Thursday Thoughts

Today is Thursday. Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about lately.

THE CONSISTENT REPETITION OF LITURGY

In an essay for online journal, Didache, Charles W. Christian of Kent Church of the Nazarene in Kent, Ohio quoted a brilliant passage from spiritual guru Leonard Sweet. Talking about how a consistent framework of faithful preaching can help shape a community, Christian wrote:

In his book, The Gospel According to Starbucks, Sweet recognizes that Starbucks does not seek simply to create a cup of coffee, but an experience. This experience has to do with community: a place that shares a common language (“tall” instead of “small”, for instance, in regard to coffee sizes), common themes, and a common place of gathering to further the community. As a community, we have learned to “speak” Starbucks, because we have accepted the “story”, the experience, and the invitation to join in. Even if we make a mistake in our order (saying something in the wrong order), we are lovingly “corrected”: a non-whip, tall, mocha, non-fat; becomes a “tall, non-whip, non-fat, mocha.” This consistent repetition of the “liturgy” of Starbucks teaches the “language,” which helps build community. In the church, the community of faith, the preacher becomes the facilitator of this kind of community-building.

Allow your mind to think about that one for a little while…

IAN MORGAN CRON IS BRILLIANT

Episcopal priest, musician, writer and spiritual guide. I recommend that you read anything he writes and listen to anything he says.

I am currently reading his novel, Chasing Francis, which I would highly recommend. I also recommend watching a series of videos he did with Visual Worship Media site, The Work of the People.

www.iancron.com

TIMOTHY KELLER’S “THE MEANING OF MARRIAGE” IS A GOOD BOOK

Especially in comparison to this:

Here is an excellent and trustworthy review of Driscoll’s work from Rachel Held Evans.

We Dare Not Articulate It

In a video for the visual media site Work of the People, author and Episcopal Priest Ian Morgan Cron shared a very simple yet profound insight about Eucharist, and the overall experience that we share in community and with God. 

Initially talking about his son, who is overheard playing drums in the background, Cron said,

“Some of the most profound moments I’ve had with my son have been when I’m playing guitar and he’s playing the drums and the two of us just sort of lock eyes, that’s amazing - that melody, that song, we’re doing that together. There’s a metaphor, and I don’t want to overhead things but we’re co-creating something in the moment and we’re experiencing each other “unitively”, where we become one, and something really great is happening and you almost don’t dare want to move, you just want to stare at each other while it’s happening. It’s great.”

Trying to make a connection between music and God, the interviewer asks “What is that “divine groove” that comes from this union?” Cron’s response:

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to even guess. That’s like the questions, ‘What happens during the Eucharist?’ And it’s such a shame that people try to articulate this. I like this idea, it’s a very Anglican idea, that we know something happens, but we dare not articulate it.