And, as far as I can tell, everyone, everyone has better music than we do.

Since Stendahl was a Lutheran, I’ll return the favor and say I envy Lutherans their music.

I think a little sacred envy is a very healthy thing.

Really? Have you ever attended mass at a typical Catholic parish? Really lackluster music and singing, on the whole. Even Catholics comment on it. And the situation wasn’t improved at all at the special meeting I was invited to attend a few years ago at St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls in Rome, where the pope presided, most if not all of the curial cardinals attended, and leaders of most of the Orthodox and Protestant churches of Europe participated. Alas, not every Catholic service features Vivaldi’s Gloria or Schubert’s Mass in G or Mozart’s Requiem.

And the Muslims don’t even HAVE hymns.

That said, there is much that we can admire in (and, I hope, steal from) other faiths.

Krister Stendahl has spoken, on occasion, of what he calls “holy envy,” where we notice in the praxis or lived experience of other faiths features that we could wish existed in our own. I’m sympathetic to all of Nate’s list, and could easily add many others.

Although I do not wish to be Amish, I do admire their consistency in living a life that is distinctively, thoroughly Christian and undominated by consumerism.

I envy the very solemn and deep joy of the Orthodox Jewish shabbat, which the crowded busyness of our own sabbaths makes almost impossible for us to emulate.

I envy the seriousness with which I have seen some (but far from all) Catholics take the concept of priesthood.

I envy the Jewish literary tradition.

I love much Muslim architecture, including the wonderful modern mosques that have been built in places like Pakistan, and I adore some of the Baha’i temples. Meanwhile, the architecture of our own chapels (and some temples) often leaves me utterly cold.

I’m pleased, though, that Latter-day Saints are neither in the position of some liberal Protestants, who seem to have no beliefs at all and, so, can accept all other faiths without much discrimination, nor in that of our fundamentalist Protestant friends, for whom all religions other than their own are demonic and hell-bound. I like being able to respect and value other religious traditions without being a complete relativist. In that regard, as in very many others, I’m thoroughly delighted with where I am.

Because everyone from my family of origin is Catholic, I’ve been to my fair share of masses, in a few different states. Still, maybe not a representative sample, but . . . still better.

As for Muslims not having hymns, what’s that J. Golden line about a meeting having to be *really* good to be better than no meeting at all (grin)?

I envy Jews their comedians.

I envy the Jehovah’s Witnesses the fellowship of both Michael Jackson AND Prince… :)

I envy the Jazz Church of St. John Coltrane, for obvious reasons.

And a substantial part of the problem — I say this as someone deeply enamoured of Catholic culture, etc., on many levels — is that the material they have to work with is so uninteresting.

I think Latter-day Saints are fortunate to have inherited/stolen a fair amount from the Wesleyan and Lutheran traditions of hymnody, and that we lucked out, to a great degree, when we managed to convert a lot of people from Wales.

Moreover, some Protestant churches are in the lamentable process of chucking their own hymn tradition out the window in exchange for mediocre pop-style tunes. Fortunately, although there is some of that in our own community (you can recognize it easily, because “eternity” is the omnipresent rhyme for “destiny”), it has, on the whole, not yet managed to seize control of our sacrament meetings.

But I do pray for Gladys Knight to save us from lackluster, energy-less singing.

I am also envious of stained glass and liturgical calendars. I always feel sheepish when I get asked what Mormons do on Easter. The appropriate answer should NOT be buy little girls new dresses and make ourselves sick on chocolate bunnies.

More than anything else, though, I envy those religions that have a sincere element of worship — whether it be the Southern Baptist cries of ‘Hallelujah!’ or the Islamic affirmation ‘Allah akbar!’ or what have you in between. We give a lot of thanks, but we don’t often openly worship, and that’s an element that I honestly would love to cultivate in our religious activities.