm at my most creative and imaginative.  The feeling of being curious, fully engaged, refreshed, more fully alive.  So, since the feelings are the same, I can only conclude that God is also in those things I enjoy.  Suddenly, things feel interconnected in a way that's surprising and amazing.

There's a feeling of God coming out of the Church and into my life that makes me want to nurture the things that make me happy, more.  I realize that my "happy place" is God's place.  I always stubbornly defended it; knowing that God is somehow involved make me celebrate it all the more.

As far as comparisons between Mormonism and Catholicism are concerned, I've only started to scratch the surface.  Comparing the doctrines will be the real test, and I'm determined to study things out and be prayerful.  

So far, there are lots of doctrines in Mormonism that resonate, but honestly, for me something is missing spiritually.  Perhaps I've just not approached Mormonism in the right way; time will tell.  

Catholicism is perhaps less satisfactory doctrinally; for example, Catholic doctrine doesn't account for a pre-existence (so who was I before I was born?)  And Catholics believe that Eve was misguided in her partaking of the fruit, whereas Mormons believe "The Fall" was part of God's divine plan.  

Doctrinal questions linger, but for me personally Catholicism is more "spiritually" satisfying.  Masses are incredibly reverent.  I think less about "me" and if I'm "doing" the right things and measuring up.  There is more of a focus on the awesomeness of God and less on how obedient I am and whether or not I'm doing what I need to do.  Taking the focus off of "me" and "I" really feels good right now.

And, just to bring this entry full circle, returning to the comparatively heavy role of ritual and art in Catholicism.  I read that Catholics are passionate about the concept of "Incarnation," or the idea that God took on human form as Jesus.  Mormons do not believe in the Trinity and thus do not believe in the doctrine of Incarnation.  Catholics do, however, and this makes them passionate about incarnation in other forms.  Stained glass, music, lighting, incense . . . these are all physical expressions of the spiritual.  Catholicism is keen on making the spiritual physical, just as God became physical.

The Catholic writer who explained this also stated that his concern with Protestantism is it's "lack" of incarnation.  The absence of art and ritual makes it difficult, he believes, for the worshiper to fully experience God, to get the full "flavor" of the divine.

Honestly, something about all that ritual and art is working for me.