My favorite seminary professor (of which I have several) always said that we need to be brave. That's Janet there with my dear friend Claudio. Wouldn't you listen to anything that smiling face said? Yes, you would. You might not know it. But, you would listen to this wonderful Catholic nun and you would follow her anywhere. Anyhow, she taught about art and how we need to use art in our experiences of worship to enhance our experience of God. I'm a painter. I can do the 2-D and sometimes even 3-D art. But, there are some kinds of artistic expression that I would rather let others do -- like music.
I can't play anything. I can't sing. I can't do the musical thing.
Ok, I can. But, it ain't pretty. It's praising God, but it ain't all that pretty.
But, I was using lyrics in my sermon today. It was a vital part of the sermon actually as I tried to articulate the power that spirituals -- specifically "We Shall Not Be Moved" -- have in our identification of what is and what will be. I went back and forth. And then I found myself in front of the congregation, and I sang. I sang. Not once. Not twice. Not even three times, but four times. And then we all sang together.
You never know how these moments will affect people (espcially since this was not the only different moment in our worship experience this morning), but there were two notes tucked under my door from two visitors to the church who wanted me to know how much my sermon had meant to them. Well, amen. Amen.
2 comments:
Amen, indeed!
Not related to this post, but I just wanted to leave you a message to tell you how much I've enjoyed reading through the archives over the past few days. Thank you!
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