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<DIV>Dear Bill,</DIV>
<DIV>As a Catholic, I would welcome you to any mass. It would be ignorant, I believe, for anyone to think that as a member of the church the mass belongs to them and 'their own kind'. I don't believe in any one true religion. I may choose to practice Catholicism but I too believe that my God is not a man in the sky somewhere but an intelligent life force that IS all things, expressed physically in nature. ( So I guess you could say that in some respects I am not completely faithful to my religion but I still choose it ) To me, God IS the universe. God IS all things, not just IN things. So I think your 'faith' is no less then anyone else's. I think we're all after the same thing but only use different terminology to express what essentially cannot be fully expressed with words. </DIV>
<DIV>Deanna</DIV>
<DIV>Think. Breathe. Live. Do the math. Take the task. Question what you think you know. Always grow. </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A href="mailto:olcbillaFIRESERVE.NET" title=olcbillaFIRESERVE.NET>bill deutschman</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A href="mailto:olcbillaFIRESERVE.NET" title=olcbillaFIRESERVE.NET>GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu</A></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 4/4/01 12:16:22 AM </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: non-Catholics and communion on the Camino</DIV>
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<DIV>Hi;</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I've been following this interesting discussion about communion, how people</DIV>
<DIV>felt about it on the Camino and who could/should participate.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am at best an agnostic and possibly an atheist who believes that there is</DIV>
<DIV>probably some overall god, but my religion is "Nature". I visited as many</DIV>
<DIV>of the churches, cathedrals, cloisters and monasteries as I could for</DIV>
<DIV>cultural, historical, musical and artistic reasons but I felt that it was</DIV>
<DIV>not really appropriate to attend mass. We stayed at a refugio in Rabanal</DIV>
<DIV>and everyone went to a Gregorian Chant Mass before dinner so I went along</DIV>
<DIV>and I also attended the Mass at the Santiago Cathedral but it was filled</DIV>
<DIV>with tourists so I didn't consider it to be a mass limited to Catholics but</DIV>
<DIV>more of a show. (I think it is unfortunate that the tourists come to see</DIV>
<DIV>the Botafumaro, then tour the relics and rush for their busses.)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I'll add another dimension to the discussion by asking how do Catholics and</DIV>
<DIV>the Catholic Church view people like me sitting quietly in the back seats at</DIV>
<DIV>mass and just thinking about the Camino and Nature? I would have liked to</DIV>
<DIV>have attended more services but didn't feel that it was appropriate.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>bill</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>bill deutschman</DIV>
<DIV>455 hillside avenue</DIV>
<DIV>klamath falls, OR 97601-2337</DIV>
<DIV>541.882.3295</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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