Day 176 (Sunday 1/13/13)- Houston, TX

Forewarning:

Some may take offense to my comments on Joel Osteen's mega church and for this I apologize in advance. Should you fit into this demographic I suggest you skip to the next entry.

With Texans bragging about how everything about them is big, their churches are no exception. In fact they are home to the nation's largest church. With over 43,000 members, Joel Osteen's Lakewood mega church is housed in a stadium. Literally. And not Rob Lowe literally (Chris on Parks & Rec). Once you enter the sanctuary you understand. Like no other church we have ever seen, going to church here is like going to an arena concert every Sunday. They put on a good show.

With a smile on his face every second, (a non-smile is a frown, a frown a chance for a thought, a thought a chance for a doubt, and doubt, damnation) Joel appeared to us and thousands of viewers at home to talk about how "twenty-thirteen will be a blessed year." His combination of charisma, his beautiful wife at his side (a co-preacher) and motivational style of preaching was almost infectious. No, I mean really, we felt sick afterward. No offense Mr. Osteen. I imagine many church leaders believe their congregation to be the blessed ones, the variation here being that from what I understood of the message (and in all fairness I might have missed something) the route to a blessed year is through Lakewood alone. With a church his size you would expect him to have more varied and specific examples of how God has healed his followers and gotten them rich, as he, Osteen that is, has promised to those who believe (along with marriage proposals and job promotions. Also it was suggested that one of Joel's sermons had nearly cured Autism). I did find one example of multiplied wealth-selling the text version of God's message to people that are already paying you to verbally tell it to them- to think some fool preachers give that stuff away for a mere suggested donation or tithe. Jesus, for example, from what I remember, didn't ask for cent. Well, there was that bit about selling all your stuff and rejecting your family and following Him, somehow Osteen's interpretation seemed more like a Realtor and matchmaker combined. Joel smiley had a bookstore in his church selling his own books at a price higher than what you would probably pay at Walmart. Next up, Olsteen Used Cars. I shouldn't be such a cynic. Maybe God will upgrade our house on wheels. Like the angel Michael said, George Michael that is, "you gotta have faith."

Before leaving enormous Houston behind we made one last stop to see the Menil Collection. We were expecting a prestigious art gallery. What we got was a huge room with neon lights. It was a retina strain but kinda cool. We found out the Menil had other buildings, but for the sake of our eyes, we skipped the rest.

 

 

                                 The Menil Collection