Your comments follow on some issues I raised here recently.

Questions include massing flowers in church when the money could

benefit worthy causes; slovenly dress in formal settings; applause

during worship; Christmas carols out-of-season.

Patty Maher of Peachtree City, by e-mail:

"I agree with you about the

poinsettias . If we could cut the amount of flowers by half, what

a difference that would make!

"An issue about which I know can get people very defensive in a

heartbeat: I absolutely think that applause during worship is not only O.K.,

but wonderful! I don't think we applaud to thank the musicians, but to

worship our creator who provided us with this ability to create music.

"Music can be a form of worship for some of us, and I think the

somber silence that fills a church when a choir has just filled it with

joyous music can be deafening.

"The issue of kids not dressing correctly for church is a

no-brainer. [My] 14-year-old boy and 11-year-old girl know what is acceptable

and not. I think dressing for church shows respect for your church and

your family.

"The last issue, but certainly not the least, is the singing of

Christmas carols during Advent. We have belonged to many Lutheran

churches. We ALWAYS sang carols during Advent. I believe singing

Christmas carols during Advent helps put the Christ back in Xmas."

Dave Norman, Peachtree City, comes from a tradition in which

no one would dream of applauding in church. He said the silence in

those few seconds after beautiful music comes to a close "heightens

the emotional impact of the music exponentially."

Just the fact that the worshipper refrains from applauding means

that he is holding his human impulses in check. "He recognizes that this is

a different setting, and he doesn't take the easy way out."

Barbara Hood, Fayetteville, e-mail:

"The beautiful poinsettias that we have placed in our

sanctuary have a special significance at this time of year for us. We lost

our 11-year-old grandson just one month ago to leukemia, and the act

of placing a flower in his memory, as well as several others in

memory of our parents, is an important part of our grief process.

"Yes, the money could and should be spent for more

needful causes feeding the homeless, more research for cancer

but sometimes the beauty of a flower is reminiscent of the mystery

of life. I would hate to lose that privilege."

Suzanne Lamfalusi said almost the same words to me,

that placing a poinsettia at Christmas or a lily at Easter in memory of

her late husband, John, comforts her immensely. Afterwards, she

takes them home, and plants the lily for future blooms.

"This is something living in memory of John," she said.

(I do want to repeat, my complaint is not with flowers in

church they add so much but with excessive displays which, if

not taken home or given away, are often discarded after services. A

gift to help people develop clean water supplies, or to provide

immunizations, or to send a child to hand bell camp is just as

memorializing and certainly more lasting.)

Last week a reader raised warnings about giving to charity,

and how organizers often divert funds intended for good works.

Mary Kay Moore of Peachtree City e-mailed:

"1. We [should] monitor closely what the administrative costs

of an organization are and that will tell us how much of our

dollar actually goes to a charity."

(I'm still trying to find out on what Web site you can

find rankings of charitable organizations -- will let you know when I do.)

"2. Applause in church. I don't like it, either, most of the

time. However, there comes an occasion at times where what occurred

is so very special that applause is an automatic response.

"3. Dress code. Clothes do not a Christian make. I would

not wear jeans to a concert or a funeral or to the regular church

services, but that is the way I was brought up. However, what others wear

is of little matter to me. I can't pass judgment on other people as

I don't know where that person may be coming from and what

life experiences that person may have had.

"4. Christmas carols during Advent. The secular world

sees Christmas beginning around Halloween and, alas, we good

Christians bemoan this!

"'Christmas' is to be a joyous time of the year, yet statistics

show that for many, many people it is a season that does not elicit

happiness and joy and can be a very depressing period of time.

Many times we can leave our sadness behind us as we join in the

singing. Anticipation is heightened for me by singing the carols.

"Being a roaring, raving advocate for people with disabilities

has made me see and think through ideas and opinions in a

different way and to not take status quo as the only way things can be done."

Another reader, who apologized for "venting," did not sign

her name. She was to the point: "Yes, dress for church. No to

applause in church. Yes to carols during Advent."

I found the rest of her hand-written letter so poignant,

however, that I wanted to share it:

"I am 48 and grew up attending a Methodist church in

the midwest. I long for a church service with quiet dignity and time

for reflection and meditation. After attending several area churches

I now stay home and share the Sunday paper with my husband.

"It appears to me that in an effort to recruit new members

and donations that churches try to please everyone in an hour

service. That just isn't possible.

"Sermons for children? That's what Sunday School is for.

A separate youth service or children's church? 'Rock' music No!

"My biggest pet peeve is the `greet your neighbor.' If you want

to greet fellow church members, set up a coffee pot in fellowship

hall. A smile and nod when I sit in the pew next to you is sufficient.

How phony to have the clergy instruct the congregation to

practice common courtesy.

"This is why this baby boomer is a church drop-out. I don't go

to church for a three-ring circus."

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