Just Musing

Once upon a time, a friend and I stepped into a breach and took on the leadership of the children’s choir at our church.  We were not professional musicians, but the experience of working with those children and helping them minister to the congregation through music was very rewarding for both of us.  As a choir we sang songs, we learned about music, we danced, we played instruments, and each week our rehearsal included a brief look at a word, phrase or image in the liturgy or in a hymn we were preparing.  We called this time The Liturgical Minute.

Now I have moved to another state and am once again helping with elementary school music in a church.  The singers have changed, but the Liturgical Minute has survived.  While I doubt I can be as thoughtful and creative as Miss M.C.— who brought so much of her vivacious self to the original meditations—I hope these musings for children may continue to encourage a deeper experience of worship and the language of the Liturgy.

To see the Online Book of Common Prayer, click here.

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts…

At the very beginning of worship we pray this prayer (BCP, p. 355)

“Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name…”

Now that’s a kind of an interesting way of putting it—“cleanse the thoughts of our hearts.”  Where do you usually think your thoughts are?   In your head.  But this prayer talks about the “thoughts of our hearts.”   These aren’t just the things that go flitting through our minds and distract us from paying attention in church.  These thoughts are tucked away, way down deep in the corners of our hearts.  They are thoughts and feelings that we hold tight inside us.

If you’re going to come into the presence of God–as we do when we worship–then you want to be really, really clean, inside and out.  Our faces and hands, our clothes, even the thoughts of our hearts need to be cleaned.   But how are we going to do that?

[At this point in our mediation I bring out a can of compressed air with the long straw attached.]

Anybody know what this is and what it’s for?  “You use it to clean your computer!” they tell me.  (“Can I try it?!”)   What do you think is in it?   (And I tell them about compressed air and blow a little puff on each child’s hand while I talk.)

Now, the word for Spirit in the Bible is the same as the word for Wind.  In this prayer, we ask God to clean our hearts by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  And when I get to this point in the Liturgy, I like to imagine the Holy Spirit blowing all the bad thoughts out of the corners of my heart –just like this can of air blows the dust out of my computer.   (Poof!)

Singing with Angels

Do you know what song the angels sing?   Gloria?  Hallelujah?  If you take a look in the Prayerbook (on page 362), you’ll read this:

Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your Name:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

The angels sing “Holy, holy, holy Lord” all the time in heaven.  And this is a very cool part of the worship service—because when we sing “Holy, holy, holy” we are actually singing along with the angels in heaven!  It’s as if a curtain were being pulled back and just for a minute we become part of an amazing choir, praising God.  The angels are always singing this song, so no matter when we join in, we’re always part of it.  And we don’t know what tune they sing, so no matter which one we use—and we have a bunch of tunes that we switch around—we always fit in.   It’s an amazing moment when we get to sing with Angels, and we do it every week.  So watch for it next time you’re in worship.

The Mystery of Faith

What is a mystery?  (usually after talking about this for a while we get around to the idea of detectives and how mysteries are something you don’t understand yet, but you have some clues).

Does anyone know what “The Mystery of Faith” is?  (BCP, p. 363)

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

Now let’s take a look at that.  The first statement, “Christ has died”—when did that happen?  In the past? present ?  or future?   In the past.  And what about “Christ is risen?”   Why do you think that’s in the present tense?  What does it mean to say “Christ IS risen” instead of “Christ ROSE from the dead?”  And let’s look at the last sentence, “Christ will come again.”  Has that happened yet?  No, it’s something in the future.  So the Mystery of Faith involves the Past, the Present and the Future—all of Time.

But what’s so mysterious about this?    Why do we say this is a Mystery and not just a fact?

Well, let’s think about it.  Christ is really, really Human—a man born on Earth just like you and me.  AND Christ is really, really God at the same time.  But how can that be? How can someone be God and a Man?   It’s a mystery.

And if Christ is really, really God then how can he have died?  How can God die?  It’s a mystery.

And if Christ is really, really Human then how can he come back to life after being dead?   It’s a mystery.

And when will he come again, and how?  That’s a mystery too.

We believe these things are true even though we don’t understand them.  We have some clues in the Bible, but we don’t have it all figured out yet.  And we’re not even able to figure it out in this life.  Maybe we will in the next life.  Meanwhile, we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

Obedience

Do any of you have a dog?   You know, dogs are pack animals. They like to be part of a group—a sort of family—and they want to know where they fit in the pack and who’s the leader.   Do you know what they call the leader of the pack?  The Alpha.  Who’s the Alpha for your dog?  In a pack, dogs will watch the leader to see where they should go and how they ought to react to things.  It’s important for a pack to have a calm, strong leader.  When dogs know their place in the pack and trust the Alpha then they are the most content and relaxed.

