Only Life…
| — | Blaise Pascal – Pensees |
Peace, Ryan
Words Fall In
Words Fall In
“As we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot
place the holy words in our hearts. So we place
them on top of our hearts. And there they stay
until, one day, the heart breaks, and the words
fall in.” - Parker Palmer
Source: A Hidden Wholeness
Add your thoughts at inward/outward
This quote struck me today as I have been reading and reflecting lately about liturgical forms and practices in Christian worship. My own personal experience has been growing up in an evangelical tradition (Australian Baptist) where the liturgical forms have been very informal. The word ”liturgy” was never even mentioned. In some ways, it was something to be proud of that we had no ‘formalities’… we had made a tradition about having no ‘traditions’!
I know now that there is no such thing as a community having no traditions. They are an intuitive part of human community, inescapable in the context of gathered people. The traditions may be more noticeable in some settings that in others, but they are certainly always present when one looks hard enough.
One of the beautiful things about liturgical worship is that it is always there to guide us into God’s presence – into an encounter with Jesus. I admit that my understanding of liturgy is still very small, but I am beginning to understand that the repetition of certain parts of Christian liturgy can help one memorise important Scriptures and Scriptural truths that can be a comfort in times of pain and suffering.
Let me quote from a book that I am reading for my Masters course in Worship Studies (Through the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies in New Brunswick, Canada). It is called “Five Perspectives On Christian Worship”, edited by J. Matthew Pinson. The Chapter I am referring to is called “Liturgical Worship” and was written by Timothy C. J. Quill:
“The liturgy is important because it has repetition. It has been said that the Liturgy is boring. It is like water flowing over a waterfall and boring into a rock. Eventually the water has its way with the seemingly impenetrable rock. Repetition ingrains the Word of God deep into our minds and hearts. Thus, the word of God is there in times of crisis, persecution, sudden tragedy, and old age to comfort us with what is familiar and secure. Times of tragedy and trial do not require novelty. Reciting the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds in the Liturgy sometimes seems tiresome. yet when the pastor gathers with the troubled, sick and dying, their confident recitation of liturgical prayers brings comfort and often tears.” (p 37)
Having personally had a number of Christian family members and friends go through some traumatic times of physical, spiritual and emotional ill-health in recent times, I came to realise how our contemporary versions of church and worship had not served to prepare any of us very well to endure well through suffering and pain. I have asked myself that if all our singing of contemporary pop worship tunes (which is an over-saturated market that I, like many others, have contributed to) and ‘faithful’ service in (or to) the church over many years has simply fallen away in the face of hardship, then has our worship been all that fruitful? I’d like to think that there is good fruit to come from contemporary worship, but I am certain that we cannot ignore over 2000 years of worship history.
Each generation has sought to refine worship practices by removing / pruning the dead branches that no longer bear fruit, yet retaining the core themes and practices that have helped give solidarity purpose and hope to believers throughout history. I believe that there is still a lot of value to be found in many of these practices that have been ‘lost’ to much of the evangelical / pentecostal Christian world due to an over-emphasis on pop-culture and an obsession with all things shiny and new. Sometimes it’s the old things that are able to stand the test of time that turn out to be the most valuable.
I believe that good liturgical practices, chosen with discernment and wisdom, can be blended into contemporary worship settings. They can teach us today how to worship God more authentically, participate in His work more sustainably and help us to humbly remain faithful – trusting in God despite of pain and suffering. I believe that while many people in church are getting tired of trying keep the ‘worship show’ running in church every week, many churchgoers are starting to grow weary of playing audience. I believe that re-claiming some of the ancient and old Christian practices that have retained life and relevance throughout history should be seriously considered as an essential part of contemporary gathered worship.
I’ll finish this little post with another thought from the same book, also written by Timothy C. J. Quill:
“Ceremony is not cherished simply because it is old. It is not dead repristination; it is a living, life-giving activity in which people receive divine gifts and respond with the heart, soul and body with reverence, humility, thanksgiving, and joy. In the scramble for new, contemporary worship styles, it is important to keep in mind that nothing is more relevant than that which is relevant for every generation.” (p 32)
God bless,
Ryan Day
21st September 2009
Discovering Your Gifts
“When I become aware of my own gifts and give my attention to communicating what is in me… I have the experience of growing toward wholeness. I am working out God’s “chosen purpose,” and I am no longer dependent on what others think and how they respond. The experience itself is confirming…
One reason for difficulty in our lives is that others have confirmed in us the obvious or what they, themselves, wanted to see. To please them, or to get ahead, or to make more money—we then developed those gifts, meanwhile putting aside and forgetting the gifts which were neither so evident nor so valued by others. If our unused gifts have any strength or power of their own, they cry out for recognition—to be given a name.” - Elizabeth O’Connor
This excerpt is from the book Eighth Day of Creation—Gifts and Creativity, available here.
You can read the entire excerpt here.
