I've taken to visiting churches. Not because I'm church shopping. I have no interest in church hopping. Here's what I've found. Jesus shows up in the midst of all our Christian traditions. Yes, even in those that aren't yours.

Recently, I attended Divine Liturgy at a Russian Orthodox Church. That's high church, Mass, worship service. The entire experience was new and foreign and lovely. I was especially interested in observing Communion. A kind lady had introduced herself to us at the beginning of the service, and her husband was a deacon at the church. She approached us every now and then to update us on what was taking place. 

Before Communion, she told us the children lined up first. Wouldn't Jesus love that? I noticed even mothers with infants stood in line. She said, yes, after a baby is baptized, they take Communion from that day forward. And they did. I watched a mother receive the bread soaked in the wine, one spoonful at a time offered by the priest. Then, she would hold the baby out ever so slightly, and he or she received the Eucharist. It was stunningly beautiful. Let the little children come unto me.

Oh, I know. We can debate the finer points of baptism, among other things. When, how, who, how often. All I know for sure is this, I see devout believers in these churches, loving Jesus well. They demonstrate their affection for him in many different ways. I'm honored to be even a small part of that.

Maybe this piques your curiosity. Or maybe you've also wanted to learn how other believers worship Jesus. There are a couple of ways to do this. Go and visit. Or learn about new practices and try these things in your own church. I think God is pleased with our desire to learn, no matter the method. That's what we do here at Traces of Faith. We consider all the ways faith is part of our everyday lives. We learn from one another. We explore church traditions. We make space for God to show up BIG.

I hope you'll join us. When you sign up to receive my monthly emails, you'll get a welcome response that includes a few resources. One of these is a handout I created, "50 Questions To Ask Other Christians Without Offending Them." After that, you'll get a weekly email, "Seven Things For Your Saturday." Or click here to read more about my first book.