There’s a place in the Liturgy that reminds me of my dog.  Let me show it to you.  Take a look at the Confession of Sin (BCP p. 360).  In this prayer we tell God we know we’ve messed up and done bad things and then, we ask him to forgive us “For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us;” and then comes the part that reminds me of my dog “that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways…”

Sometimes my dog tries to be the Alpha.  Sometimes we go on walks he will pull on the leash and try to get me to follow him.  At those times, he does not delight in my will or walk in my ways like a happy pack member—he is too busy trying to move up to the Top Dog spot.  I get very cranky when he does this.  I don’t want to be dragging my dog along.  I just want him to walk with me.  But instead, he’s frustrated with me and I’m frustrated with him and we don’t get to spend a lot of time enjoying the fresh air.

People are pack animals too.  And sometimes we forget—I forget—that God is my Alpha, and if I would look to him for direction and stop pulling and trying to be the boss myself, then I could be a lot happier.  God doesn’t want to be dragging me along—he doesn’t want me to obey because I’m afraid or because he makes me do it—he wants me to delight in his will and walk in his ways.   So when I pray these words, I think about my dog and the times when he is content and relaxed and looking to his Alpha, and I try to do that too.

Talking to the King

Does anyone here like to read about kings and queens and castles and brave knights in shining armor?  Well then, maybe one of you can tell me, how would you address the King if you were talking to him?  What would you call him?  Would you say something like, “Hello Mr. King” or “Hey Jimmy!?”

No.  You’d call him “Your Majesty” or “Your Highness” or “Sire.”  Even if he’s your dad, you still have to call him “Your Majesty,” and you would be extra specially careful to be polite, wouldn’t you?  Because what could happen if the King thought you were being disrespectful?  Bad things.  He could throw you in the dungeon, or banish you to a foreign land, or do some other unpleasant thing to you because the King makes the rules. The King has power. He can do pretty much whatever he wants to, so it can be kind of a scary thing to walk up and talk to the King.

God is our King.  And God is not just an earthly king, he’s the Heavenly King—the King of all the Kings—Talking to God could be REALLY scary, except for one thing:   Jesus.  Jesus saved us from our sins.  He is our Savior.  And Jesus taught us a special prayer so we would know how to talk to God.  We call it The Lord’s Prayer and we say it every time we worship.  Maybe you’ve even started to memorize it.

Well, just before we pray the Lord’s Prayer in church, the priest says, “And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say…” And then we say (What?)  “OUR FATHER…”

We are bold to say Our Father.  What does BOLD mean?   It means Brave.  Daring.  Bending the politeness rules a little.  And we are bold when we pray this way.  We don’t call God “Your Highness” or “Your Majesty.”  We call God “Our Father.”   And we should always realize what a big deal that is. How wonderful it is that we don’t have to be afraid.  Because Jesus is our Savior and because he taught us to talk to God this way, then we do this amazing, audacious thing, and we are bold to say, “Our Father….”

Do I Have To?

If you were signing a contract, you would look carefully at every single word to be sure you knew what you were agreeing too.  And when we say “Amen” in worship, that’s a way of agreeing to what’s just been said.  So you ought to take a look and see what you’ve just agreed to.

Usually that’s not a problem, but there are places in the Liturgy where I’ll be reading along and everything seems pretty normal—you know, the usual Church Language—and then of all of a sudden, out of the blue will come a word or a couple of words that just hit me and make me go “Whoa.”  Let me show you one of them.

At the beginning of the Prayers of the People (BCP p. 329) everything starts out fine:

“Almighty and everliving God, who in thy holy Word (that means the Bible) hast taught us to make prayers, and supplications…”

And then, here comes the part that stops me every time: “…and to give thanks for all men:”

I struggle with that one, because there are some people in this world that it’s very hard for me to be thankful for.    I can say I “give thanks for all men” but I’m not really feeling it.  In fact, I usually find myself arguing with God at this point:  “What about the bad people?  What about people who hurt me?  Do I have to give thanks for them? ”   And so I argue with God, and then next week I come back and the Prayer Book tells me to do the exact same thing it told me the week before!  God never changes it.  I guess he must mean it.

This prayer, which seemed pretty simple at first, has become one of those places where God, through the Liturgy, is challenging me.  It may not be a challenge for you.  But every time we pray, He says to me, “How ya doin’ with giving thanks?”  and I have to answer.

I’m Sorry is not enough

Each week we pray a prayer called the Confession of Sin.  Do you know what that is—confessing our sins?  That’s where we tell God we know we messed up.  We did some things we shouldn’t have done, and we didn’t do some things that we should have.  And then we say “we are truly sorry and we humbly repent” (BCP p.331 or p. 360).

Why is it both?  Why truly sorry AND humbly repent?  Let’s think about this.

