Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Beauty for Ashes
Automata 7.0
An online friend of mine was sharing some of his frustrations with being a minister of worship on a time schedule. Having lead worship in several church communities over the past 15 years, he reminded me of some of what I had experienced.
I always thought it important to not have a "quickie" with God; that the people needed to learn the presence of God, and learn how to worship in everyday life. Why restrict worship to a once or twice a week sing-a-long? Can we not also worship in the quiet of our drive to work, in the beauty of the sunset, on a canvas, in our writing, in the faces of the busy streets around us? As a worship leader, I found it to be vitally important that the people learn to be able to find the quiet place within, even when the day seems like a freight train on route to our central nervous system.
I've stood in worship for over 2 hours with a congregation before. They were lost to themselves, and in the arms of God. I've also been given 15 minutes, and prayed that God use every minute He could, and it left the people broken before Him for a short time, and confused and cold when it was time to move on to the next 15-minute segment of the service. In the early 90's, I had a great teacher in a prophetess I knew well. Whenever I would lead worship with "songs to cheer people up", she would tell me that I missed the mark. Her words so lovingly guided me over the years, until I learned to abandon myself in God. I remember her one-day saying to me that we "touched God." It was then I knew what it was to truly worship; and that day set the pace for a lifetime of discovering what it means to rest and be still with my Beautiful Divine.
You see, worship becomes a place where we find rest in God, where we can "be still and know that I am God." When we abandon ourselves to Him, He gives us Shalom - perfect peace, wholeness, prosperity, welfare, tranquility, safety, health, contentment, success, comfort, and integrity; nothing broken, nothing lacking. There is a great need for us to learn how to rest in God, and let Him hold us and take care of us. There is a great need for us to learn our true source of strength, and that no matter what may be going on in the tempest that surrounds us day in and day out, we can find rest in God. This is worship. The songs, liturgy, art, readings, etcetera, are merely rituals that help us to focus on entering into that rest. They are a training, or if you will, taming of our spirit. Some use the soft lighting of a candle or the reading of liturgy. Some use songs pleasing to the ear or lifting to the soul. Others may use the silent meditation of lectio divina. Even others use the feeling of clay between their fingers, the stroke of a paintbrush across an empty canvas, or the force of a pen spilling forth its endless thoughts onto the ever-wanting parchment. Still there are others who have no need of a tool such as these. They have taught their spirit the presence of God, and need only a single thought to find themselves present before Him.
I have found that place within, the quiet place that is sometimes the frightening reflection of myself that I have so often run from. I have also found rest there, when I am still for long enough to hear its gentle whispers.
How do you find worship throughout your day? Is there something special that helps you find rest in the presence of your Beautiful Divine? Is it an action, a certain item, or perhaps a thought? Where is God amidst your tempests?