At Home
|
The Rhythm of Life
“Music is pleasing not only because of the sound but because of the silence that is in it: without the alternation of sound and silence, there would be no rhythm. If we strive to be happy by filling in the silences of life with sound, productive by turning all life’s leisure into work, and real by turning all our being into doing, we will only succeed in producing a hell on earth. If we have not silence, God is not heard in our music. If we have not rest, God does not bless our work. If we twist our lives out of shape in order to fill every corner of them with action and experience, God will seem silently to withdraw from our hearts and leave us empty.” - Thomas Merton
Source: Through the Year With Thomas Merton
Never Too Late
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” - George Eliot
Source: Pseudonym of author Mary Ann Evans, 1819-1880
Add your thoughts at inward/outward
|
|
Love is Possible
“It is important that [those] who hear the call of God or of the poor come into community to be there as a sign of the Kingdom, a sign that love is possible and that there is hope.” - Jean Vanier
Source: Community and Growth
Fw: Rejecting the Gospel of Jesus
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
An interesting “outsider’s” perspective on stadium-sized worship – a timely and important challenge
Shaken but not stirred by stadium-rock spirituality
- Catherine Deveny
- July 29, 2009
THE promise of awesome worship. That’s what got me rocking up to a Planetshakers meeting. And I wasn’t disappointed. They said ‘‘awesome’’ 20 times.
Planetshakers is a megachurch, which is like a spiritual mega-meal deal. Pizza, Coke, chocolate bavarian. If we could masticate it for you and pump it into your stomach, we would. Because we love you. And so does Jesus.
Standing outside Planetshakers surrounded by chirpy, bogan-cool teenagers fizzing with excitement, one of the two gay atheist friends I was with described the crowd as “very Australian Idol“.
It was the first time I’d been excited about going to church. I spent every Sunday of my first 18 years sitting on wooden pews listening to a bloke talking about his imaginary friend in the sky who did magic tricks. Women were virgins, saints or whores. Men were the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Outside Planetshakers it felt as if we were about to see a rock concert. And we were. As the band fired up and went off like a frog in a sock, I thought: “I don’t care what they’re selling but I’m buying it.”…
Read the rest of the article here…
Or click on this URL: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/shaken-but-not-stirred-by-stadiumrock-spirituality-20090728-e02k.html?page=-1
Thoughts On Keeping Worship Fresh – Part 2 (Traditions and Corporate Spiritual Disciplines)
This is part 2 of an (adapted) email response to a friend of mine on some thoughts for keeping our expressions of worship fresh, vibrant and full of life in both community and individual settings. I hope you enjoy these ramblings. Feel free to comment or email me any responses you may have. Blessings and Peace, Ryan.
In regards to the vibrancy and aliveness of worship in Christian community, I believe that the role of the worship leader, creative leader, pastor, musician, artist and the like is primarily to bring the truth of God forward in creative ways so that God’s people can be swept up in the awe and wonder He deserves. When we focus on Him, our lives and circumstances gain perspective and meaning. God-focussed worship brings meaning to suffering and allows the creative engagement and surrender of our whole being, in spite of life’s circumstances. Sometimes to worship in fresh ways means not only creating something that is ‘new’, but it may also mean that there are times for revisiting things that are old. When we find traditions, creeds, songs and expressions of worship that have stood the test of time through Christian history, there is often a good reason why those expressions have lasted so long. I’m not saying that all traditional expressions of worship are fully alive and vibrant – that is clearly not always the case. However, sometimes these worship traditions do genuinely continue to offer wonderful opportunities for believers to engage with God and his truth, hope, power, wonder and majesty.
While this may be quite obvious to some readers, I make this point because my own upbringing was as part of a church that made a ‘tradition’ out of having no traditions! Of course, every community has it’s own traditions, even if they are not recognised as such. It is human nature to become comfortable with a certain set of expectations and requirements – in fact, this is a basic necessity for communities to build coherence, direction, a sense of purpose and a sense of collective identity. I believe that problems arise in our worship (worship loses life, vibrancy etc) when there is not a conscious seeking after God in all things – whether new or familiar. (Perhaps a lack of conscious tradition can even be pathogenic to the true spiritual health of Christian community!) The point is not the length of time a tradition has been practiced, but it is about the inherent meaning and richness of that tradition being authentically experienced by the participant. Traditions that continue to engage a significant portion of the community in an authentic encounter with, reflection upon or service to Almighty God will tend to last for a certain lifespan of effectiveness. Leaders should be discerning about when (and when not) to make changes and adjustments that will continue to keep worship alive in their communities. By recognising the ‘gems’ from our collective worship past, as well as contemporary worship expressions of substance (that do more than simply cater to the church’s need for ‘marketability’) we can deeply enrich our community experiences and expressions of worship today.
Furthermore, congregational worship stays fresh when it becomes the spiritual discipline of a community who choose to gather together in unity, where the gathering is the overflow of Christian living. This concept of a ‘corporate spiritual discipline’ is one I heard listening to a podcast interview of Pastor and Author Tim Keel of Jacob’s Well church in Kansas City (www.jacobswellchurch.org). [I’d also highly recommend Tim’s Book “Intuitive Leadership”, a great read!). A corporate spiritual discipline means meeting together to worship God, hear the Word preached, engage in relationships of depth and significance, and being sent out to continue to minister Jesus’ love to the broken world around us. It is not simply a consumer-oriented “quick fix” to help me survive another week of spiritual anaemia. This kind of consumerism only breeds inward-focused communities and worship cannot be genuine if it is not in the context of mission. When mission is alive in our hearts and is finding practical expression in our every day lives, worship will flow. To gather together as a spiritual discipline also brings gathered worship into perspective: when we worship together, the community as a whole grows stronger and I too am personally strengthened and sustained by the experience of being in the midst of my fellow travellers, my spiritual family, who have also gathered to worship. Much more could be said about this (and has been already by people who are far more eloquent than I), so perhaps we can explore this concept a bit more in the future.
Ryan Day – About Me
Recent Comments...