Prohibitive

So many people to remember! Being here only part time and skipping a year makes for poor recall. Faces are familiar, but the names elude me. I decide its just easier to ask them to remind me of their names, and for the most part, they smile indulgently and fill me in. Perhaps it is just that I am getting old. Or perhaps it is that I move often enough and in so many circles that I meet more people than those who pretty much stick to the same place and a few limited activities. I have often wondered if there is a limit to the number of names our brains will retain. Does your memory get full? Do you have to purchase additional 'storage space'?

Anyway, I was headed to class and asked a fellow classmate if she would be interested in singing for cancer patients. The look on her face was total fear as she responded, "Oh, I'm not allowed to."

What? Clearly I hadn't understood her or maybe she hadn't understood me, so I patiently explained again about singing popular music in the lobby of a clinic - it's not a church activity.

Still, she was adamant that she was prohibited from participating in such an event. She belonged to xxx denomination, and should they find out. . . (the implication being that she would be excommunicated or sent to the lower regions or some worse fate).

I let the conversation drop, my mind turning this about. I cannot fathom any religious institution having that kind of control over its parishioners. Perhaps she was just using it as an excuse not to sing, and simply didn't feel comfortable telling me no without an ironclad reason.

As I have carefully listened since that conversation, I am convinced that she is really restricted in how she lives - in more areas than just this one. How does this happen? How is this different from some weird cult? How can anyone raised in America and immersed in a culture of freedom and personal rights accept such behavior? How is this in conflict with Scriptures? Or is it?

Well, this is a new part of my education. If you have insights, I'd sure like to hear them. Meanwhile, class is waiting. . .