Friday, April 10, 2020

Together

So, the virtual choir turned out to be a virtual ensemble. That's okay because the folks who are in the ensemble were passionate about sharing their witness in song. My sincerest appreciation goes to Ken, Amy, Tammy, and Jon for making this project a success. And it is a success because, even though we are in completely different homes, on Easter Sunday morning, we will be singing "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" together. Thanks be to God.

Listen here:

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

May the peace of Christ bring you joy this Easter.

Friday, April 3, 2020

Virtual Choir for Easter 2020

Let's begin this Easter, as always, with "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today!" Even though we will not be able to sing in the same physical space on Easter, we can sing together in a virtual choir. The process is simple:

1) Download the new piano accompaniment and listen several times.
2) Download the music and read over the words.
3) Practice several times before recording:
        verse 1: unison
        verse 2: parts
        verse 3: unison
        verse 4: parts
        verse 5: parts
        verse 6: parts
4) When you are familiar with it, using headphones to listen to the accompaniment, sing along with the piano and record your voice part using any recording device you have available. A cellphone will work great!
5) Email your voice file to thesacristan582@gmail.com.

Deadline for files is Friday morning, April 10. I plan to have them mixed later that evening. The resulting file will be posted here.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Listen to Him!


Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent, that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast.

Aelfric (c955-1020 CE), Lives of the Saints

The dreary month of February will be a busy one in the life of the church. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, February 13, and continues 40 days (excluding Sundays) until Easter. Lent, the seasonal name derived from the Anglo-Saxon lencten which means spring, began as a time of fasting and preparation for baptism of converts on Easter. It has become a time of penance where wordly practices are sacrificed in favor of increased prayer and contemplation. While the season is a somber one, the Sundays in Lent are not Sundays of Lent. Although each may reflect some of the penitential tone of the season, the early church celebrated all Sundays as “little Easters.”

The Sunday prior to Ash Wednesday, February 10, is most definitely not somber! It is the Sunday which celebrates the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-43) during which Jesus is transfigured beside Moses and Elijah. Not surprisingly, Jesus's companions—Peter, James, and John—want to set up camp in this holy mountain, but very quickly a cloud engulfs them. It is only in the cloud that God speaks to them, declaring, as He did at the river Jordan, that their friend, their companion, was both human and divine. Further, in the midst of the cloud, and the confusion, God ordered these disciples to listen to Jesus.

Think about the disciples on the mountain: Peter, the rock, bold and stubborn; and James and John, the “sons of thunder” who likely earned that nickname. These are men who are accustomed to giving orders, to speaking their minds forcefully, but, in this instance, they are instructed to listen. For once, according to Scripture, they kept their mouths shut. But it wasn't until the next day that Jesus spoke, and it wasn't to them. It was to heal a demon-possessed boy. Scripture records that they were astounded at the greatness of God.

Really. The disciples who had seen Elijah and Moses with Jesus, the disciples who had heard God from the cloud, these disciples were “astounded at the greatness of God.” (Luke 9:43) They might have heard, but they certainly were not listening!

How often do we hear rather than listen intently? May we, during this Lenten season, repent of merely hearing and seek to listen intently to the voice of the Father.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

When Is It Good To Be Selfish?

Are we willing to do the work?
Many congregations find themselves in the throes of "worship wars" where different groups within the faith community lobby to have worship changed into a particular style.  Many are enamored with technology and just cannot imagine a worship service without a screen to focus on.  Others want no part of the screen and wish worship to remain unchanged.  Still others insist on a "contemporary" service.  Such competing agendae can fragment a faith community to the extent that there are basically, multiple churches within one church.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Easter Sunday

Scripture

Isaiah 25:6-9

Prayer

What were they thinking, Lord?
As they approached the tomb,
Laden with spices to, in a final filial act,
Prepare Your earthly body for its final rest,
What were they thinking?
Did their earthly sorrow and devotion to this final task
Blind them?
They had heard your prophecies, and yet
Their first thought, seeing the open sepulchre,
Was of earthly mischief.

Not until your messenger explained it, yet again,
Did the scales of their earth-bound eyes fall
And their souls see with eyes eternal.
Wash the mortal clay from my eyes,
Merciful Father,
And let me see, with those eternal eyes,
My Risen Redeemer.

Alleluia!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Holy Week: Saturday

Scripture

Job 14:1-14

Prayer


Seed of my salvation,
My soul is fallow ground, barren,
Waiting for the Light of the World
To quicken it.
Throughout this dark, empty Saturday,
My fallow soul is waiting,
Waiting,
For the Son to Rise.

Meditate in Silence and go in peace.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Holy Week: Friday

Scripture

Psalm 22

Prayer


Alone.
You died
Alone.
Abandoned by your disciples.
Forgotten by the throngs.
Abandoned by your God.

For me.