What We've Forgotten

Happy New Year! I'm looking forward to the opportunities that await those of us who are involved in Worship and the Arts in 2010. Surely we can mark 2009 as a year of accomplishments and milestones. Most notable, I think, has been the fact that we have gone through a time in which the members of our congregations have felt a lot of anxiety and stress due to the economy, and they seem to have been genuinely comforted and helped through the worship we have led. I am grateful to have the opportunity to lead worship every week, and I feel that our efforts are validated when the members and visitors in those services feel that they have had a chance to draw near to God.

I am fond of reading Parker Palmer, a Quaker theologian. He recounts a story about a young couple who brought their new-born second child home from the hospital. The three-year-old first-born sister waited with excitement, and asked her parents if she could visit the baby in the nursery. When they agreed, she said she wanted to close the door and be alone with the baby. Since they had installed an intercom system to listen to the baby, they said "yes," and listened. They heard their older daughter approach the crib quietly, then say, "Tell me about God, I've almost forgotten."

I've thought about this story as I've spent the holidays contemplating our role in the church's new year. And I suggest that we prepare ourselves to play the role of the new-born in our congregations, full of promise and bringing hope. When our sister who is grieving says, "Tell me about God, I've almost forgotten," we must reply by singing, "There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul." And when our brother who is afraid makes the same request, we should be ready to reply, "All is well, lift up your voice and sing." When a sibling returns from an ill-chosen road saying, "Tell me about God," let us help them to pray, "Finish, then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be." When a seeker comes, let us sing, "As the deer longs for flowing streams, so my heart longs for you, O God." And when our neighbor is shattered by circumstances, and needs to be reminded about God, let us sing, "Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal."

We must not view our sheet music, voices, instruments and practice as our tools. They are our calling. When our sister says, "Tell me about God, I've almost forgotten," we must be honest to say, "I've almost forgotten, too. But God, in wisdom, has given us beautiful art so that we can be reminded, and can remind others."

I hope that 2010 is a year in which we steadfastly answer our calling.

Photograph courtesy of Johnsonearth.com