Reprise Surprise!
I remembered soon after posting the Finale last night that I had taken some notes in the Orders for the Services of Liturgy booklet that Karen had put together for our "Seizing the Episcopal Moment" Clergy Conference.
Before sharing those notes and other elements from the Booklet, I'd like to revisit my 4th post on Liturgy in this series. I mentioned a few "Random Bits" toward the end of that post, including cota's Easter Wii Bell Choir. Karen commented that she had a video of the Bell Choir's performance on her Anglimergent website, so here's the link.
And now the notes.
During the final Eucharist on Tuesday noon, Karen played three Audio Parts. Audio Part 1 was titled "Befriending Aloneness." I didn't take any notes on this conversation between two men, but the Song that followed, "Taken," is a lyrical way to befriend one's aloneness, and you can listen to it (and read about it) here.
For Audio Part 2, "Light in Darkness," I recorded these portions from the two men's conversation:
We should not be surprised by evil-- we are told that the world is in the power of the evil one-- the surprise should be in our goodness. The New Testament doesn't deny that Satan is in charge of the world-- Satan offered the world to Jesus when he tempted him-- but God doesn't want the world on those terms. God came into the world as light in the darkness, and the news of the day, however bad it is, should remind us to change the world as best we can as lights in the darkness.
Audio Part 3, "Worship"
From the beginning God says "You are my Beloved" to each of us.
As humans we are both loving and wounding beings. We are wounding and wounded beings because we have needs. But God's love isn't wounded because God isn't needy [although I remembered wanting to make the homiletical point here that God's love was wounded on the cross for us].
Life is our chance to say "Yes" to God's love, that's what the Greek word kairos is about-- the opportune time to change our hearts.
Worship is saying "Yes" to God's love, saying "Yes, I love you, too."
This Audio was followed by another Song, "Broken." The last line of the song, "Praise, praise to you Lord for I never realized broken glass could shine so brightly," reminded me of this poem by Leonard Cohen:
Ring the bells you still can ring/Forget your perfect offering/There's a crack in everything/That's how the light gets in.
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