March 26th – The New Man

I marveled at the book discussion tonight. I was worried about how others would read and understand The New Man by Maurice Nicholl. I even hesitated to suggest the book as one to read, initially because it was different from the books we have read before and I wasn't confident that people would find it beneficial to read if they were not prepared for the topics. I believe how I recommended it made an impression on the group and that was why it was chosen.

Will was the first to ask questions about the ‘language’ the ancients understood that we as readers may not. His questions brought us to the heart of the book. Nicholl writes about details in the descriptions of the parables and miracles that bring in new meaning.

Will’s opening question was “What is this ancient language the book refers to?” and later he asked “How did ancient people learn this language?” Certainly the inferred question was “Why don’t we know this language now?

I answered the best I could in our discussion. Personally I learned much of this language from the writings of Dr. Nicholl, I also have a strong interest in studying literature that I know I share with the rest of the book discussion group. And others may know pieces of it through the writing of Jung. This is a language of archetype and significance. It is hard to go into detail here about this. If you are curious, please talk to me.

Anyway, I don’t know whether the ‘common’ ancient man understood these details that the language makes significant. I do know those details ring true. I have returned to reading the Bible with these details and found that the parables and miracles have become more individually memorable and more meaningful to my spiritual journey.

Eileen was struck by this:

What has to be grasped is that Jesus had to undergo inner growth and evolution> He was not born perfect. Had this been the case he would not have suffered temptation or experienced such despair.

Again, Eileen went to another important theme in The New Man. There is a rigor to the ideas that are presented wich Janet picked up on.

Greg talked about how tempted he was to reread passages he had just read and how the writing inspired him to think about things that were not part of the text. Mary agreed and also brought to the discussion how fascinated she was that Luther wrote about the importance of necessity of persistence in prayer. This is another important theme of the book.

So I marveled at this discussion because of the insights I heard and the similar experience many of us had shared in reading this book.

We will continue our discussion with Chapters 3 and 4 in The New Man next week.

March 22nd, 2008 - Easter Vigil - Stories, Baptism and First Easter Service

About 7:00 the congregation gathered around an open fire for the Service of Light. The paschal candle was lit and a procession formed and a beautiful, chanted verse cued us to enter the church with everyone carrying their lit candle. It felt formal, like a high ceremony as we processed in but the Service of Readings changed that quickly.

Here the continuity and community of Creator was celebrated as the stories of Creation, the Flood and the Exodus were told. They are made our own by participation, improvisational acting with anything that is at hand.

For Creation hand puppets were handed out. Larry played Noah and built an imaginary ark “as tall as Creator’s cell phone tower”. Hand puppets and the hammy acting of our congregation provided the rest of the entertainment as the story was told.

For Pharaoh’s chariot a folding chair storage cart was used. The youth were recruited to be the Egyptian army. There was a stick Susan used for Mose's staff and a roll of painter's blue plastic to roll out for the water and another story was acted out as it was told.

We also told our own Creator stories and memories. Will captured a moment by telling when he and Franya moved from Portland they weren’t sure about which church to attend until they attended Creator and were taken by the energy level and life of the congregation.

The Service of Baptism and Reception of New Members was joyous. We sang Borning Cry over the cry of Wyatt, who was being baptized. Again, spontaneous and wonderful. We welcomed the Maier family as new members.

Then, the Service of Easter Sacrament began. The lights came up, the banner in front was revealed, Kelly’s Out Of The Darkness propelled the transformation of the sanctuary. The beautiful moment to celebrate: Christ is risen!

All Creatures, Worship God Most High was sung with particular energy this year. This led to Kelly on piano and Geoff on viola leading the congregation to sing Lamb of God, I’ve Just Come for the Fountain, and finally Hallelujah, We Sing Your Praises.

And we experienced, just as we have in past years, the full arc of this triumvirate service of Holy Week. Three memorable services.

And we still have Easter morning service to come...

March 21st, 2008 – Good Friday Service - Darkness

Dusk. Twilight. Evening. Night. The Darkest Hour. The divisions of the Good Friday service are emphasized by the levels of darkness we experience throughout the worship. We start with sun still up and end in that profound darkness that can, and does, sometimes make us tremble.

