February 28th, 2007

Wednesday night. Soup and bread, worship and choir.

Soup and conversation with Al, Mark, Paul and Ruth was great. Al and Mark talked about Lutheran and Episcopalian differences and similarities in worship. Al confessed he sometimes misses the "bells and smells" of Episcopal worship.

As we gathered for worship my mind was filled with thoughts of faithful people engaged in God's ongoing endeavor. This service is filled with silence, the world around us is dark. There is a solemn focus of attention.

The reading this evening is from Matthew 15:

21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." 25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. 26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

A hard, powerful text that speaks to how we are to help each other. Lighting candles around the cross those words are still in our ears as we sing Kelly's Quiet Our Souls and In the Lord.

Kelly is the choir leader again. We practice God is Our Refuge and Strength; Now, O Death, Where is thy Sting and Stay with Us. Quickly we make progress on our performance of the pieces and Kelly lays out the plans for choir performances during Lent and Holy Week. It is nice to see so many returning to choir practice. There is teasing, the fun and friendship that I have come to associate with choir over the years.