If you've been helped, then help us help others like you.

Last year a twelve year old boy hung himself in his mother’s closet with a necktie. Why did he do it? He did it because all of the children at school were making fun of him because of the way he smelled. According to sources he had no friends at school. He was truly alone.

One of the things you do not read in the newspapers about being spiritual with Father, Son and Holy Spirit is that there is not just a connection to the Spirit, but there is a connection to other people. When you "get spiritual" you are never really alone. You are connected in a very real and very deep way with other people all over the world.

I only wish that the young man who killed himself last year would have known that there is more to being spiritual than just making yourself feel good. There is a connection to other people.

The Holy Scriptures say, "for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ . There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise." (Galatians 3.26-29)

Christians believe that baptism actually makes us part of Jesus Christ. Because God is Spirit, he can connect us spiritually in Jesus Christ. Yet this is not just a spiritual connection. Christians believe that we are connected physically by Jesus making a meal called "Communion" his body and blood.

Because of this, "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (1 Corinthians 12.26-27)

This is why we need to be together as a group. And that group is called a "church". What we share in common is being made a part of Christ. And this is a bond that draws us together to help each other. It means that when we feel like we want to die, we have friends.

On a lighter note, we have a group of people who will love us, even if they don’t like us or the way we smell. There may be people who don’t understand this great mystery, but there will be at least one to two people who understand that we mean a great deal to each other when we "get spiritual."

Once you get there, what happens during the Church service or Mass (the worship service in a Catholic, Orthodox or Episcopal Church)?

Simply put, you will "connect with God" in a more in depth way. When you walk into a Mass, in particular, you will be with people who have been spiritual for as many as fifty years or more. They have had a deep relationship with the Spirit named Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

There are four parts to a church service or Mass. There is a beginning, a first middle part, a second middle part, and an ending part.

The Entrance is the first part of the Mass. The entrance basically says, "we are all gathered here in the name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit." And we greet the "someone" with whom we are getting spiritual. We greet him by saying, "I am sorry if I have neglected you or made you angry." And what is wonderful is that God says back to us through the priest/pastor, "I forgive you. Forget it. Let’s renew our relationship."

Imagine if we greeted each other by asking each other to forgive our neglect and ways that we hurt each other. There would be many better relationships in our lives. As well, many people who start a spiritual life are sorry that they did not recognize God was the one working in their lives. This part of the Mass/Service gives us a chance to begin or renew that relationship.

The Service of the Word is the first middle part of the Mass. It is the part where we hear the word of God which has been spoken to us for millennia. Along with that ancient proclamation is an application of that word to us for today. The ancient proclamation is from the Holy Scriptures of the Bible. The application of the word for us today is called a Homily or Sermon.

This section ends with us responding to these proclamations with two parts. The first part says, "We hear it and we believe it." It is called the "Creed." It is a group statement of belief which is almost as old as the church itself. It is a way for us to celebrate our common bond when we "get spiritual." There is also a group prayer to God so that we can "get spiritual" together.

The Eucharist/Service of the Table is the climax of our "getting spiritual." What happens is that Jesus Christ (the Son of "Father, Son and Holy Spirit) has found a way to share with us our physical nature.

We Christians make an outrageous claim. We claim that we "get spiritual" with God by doing something physical. We claim that Jesus Christ makes the bread and the wine part of his resurrected physical body. And we "get spiritual" by eating it. And this makes the Spirit enter into us in a most physical way.

The Eucharist/Service of the Table starts with the giving of bread and wine which is placed on the altar. Then the priest/pastor calls everyone to the table just like dinner at home. He asks the Holy Spirit to "get spiritual" over the bread and the wine. We believe something incredible happens: the bread is incorporated into the physical body of Jesus Christ in the heavens. And when that happens, we are truly spiritual through the physical.

It is important to know that those who are connected to Christ through baptism are welcomed to the table to eat. Those who are just "getting spiritual" for the first time are encouraged to receive a blessing and wait until they have developed a relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit to eat. This is just like we have discussed previously that we need to be patient with ourselves and let things develop.

The Benediction is the last part of the Mass. It is where we are sent forth to "be spiritual" in the world. It is also a way to say good bye for the moment. It is also an anticipation of meeting with God again next week.