June 28th, 2007 - Choir Rehearsal

The joy and the tears were both present as the choir practiced music for Bethany's service. Kelly summed it up well:

There may be times when any of us could lose ourselves in a sorrow of the moment. When that happens there are others to pick up the performance.

We worked through each well-chosen piece, with new well-thought-out words to two. There was time and attention paid to details, to make it right. Toni chose Blest Be The Ties That Bind to recognize the community response that had come to mean so much to her and the family.

Each piece resonated as we rehearsed them but for this evening this simple hymn, as we were gathered with our voices bound together in harmony, caught the spirit behind this rehearsal. When it became a capella (and tonight the translation from Italian of those words 'in the style of the chapel' took on a new meaning for me) the pure simplicity of the sound carried the music and the moment deep within our hearts.

Kelly's Nunc Dimittis stood out tonight as well. Kelly framed the moment these words are uttered - Simeon led a devout life and was promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Saviour. Mary and Joesph brought their baby temple for the ceremony of consecration of the firstborn son and Simeon knows this is what he has waited for. He takes Jesus into his arms and prays the Nunc Dimittis. He knows there is no other experience he needs in this life beyond seeing the Saviour.

Later, as Kelly led us in prayer to close the evening, he prayed regarding an elation, energy and beauty that some may experience at Saturday's service because they glimpsed God in a special way through Bethany's presence in their lives.

Bethany was there in our minds and hearts tonight.

June 24th, 2007 - Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

In memory of Bethany Hartung.

Mary suggested that sentence could be the whole of the blog entry for this service because recording the myriad of impressions and moments related to what happened at this service overwhelmed me.

In essence, the sentence does say it all. What follows here will simply underscore and highlight those words.

Pastor Dayle announced at the service that Bethany died this morning at 3:30 AM surrounded by her family.

It added perspectives to our worship that would not have been there otherwise. Deep sadness broke through Pastor Dayle’s announcement and for Joe, as he delivered the Prayers of the People. Simultaneously worship went on with moments of joy and inspiration that moved beyond the news. Life and events moved on as they will. The Lutherwood staff who will lead Day Camp had an interactive song to perform with the kids for the Children’s Time.

There were also moments of connection. One of the Lutherwood staff also attends Gustavus Adolphus where Bethany received her honorary degree. "You wouldn't know the college" the student said. Pastor Dayle corrected that impression.

There were memories on memories of Bethany, her family and of Creator support. Moments of joy, times where there was "rage, rage against the dying of the light" and times of acceptance of what was to be. This was not unanticipated and yet preparing for what was to come remained hard and finally receiving the news was truly heartbreaking.

There will be a memorial service Saturday. Preparations are being made. Bethany helped plan the service. There will be a choir practice rehearsal Thursday.

Creator's thoughts and prayers are with Rick, Toni, Merrily, Kirk and Stephanie and all who are mourning and feel the grief of losing Bethany from our lives.

June 10th, 2007 - Second Sunday after Pentecost

This was Pastor Mark and Dena’s first Sunday worship since the birth of Brandon and for most of the congregation this was their first time seeing the baby.

Today I appreciated the shared congregational gifts that combine for worship. First of all there is altar care. All before and after worship, unnoticed when it is done but would definitely be noticed if it were not. Diane Mattox performed the work for this worship.

We have several outstanding readers in our midst and Vera is one of those readers. There is a combination of qualities in her voice during a reading that balance to make Bible verses resonate in the heart.

Lisa, as assisting minister, led the Prayers of the People, as she has done many times before. There was such a confidence in her voice during the prayers and the response. The congregational response “hear our prayer” felt rich and full.

We sang a new song for worship, although some were familiar with it, Marty Haugen's Neither Death Nor Life. David gave it a great feel. The congregation did not sing it as tentatively as new songs are frequently sung.

Pastor Dayle preached about miraculous resuscitation — of the newly dead being brought back to life from the Bible readings today. I appreciate that she asks the tough spiritual questions we all have and can admit these questions drive her nuts.

We long and can pray for the miraculous, but usually the fact that it is miraculous means that it doesn't happen often. Someone is brought back from the dead, and will die again. Now, do we say this is a momentary miracle and we should rejoice when it happens. When it doesn't happen, what then? Are the people to blame involved because they did not believe, refused to see, or were not graced? I can't imagine the answer to any of those questions is yes.

The sermon went on to say that the gospel is messy. It challenges us and makes us feel uncomfortable with how we see the world as working yet, to quote from the sermon:

It’s a burdensome, tricky and hopeful gospel.

God is opening us up to new things to us.

This sermon coincided with interesting spiritual questions I am grappling with about magic, the miraculous and the everyday world where we spend much of our time. The same messiness of personal faith versus the rational is at the heart of my dilemma. Can I accept something irrational not simply as meaningful, a spiritual metaphor but as existing in the rational world? Is logic a way to understand or something that can betray a person in spiritual matters or both?

This question is more than troubling to me at this moment in my life.