March 4th, 2007

The gospel today (Luke13:31-35) used a metaphor for God of the mother hen. Pr. Dayle preached about the text wearing a feather boa to remind us of the wings of a mother hen. She pointed out two images the metaphor conjures up; the mothering hen and the brooding hen.

The brooding hen goes after the fox trying to attack her young and the brooding hen senses danger and will react to a threat to protect the chicks.

The mothering hen scampers after the little chicks with wings outspread and brings them to herself to keep them warm and to protect them. Interesting images of God.

This Sunday we said farewell to the old green hymnals. The new ELW will replace them next week. The farewell called to my mind my own "smells and bells", what Al talked Wednesday (that I recorded in the last blog entry). These are sensory links to powerful memories.

The scent of past hymnals bring back many childhood memories of past churches. The "bell" equivalent of a sensory link is the Kyrie from the red hymnal and the Create in Me a Clean Heart that was then a part of the liturgy. The Kyrie, to my child ears, had an ancient sound. I could imagine this being sung for a thousand years. Create in Me a Clean Heart had music that matched the words completely. As we sang it the song seemed to cleanse the congregation.

The LBW (Lutheran Book of Worship) green hymnal associates in my mind with personal time in the wilderness. Almost immediately after my confirmation my spiritual journey and questions were met with disapproval by my pastor at that time, as well as the members of the church I then attended. The questions I grappled with took me away from what I was supposed to believe in their eyes. I tried to work through my understanding of what resurrection meant to me with some questions to my pastor and he told me "You can't ask the questions you are asking and be a Christian."

So I stopped sharing the spiritual path I was on with anyone I worshipped with but continued to participate in worship. The the church changed hymnals to the green LBW just as I left college. Everything in my life at that time pointed me away from the church I knew in my childhood. The change in hymnals cut me away from the liturgy of childhood and the importance of worship diminished.

I began my spiritual search in a larger context. After comparative religion courses in college and reading authors like Kerouac and Salinger I was ready to pursue what other religions offered.