Confirmitzvah

Maybe these things have lost their meaning, and have become just a religious ceremony. And maybe inventing my own ceremony is just as limiting - but I've done it anyhow: a confirmitzvah. In a bar mitzvah, I like the idea of a specific point in a teenager's life where he/she becomes accepted into the adult community. I think it's a crucial transition. While the confirmation, is similar, it's a public confession of your faith in Christ.

But maybe 13's a little young. I remember more clearly Stephen's bar mitzvah. He studied Hebrew for a few years in school, and in front of the congregation, the Rabbi questioned him: "What have you concluded from your studies of the Isrealites exodus from Egypt and their time spent in the wilderness?" Stephen summed up his studies of the Isrealite's rebellion with the phrase "Listen to God or die."

Today I attended a Luthern Evangelical confirmation. I had forgotten what it meant to be confirmed. I remember the feeling of being confirmed. I remember now having to choose a verse for myself, and not wanting to pick a cliche verse (again, maybe 12-13 is too young). I can't remember if my confirmation was official though.

It was my colleagues daughter. I only just learned her denomination because I was pre-warned that if I wasn't Luthern Evangelical I couldn't participate in the communion. My colleague's parents participated via Skype on computers in the corners of the room. Her pastors had flown in from the States.

I found that pretty impressive that a denomination could relocate to another country and still insist on liturgy and doctrine. We chanted and sang hymns and followed a script. The balcony door was open with a Turkish flag hanging down, and I wondered - how much of a witness is this? How different is this group from fundamental Muslims or orthodox Jews?

And yet, there we were - complete with the polyester suits and protestant hair cuts sprayed in pastoral comb overs.