Everything draped in purple the night before now is covered in black material. The platforms that invited us in to the worship space now form a circle where the prayer corner was set up before. The appearance of this ring of black is ominous, like it is a fortification against danger.

The congregation sang Were You There? and this evening the line sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble resonated within me. Questions about being there, questions within ourselves, and to each other. Questions and then the realization sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

Does the tremble come from fear of the world as it is and the capability of evil? Or do we tremble at the overwhelming power of Christ on the cross? Am I afraid or is this tremble our first emotional response to the power of Easter? And sometimes then becomes a pivotal word. Am I not afraid at the other times when I don’t tremble, or are there times when I don’t feel the power of Easter? Should the times I don’t tremble cause me to tremble?

The choir sang two pieces, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross and Ave verum corpus. Each came from different places of the heart. The atmosphere created by Ave verum corpus had a fragile beauty. Singing in Latin connected with a tradition. There were layers of accessibility.

The process of learning the piece came flooding back for me during the performance. First, Kelly taught the choir how to pronounce the words. After that we learned the translation of the words and another power in the piece was revealed. Learning that Mozart wrote this piece using an older text and that that it was Mozart's final completed sacred work made the piece that much more powerful.

We left again in silence but it was not the shattering silence of Thursday’s service. It was more a reverent silence that is best reflected in the words from the Taize community's Within Our Darkest Night:

Within our darkest night, you kindle the fire that never dies away.

March 20th, 2008 - Maundy Thursday - Dancing in Sacred Space and Silence

Maundy Thursday again began our three day, three part service of Holy Week. This day commemorates the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and established the Eucharist. “Mandatum novum do vobis” (“a new commandment I give to you”) is the command given by Christ at the Last Supper, that we should love one another.

Pastor Fred was the assistant pastor for the worship this evening.
It was clear entering the sanctuary that great care was taken to physically change parts of the worship space and reinvent what we are accustomed to. As Pastor Dayle preached in her sermon the space tonight was sacred, holy and set apart.

The platforms often used as raises for the altar were set up vertically rather than horizontally on each side of the primary, center entry door. The platforms were draped completely with plush, purple material and 10 candles on each side were set up and lit. The altar was in the center of the sanctuary with the chairs surrounding it. Creator’s colorful “story” cross was in front of a purple curtain positioned under the wall with the stain-glassed window and a modified prayer corner was still set up. With all these different areas it pulled the piano and music area into the worship space visually.

The unusual set up made for some unique worship moments in a unique service.

Pastor Dayle, in her sermon, took us through the unusual order of the service as well, for example the Sharing of the Peace immediately after the Confession. As an aside she pointed out at Creator for most it is the Hugging of the Peace. This was a moment of reconciliation as powerful as the foot washing was a moment of humility and service to one another later in the service.

The foot washing was a complex moment for me. I didn't want to be analyzing things too much but alot of evaluations were going through my head. The washing seemed to be done with more care this year. It was taking more time than in past years and, I believe, there were fewer stations so I wondered. Should I participate, how many others wished to do it and how long it would extend the service?

Also, in past years, people lined up and there wasn't a need to go up two by two as happened this year. In years past there was a line and took turns first washing then having their feet washed. I felt a different shared experience with Greg than I have in the past as a result. Yet I still remember each foot washing experience from years past far more vividly than I would expect.

To face everyone during the communion of this worship in the round Pastor Dayle kept turning in a beautiful way. It was like she was dancing during the words of institution. There was an informality about communion without the altar being between the congregation and the pastors that this played into as well. A wood cup for the wine accentuated this informality as well.

The silence at the end of the service after the altar was stripped was both profound and charged. This silence was not the silence of contemplation that fell over us in our Lent worships. It was difficult to break this evening's heavy silence that was hard on our souls for the choir practice that took place afterwards.

