This afternoon Bobby and I attended a liturgical funeral for a lady who was 3 months shy of 102. Yep, you read that right. She was 101 years, 9 months and 19 days young when she died. And up until the ripe old age of 98, she walked 1/2 a mile to her church every Sunday morning and swam one mile every day. Two of her granddaughters wrote poems for the program, and one of them read "How do you live to be 101?...You eat your veggies every day..." That made me laugh.
Liturgical services. Up until I married my husband, I had never been to one. I guess you could say he's broadened my horizons. One thing I do like about them is garments that the preachers (for the Lutherans) and priests (for the Catholics) wear. Many of their rituals and movements, along with their garb, remind me of the readings from Leviticus and Deuteronomy about what the Levitical priests were supposed to wear and do. Sometimes I think we lose some of the formality and reverence we owe God because we Baptists have such informal services and dress.
And I was very tempted to take communion today (it was open to anyone who has been baptized) because I wanted to see what their communion wafers tasted like. And they didn't drink from the cup, but dipped their wafer into the cup and then popped it in their mouth. But seeing as curiosity isn't a valid reason for "partaking" of the Lord's supper (and my dear understanding hubby was certain it wasn't Welch's in the cup), I refrained.
Normally I LOVE organ music, especially in a big church. Not quite so much today. Perhaps it was the lack of a song director motioning when to sing, perhaps it was the slow droning pace (HOW can you sing such powerful songs as "A Might Fortress is Our God" and "The Church's One Foundation" at such a slow tempo?), but it was starting to get a little old. Maybe I've had too much Contemporary Christian music in my diet, maybe it was Dave's harping on the choir ladies that when you focus too much on the notes it stops being a song and becomes a chant, but either way I was ready for the music to become more of a celebration for the hope we have in our Savior.
Stained glass windows- love, love, LOVE them!!! I'm of the warped mind that says the tabernacle furniture was overlaid in gold, the tent itself was embroidered with all kinds of beautiful designs, so the building in which we worship should be decked out as well! Today's windows were pretty, albeit different. Modern art (as in abstract) would be the closest description I could give them. The stained glass window over the front of the church did make you think somewhat of the cross, or a crucifix, but it was only a resemblance and not a depiction.
And responsive readings...that is one of the things I miss from my old, country, childhood church. Although our hymnal had the readings interspersed in the hymnal, numbered correctly. So when the bulletin said to turn to page 273, that was where you turned. Today, I turned to page 273 and found "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and was quite surprised. Turns out the front of the hymnal was the responsive reading pages and it has its OWN section of numbering. Not quite sure how they expected me to figure that one out without instruction.
And as always (and has happened quite a bit lately), people come to me to ask what someone else needs. I appreciate the concern and willingness to help. That certainly is commendable. But honestly, when a person is there who may need help, ASK THE PERSON!!! And when I tell you "No" to your question, that's exactly what I mean! There's really no need to ask me two more times, and then a third time in a different way. They must have either taken persistence lessons from my mother or manners lessons from the Chinese.
So tomorrow I will gladly join my "family" at our own place of worship. Same Savior, different format. And for me, it's what is both familiar and comforting. There's something to be said for that.
Liturgical services. Up until I married my husband, I had never been to one. I guess you could say he's broadened my horizons. One thing I do like about them is garments that the preachers (for the Lutherans) and priests (for the Catholics) wear. Many of their rituals and movements, along with their garb, remind me of the readings from Leviticus and Deuteronomy about what the Levitical priests were supposed to wear and do. Sometimes I think we lose some of the formality and reverence we owe God because we Baptists have such informal services and dress.
And I was very tempted to take communion today (it was open to anyone who has been baptized) because I wanted to see what their communion wafers tasted like. And they didn't drink from the cup, but dipped their wafer into the cup and then popped it in their mouth. But seeing as curiosity isn't a valid reason for "partaking" of the Lord's supper (and my dear understanding hubby was certain it wasn't Welch's in the cup), I refrained.
Normally I LOVE organ music, especially in a big church. Not quite so much today. Perhaps it was the lack of a song director motioning when to sing, perhaps it was the slow droning pace (HOW can you sing such powerful songs as "A Might Fortress is Our God" and "The Church's One Foundation" at such a slow tempo?), but it was starting to get a little old. Maybe I've had too much Contemporary Christian music in my diet, maybe it was Dave's harping on the choir ladies that when you focus too much on the notes it stops being a song and becomes a chant, but either way I was ready for the music to become more of a celebration for the hope we have in our Savior.
Stained glass windows- love, love, LOVE them!!! I'm of the warped mind that says the tabernacle furniture was overlaid in gold, the tent itself was embroidered with all kinds of beautiful designs, so the building in which we worship should be decked out as well! Today's windows were pretty, albeit different. Modern art (as in abstract) would be the closest description I could give them. The stained glass window over the front of the church did make you think somewhat of the cross, or a crucifix, but it was only a resemblance and not a depiction.
And responsive readings...that is one of the things I miss from my old, country, childhood church. Although our hymnal had the readings interspersed in the hymnal, numbered correctly. So when the bulletin said to turn to page 273, that was where you turned. Today, I turned to page 273 and found "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and was quite surprised. Turns out the front of the hymnal was the responsive reading pages and it has its OWN section of numbering. Not quite sure how they expected me to figure that one out without instruction.
And as always (and has happened quite a bit lately), people come to me to ask what someone else needs. I appreciate the concern and willingness to help. That certainly is commendable. But honestly, when a person is there who may need help, ASK THE PERSON!!! And when I tell you "No" to your question, that's exactly what I mean! There's really no need to ask me two more times, and then a third time in a different way. They must have either taken persistence lessons from my mother or manners lessons from the Chinese.
So tomorrow I will gladly join my "family" at our own place of worship. Same Savior, different format. And for me, it's what is both familiar and comforting. There's something to be said for that.
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