 There is an old joke that has been around the church for decades. How do you get rid of the bats in a church belfry? You confirm them – they’ll never be back again. I say it is a joke, but it is also sad. Beguiled by the world around us, too many believe that once we have had a short course of instruction in the Christian faith as pubescent teenagers, we are done learning about and growing in Christ.
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 Recent and ongoing events leave me with deepening concerns about humanity. People can no longer, it seems, get along with one another. This is partly due to the collapse of institutions and organizations that bear any kind of moral authority in our lives. The church is a primary example.
 Every Sunday, worship begins with a prelude. The musicians play softly, inviting us to prepare ourselves for what’s coming—a time to remember, confess, lament, hope, or celebrate. The music holds a kind of sacred space, a bridge from the noise of the world into the presence of God.
 (In the face of a world full of violence, war, school shootings and other turmoil, I realize that perhaps the most fundamental break with our Creator is the seed for all the rest. The first order of violence is what we do to God’s creation, and then to God’s creatures. What follows was first published in Grace Notes in October 2019)
Early this morning, with hot, black tea in hand, I looked upon my backyard, damp with rain and shadowed by clouds. It was serene, but not quiet. There was singing. I saw the lemon-lime sweet potato vine sweeping down the side of a pot on the deck. Its vivid color stood out against the gray of the day. It was doing what it was created to do. Above that luminous song, a woodpecker was wiggling into the cage containing suet, enjoying a morning meal. It was doing what it was created to do. Creation sings when creatures, and even rocks, trees and babbling brooks, do what they were made to do. “All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you, sing praises to your name.” (Psalm 66:4) |
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