I find that God often challenges my thoughts and statements to bring me to a better understanding of God. Recently my thoughts have been directed to our weekly church service. I have been a supporter of the idea that we need some peace and quiet in our services in order to be able to worship. I have said that with the distractions currently in our church that it has become harder to find that place where we can worship and commune with God. One thing I find curious is that whenever I begin to make absolute statements and dig my heals in and refuse to bend in how I see things, God comes along and whispers in my ear that I may not be right. I may not be seeing the whole picture and just maybe God has a purpose for all the things that are happening in our weekly services. I was reminded this week that nothing new comes from anything that has become static and non-moving. We have quickly forgotten how we felt when the church service contained too much order and too much structure. We have forgotten that we wanted to be “free” to worship and not be constrained by a strict adherence to an order of worship that left no room for God to move among us
(not that God doesn’t move just fine within the order of worship). So I’m sitting in church and watching a mixture of order and freedom and God whispers in my soul that this is God’s work………..this is what happens when we dare to be what God has made us to be. We are a people with diverse needs and desires and we often speak up and shout to anyone who will listen what those needs and desires are. The problem comes when we find ourselves standing with our brother or sister and we stop long enough to hear that we are no longer shouting the same thing. So we experience a little tension and this is where I think God comes in. God takes that tension, that pulling of sides, and creates something totally new from it. That chaos that seems to exist in the middle between two opinions or between two people who see things from a different perspective, is the stuff of creation. God takes that chaos in the spaces in between us and shapes and forms a new thing. So as I watched our service, I realized that the service we have today is not what anyone envisioned a few years ago but yet there were little pieces of all of the conflicts from the past in there. Now I wonder and look forward to what God will create from this present moment of tensions and different ideas. Conflicts and tensions, however large or small, that open themselves up to the creator’s hand always emerge as something new, something healed and more whole than it was before.
Sherri,
ReplyDeleteYour words are inspiring. You are gifted in a way that your words make you pause and think. I've not yet had a chance to watch this week's service but I look forward to it. I will try to think about what God's plan is for what I have been seeing as chaos.
chaos plus God equals creation. i too wish that services sometimes were quieter because that does make it easier for me to worship. usually though the worship comes through just in watching the freedom and joy that other people have in church. i can worship God all the time anywhere. i can't always see the little ones enjoy church and God. just their unabashed exuberance and freedom that they feel and express is wonderful to see. how great it is to have growing pains so quickly.
ReplyDeleteyour blog is very thoughtful. thank you.
You know, this is a problem with every congregation I've ever been associated with. First, it's too bad we don't have a nursery. We have Sunday School, but we need a nursery, where folks can leave off he little ones and know they are being well-taken-care of. Just a suggestion. Frankly, I find adults up and walking around, in and out, just as interrupting. I'm not particularly fond of applauding after special music, because I think we ought not to applaud the performer beyond possibly saying a quiet "Amen!" But, I find myself doing it anyway. I sort of come to like the spontaneity and the spirit of the service. But, I do hear you loudly and clearly. On the other hand, I'd rather have the folks and their children in church than not. That's a whole other angle. Jesus also said, remember, "bring the children to me and forbid them not for of such are the kingdom of heaven" or something like that. Then, I think people are encouraged to come into a service where they don't feel intimidated. I figure some people would come at all if it was stone cold quiet all the time. Well, these are just some thoughts that came into my mind. Thanks.
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