Église Protestante Unie de Nantes

This last Sunday I accompanied a few friends to the Protestant church in Nantes. It was a very good experience and I think that I will go back next week. Although I highly enjoy the Catholic mass that I attended with friends in other countries, I have a special connection with protestant churches. The order really isn't all that different as far as liturgy goes, but the tenants are different, and those are the things that matter most to me.

One of those tenants can be seen on the left. The empty cross. The crucifix has Jesus still upon it, while the cross of the protestants is vacant. To me that shows the emphasis shift in the two churches. Most of the Catholic churches I have been to have emphasized the fact that Jesus died for our sins. Although that is a really important part of my faith, I feel that the protestant cross greater represents how I feel. To me the empty cross doesn't simply emphasis the death of our Lord, but rather the Resurrection, the defeat of death. The fact that through Jesus we can attain heaven, that he gave himself for us so that we could live forever. 

The other is Communion, or Eucharist. I don't believe in transubstantiation. And, as I am not Catholic, during the Eucharist, I know that I am not welcome at the table because I don't share that belief. I believe that the bread and the wine are symbols of my faith and of the sacrifice that my Lord made for me. I do not however believe that they literally turn into the blood and body of Christ. I'm not saying that God doesn't have that power. But I don't think the actual consumption of body and blood is the point. The point is to do it in remembrance of Christ. To keep Christ in your life, and heart. To know what He did for us and to praise Him for that. That's just what I believe.

 I think it's important to know what you believe. I always ask my friends what they believe, what their spiritual backgrounds are. Even though most of my friends do not have the same faith as me, I am glad that they do have some sort of faith. Whether that is Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam, Hindu, I'm just curious in other's faith. Once when I was asking a friend about his faith, another asked why I asked. I said because I was curious, and he accused me of not knowing my faith. But I know exactly what I believe. I know exactly what I have faith in. But that does not mean I completely shut down those who believe differently. The one thing I believe above all is that we are all children of God, whether or not we are sure of our faith.