Revisiting the Meaning of Church Attendance

It's 10:25 AM on Tuesday and I am just settling back in at my computer workstation after a 45-minute walk and a 25-minute breakfast while listening on my earbuds to Friday Night Live #166: Experiencing God's Presence by Craig Wescoe for Creation Care Church. I was able to avoid all other YouTube impressions during my walk and during breakfast, but once I got to my desktop and started working on this post, I couldn't help but get somewhat distracted. YouTube knows me well. I've already noticed three other videos that feel like they could be "required" listening before the end of the week: Launch of the Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025 by the United Nations; The Paradox of Gaza by Ask Haviv Anything; and Part 1: Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer by Call Me Back Podcast. Okay, enough of that algorithm-driven, attention-getting YouTube sidebar. I just closed YouTube on my desktop and smartphone without adding anything to Watch Later. And my earbuds are back in their charger. In fact, I am now wearing ear protectors to block most of the hum and rattle from my old-school window air conditioner. It's not silence but it's significant sensory withdrawal.

Well, it's 12:23 PM and I have been meditating for almost two hours on the meaning of church attendance. I will see what happens if I take a nap.

Alright, I am back from a nap, and from further meditation on the meaning of church attendance. There's a lot going on here and I am not ready to pin too much down. What I can say at this point is that I need to make some deep changes to My Church blog page, and to the contents of my church attendance blog label, but it will take more time than I have today. Indeed, it's already late in the afternoon, and now I need to let go of three videos on my YouTube "01 Simplify" playlist if I intend to delete the playlist before evening prayer.

Okay, done. It was hard work because I was really attached to the idea of watching those three videos. But now I am down to just one more YouTube playlist - and my Watch Later list - as I pursue the goal of a 2025 Week 29 "YouTube Zero" reset.