You’re sitting in class at school and the kid behind you goes ping! and flicks the back of your head.  And man, it hurts!  You turn around so fast and glare at that kid.  He says, “I’m sorry.”  And maybe the kid is truly sorry, because he didn’t realize how much it would hurt.  But then, a little later, he does it again.  Ping!  Now, even if he is Truly Sorry, is that enough?  No.  What do you want?  (“You want him to stop!” “You want him to get in trouble!”  “You want to hit him.”) Mostly you want the kid to stop flicking the back of your head.  And that’s the repent part.

Repent means to change your mind or sometimes to turn from something.  When you repent you turn away from the wrong thing.  You don’t just tell God, “Sorry!” you also stop doing it.   “Sorry” is important, but so is “repent.”

So let’s practice this for a minute.  Everybody get in a line.  I am the line leader, so follow me, and when I say “Repent!” everybody turn and go the other way.  (We follow the leader around the room until I say, “We are truly sorry and we humbly REPENT!”  Now the child at the end of the line is the line leader.  We follow that child until she or he says “REPENT!” Repeat this reversal several times, then gather.)

Now you’ve got it.  So don’t forget, when you confess your sins, you want to be truly sorry and humbly repent!

Living Members

Anybody know what we do after communion?  We come back to our seats and then…?  We pray.  And in that prayer we tell God “thanks” (Because, as we’ve said before this part of worship is the Great Thanksgiving!), and we say that we’re glad God has made us “living members” of the Body of Christ (BCP pp. 365-366).

Now’s that’s a kind of an unusual thing to say.  Why is that word “living” in there?  Who would think you weren’t living?  So let’s figure it out:  what is a “member,” and why are we “living members?”

Okay, who can tell me what a member is?  (We talk for a while about members of a club, a team; a church; someone who belongs; someone who joins a group; someone who is “in”)   That’s right, but member also has another meaning—Member means “body part”  — like hands and feet and arms and legs (and at this point, I usually wave my arms and wiggle my fingers.)  And when we are fed with the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation, we know that we are part of the Body of Christ—and that means The Church.  Not just St. Paul’s Episcopal, but (big voice) The Church – all the Christians that have ever been or ever will be.  All who are alive in Christ.  Everywhere!  All of them!

The Body of Christ is a BIG BODY.  And YOU are an important part of it.  You are a living member.  I don’t know if you’re a hand or a heart, but I do know that all Christians are held together by the Holy Spirit just like your body is held together.  And you know who the Head is, don’t you?  Christ.

The Unity of the Holy Spirit

Remember when we talked about being “members of the Body of Christ?”  Who remembers what a “member” is?   (Discussion ensues.)  And what do we mean when we talk about the Body of Christ?

Do you ever wonder how all those body parts—living and dead and not yet born—get held together into one Body?  It’s all the work of the Holy Spirit.  And in fact, you know how we talk about God being “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?”  Well, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist “in the unity of the Holy Spirit” too.   The Holy Spirit is the one who binds us all together.  And here’s something that can help you remember that.    Let’s all make a circle….(at this point we all form a circle.  I bring out a ball of yarn.  I hold one end, then pass the yarn to one of the children. The children are told to hold the yarn in one hand and then pass the rest to another member of the Body of Christ.  We continue until everyone is connected several times to people in the circle.)

This yarn is like the Holy Spirit.   The Holy Spirit unites us all into one Body where Christ is the Head.   And even though you can’t see the connections, we are linked to every other Christian and to Christ because of the Holy Spirit.

What do you call God?

Have you ever noticed how people will sometimes use different names for the same person?  Take your parents…do they always call you by exactly the same name?  What do they call you?  (we talk about names, nicknames, affectionate names, using our full names when someone is peeved at us)  How do they say your name when they are angry or upset?  What about when they are really happy and want to show you they love you?  Have you ever heard anyone use a name like “Sweetie” or “Honey” or “Buddy” or “Stinker”?

You can tell something about how a person is feeling by what they call you.   And when we want to signal to the other person how we’re feeling or how much we respect them, we let them know by what name we use.  We say “Father Brad” or “Doctor Miller.”   And I’ll bet your parents have talked to you about calling people “Sir” and “M’am” too.

The same thing happens when we talk to God.  We use all kinds of different names in worship.  Let’s take a look and see how many ones we can find  (we pull out the prayer books and look.  We remember how “we are bold to say ‘Our Father.’”  We note that we start our confession with “Most merciful God” and talk about how that is appropriate when you’re asking for forgiveness. We find “Almighty God” and “heavenly King” “Holy Immortal One.”)

It’s good to pay attention to what we call God as the service goes along.  It tells us how we might feel, and how we should set our minds, and how we approach God at different parts of our worship.  The names we use tell us things about God–what’s he like?–and they tell us where we stand.