Despite my Taurean desire for stability, it seems I move a lot. With every new town comes a new search for a church. From past experiences, I know that if this itch is abandoned for too long, my Sundays will impel a pattern of television gluttony. And pop culture would lead me to believe that the City of Angels, more than any place I've yet lived, would require that spiritual and intillectual stimulation must be rigorously sought to avoid the utter desolation that so many people claim defines it.

My husband and I seek a very particular style of church. However, this time with him in law school, I alone seem to be the hopeful inquiror. While it might offer an opportunity for true spiritual enrichment without the distractions of my ever-entertaining other half, it also might mean that I would timidly leave the sanctuary without giving the church an opportunity to be sold to me. In any case, this time, with Santa Monica, CA as our home, I am slowly beginning the search for a new place of worship California style!

Baptized Presbyterian, confirmed and married in the Congregational church, and, with the exception of services required while attending Catholic school, I have always attended Protestant churches, usually Methodist, UCC, or Presbyterian. I appreciate traditional services with great music, and intelligent, thought-provoking sermons. A church with good community outreach, and a congregation that is diverse in age, politics, and ethnicity, open-minded, and one where the average parishoner believes it is more important to attempt to emulate Jesus than to reflect Christian dogmatism. Maybe with age this will change, but right now, this is what moves me.

Jesus teaches us to endeavor towards a life that is more virtuous than so much of the world demonstrates it to be. To be generous, charitable, faithful, hopeful, loving, accepting, action-oriented, and to take no day for granted. These are some of the characteristics I venture to reflect as a result of Jesus in my life. I aim to act through these virtues, speak humbly, hope broadly, and have faith that good will always follow these actions.

And so the search for a church to help me practice these beliefs begins!