March 6th through March 9th – Commitment to Action / RIC Training

Our RIC discernment at Creator has only just started in some ways and already it is becoming a story that is rich with grace-filled moments and fortuitous timing. Kelly’s moment of support at a council meeting was a grace-filled moment for me. Gretchen’s heartfelt presentation at the January congregational meeting was another. I’m thankful to have Mary, Janice and Toni together with Gretchen and Kelly working on this as a team.

The national RIC training coming to our area just as Creator begins our RIC discernment is astonishing; truly an unexpected gift and there were many moments of grace.

Five Creator members participated in some or all of the training from Thursday to Sunday at Central Lutheran Church. The facilitators; Emily, Michael, Bev and Jerry engaged all 44 of us that were in this training, from across the northwest and across denominations, to take what we have dreamed together individually and work to make it a reality.

We learned, made connections and were often filled with emotion as our friendships grew or deepened. We came away with a deeper understanding of faith based organizing, a powerful network of support, and a strong commitment to action.

What memories stick with me? We performed a role-playing exercise where a motion to consider RIC discernment was put forward at a mock council meeting. We were a like-minded group and yet as we argued between eachother frustrations and ill-feelings spread quickly.

After the role play our same groups had another exercise where we studied the Parable of the Good Samaritan and, in the end, each of us remembered our baptisms by dipping our finger in water and making a sign of the cross on the person next to us. The differences in the room were profound. The subject that concerned us came up naturally and not contentiously.

We told our stories. I discovered some inner motivations that drove me to attend the RIC Sunday last year that so immediately and permanently touched me. This happened as others asked me questions just as I learned about them with questions to understand them. We were taught how to have what they called uncommon conversations. They were.

In many ways this was like the Living Faithfully synod-sponsored events. A time set apart from other concerns. We learned about self among selves. One minute we would be in control, calmly talking about some event in our lives and then suddenly tears, anger, shame or joy as we described a past event.

Many times someone would point to an empty seat and witness that we were not alone as we were talking.

A true mover and shaper of the spirit of the event was Emily Eastwood. The anticipation of seeing her in action was a motiviation of mine to attend the training. She mixed humour, urgeny, keen instinct and insightful intelligence in her presentation. The collective experience moved us to a commitment to action. It was hard not to have your heart in all this.

At one point one of the facilitators, Michael asked the Don Juan DeMarco questions. Don Juan DeMarco is a film that stars Johnny Depp and Marolon Brando. For those who have not seen it, think of someone convinced of being the legendary lover, Don Juan and others trying to "cure" him of this delusion that he can offer this great love. I quote the questions he poses and his answer:

There are only four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same: only love.

This weekend, as I was training, my sister posted the answers her circle of friends and family wrote in response to those four questions some time ago after these questions had wakened the poetry of our souls. As I looked at my answers this weekend the syncronicity of those questions being in the training and posted on my sister's blog at the same time overwhelmed me.

Being overwhelmed this weekend was not unusual.

A true regret was missing worship at Creator and the choir's performance of Be Thou A Smooth Way. I understand that the performance was better than all of the practices.

Everyone at the training is looking forward to passing the insights that were shared with us to the rest of the Creator RIC team this Thursday.

March 5th, 2008 - Silence, Rock, Burnt Chocolate and Song

We sang, we heard God’s word read, we experienced silence during worship tonight. We also smelled burnt chocolate that permeated the air. I am not exactly sure what the story was as to how it happened but it was certainly not something to be ignored.

Yet it was the silence in tonight’s worship that truly caught my attention. There is silence between the readings during all Wednesday services but the silence tonight felt communal and personal at the same time. There was an expectation, and listening for something that was present with us.

Each of us brought a rock to worship tonight. Pastor Dayle asked us to think about our individual rocks and, when we lit a candle, we placed both our rock and the candle in the water beside the cross.

The prayer corner was another focal point of the evening. As the congregation sang I felt again this sense of being both in community and withdrawn from it simultaneously.

After worship was choir practice. The choir practiced a number of pieces we will be performing in the upcoming weeks. One, Mozart’s Ave verum Corpus, felt very pure as we sang. It is hard to describe what happens when a piece suddenly breaks away from a concern for performing the music correctly to giving way to the power of the composition but it definitely keeps me coming back to practice.