“Praying is a dangerous act.. you can end up changed.”
It is World Communion Sunday, and I did my part in the worship serice by praying “que ta volonte soit faite sure la terre comme au ciel.” We had Korean, Italian, Russian, German, and Hawaiian lines as well, plus music in Latin and in Zulu in the form of Thula Sizwe.
I really like World Communion Sunday. Today there were bread machines in the sanctuary when I arrived, providing the scent of fresh bread, and international chairs around the communion table. I suppose it cannot be the case, given the time zones, that everyone in Christendom takes communion at the same time, but we like to think of it that way. We pray for our brother and sisters in Christ on every continent, including those at the research station in Antarctica. It’s a great service.
Yesterday’s funeral was of course sad, and my friend who lost her husband has been constantly in my thoughts. Yet both yesterday’s and today’s sevices were made more moving, I think, by the inclusion of many events designed to appeal to our senses.
Some people find it too theatrical, but I think that people are reached by different things.
The video above, which I found while refreshing my memory of my line in the Lord’s Prayer, is clearly drama. But for some people, myself included, it makes a powerful statement.
Surely God gave us our taste for drama, for music, for ritual and pageantry. Equally surely, it is no sin to appreciate sights and sounds and smells, tastes and textures. Why should we not include these things in our worship?