Some comments to interject in this thread (these are just some thoughts that have come to me and I'm grateful for the chance to ponder them - they've helped me sort some things out for myself – )

I believe that it’s natural to experience seasons of dryness in worship. I sometimes think we are sent these on purpose. We judge everything these days by what we get out of it – “was it good for you?”. We make a lot of our choices based on how we feel or whether it’s of value to us. Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes a bad. I believe seasons of dryness are sent to us just to see how faithful we can be. I think God says to us “when I take everything you want out of it – will you still come to me?” We are being stripped of our “self” absorption. We may be faithful in bible reading or prayer, but are we also faithful in worship? He who is faithful in all things ask us to be faithful in a few.

Some Sundays, if it were not for the fact that it’s my turn to serve, or my son’s turn to be crucifer or some other reason we have to be there, then I would be so easily tempted to just stay home. I arrive at church slightly angry with the world and the commitments I’ve made. Rarely does that mood stay. No, the pastor’s sermon was not necessarily the most uplifting that day (some Sundays I can’t even tell you what he spoke about), yes there are people there that try my patience (the elderly lady who’s just a bit pushy and never gets my name right no matter how many times I correct her) and yes sometimes it feels like “going through the motions” – but the anger doesn’t stay.

Somehow the Lord and I are building a relationship. If I judged every Sunday by what “I” got out of it there would be little room left for the Lord. And still He whispers “even when you’d rather be at home, will you still come to Me?”

My other thought is that the heart of Christianity is “fellowship”. We are called to worship together. If you want to be a solitary, then best find some other religion. We work out the imperfections of ourselves through this “doing” church. Is the church full of perfect people? I hope not because then there is no place for imperfect me. Can the church teach me to love imperfect people? I hope so. Does the church hurt people – sadly yes. I’m not sure churches will ever get it 100% right, but they better keep trying.

And just for the record – yes, I’m experiencing the “season of dryness” myself right now and my church is not always a happy place these days because of some conflicts that need working out. But I can’t just walk away. This time of dryness, this period of conflict has so much to teach me about loving as Christ did. An hour of my Sunday seems a small sacrifice of time, compared to a much larger sacrifice freely given to me.