[betty boop]

And, one might expect, one side is more comfortable with lots of ceremonial "window dressing" than is the other... '-)

LOLOL TXnMA! Don't write off that "ceremonial window dressing." There's more to it than meets the eye: It goes to profound insights and understandings and generally tends to involve the whole person, body and soul.... The Church ministers to the whole person, and does not at all disdain a person's sensory and emotional experiences, especially as these confirm the individual spiritually in Christ.

So don't "laugh" at the incense!!! Or the stained glass, the chants, or the sculptures! All aim at the glory of God made present to the open, wondering, loving soul.

[hosepipe]

Interesting deducement, in the post above..
I on the other hand believe all denominations even your denomination was invented by the "DEVIL".... They are like masks..

Quite an invention too.. quite destructive.. Take the mask(s) off and all christians look and are the same.. If indeed they are christians at all..

[Alamo-Girl]

So very true. For one, it's the painting, the stained glass, the liturgy that moves him to worship God --- for another it is the singing of hymns and the fellowship of other believers --- for another, it's a sunrise or when a newborn grabs his finger.

[TXnMA]

I wasn't "laughing" at the incense or other liturgical "trappings". I was amused at how much true Christians are like multicolored wires in a complex cable. When one strips away the externals that appear to differentiate us -- like the colored insulation distinguishes and isolates one wire from another -- what is left is the solid metal core where the Power flows. And those cores are very much alike -- just as true believers are all alike when standing at the foot of the Cross.

I have had few religous experiences that exceed those I have had in fellowhip with fellow Christians who, organizationally or liturgically, differ from me.

I happen to feel led to worship and serve regularly with a large congregation of Baptists of a conservative (surprise!) bent. OTOH, for instance, I also look forward to joining my great aunt and her small Church of Christ congregation for their (quarterly, a capella, shaped-note, laypeople-led, all-evening) "singings".

And I treasure the fellowship of the many business trips I shared with a Catholic professional colleague -- at the time in our lives when we both were committing ourselves to lifetimes as Deacons (literally, "servants") and looking forward to ordination as such by our respective churches.

~~~~~~~~~

Hosepipe, I understand that those of a superficial bent can fixate on the differences between "denominations" and can sometimes magnify those differences into near hatred. Perhaps they need a "wire-stripping" experience...