Under Construction
The Contemplative Service happened this morning - I enjoyed speaking as I felt well prepared and pleased with the material I was presenting. I basically turned the 'Under Construction' post into a talk and included the MLK quote that Rima typed in the comments section.
To really drive the point home we did three things.
1. We put Caution Tape across the front of the Chapel.
1. We put Caution Tape across the front of the Chapel.
Because the tape blocked off the altar area it really added to the feeling of separation from God. This was something I alluded to in the talk. As you can see from the pic on the Right Hand Side we also used our media screens to run a 'Breath Prayer'. As people sat at the start of the service the screens instructed them to focus on their breathing and all that they could hear. They were then told to say to themselves "Be Still' as they breathed in and "...and know that I am God" as they breathed out.
Breath Prayer is a spiritual discipline that I often use and I find it very helpful.
The second thing we did was something that occured to me as I walked up to start the meditation.
2. Pew Kicking!
As I shared the story of trying to lead worship with construction noise happening outside it occured to me that Experience is better than Information. I wanted to find a way to make a distracting noice and all I could think of was to kick the side panel of the front pew! It worked rather well :) I must have given it about 15 kicks during the meditation - all as a way of illustrating the point of the distracting nature of Construction and how God is really in that place with us.
3. Tape Ripping!
We had to get the tape down to be able to serve the Communion Elements. We kept the tape up during the Consecration and as the Minister held up the bread and broke it, I broke one tape and allowed it to flutter down. As the Cup was held aloft I held up the second tape in a similar manner and also broke it. It was a nice connection to the Communion Symbolism.
People seemed to connect what I was sharing this morning - and I felt good.
Breath Prayer is a spiritual discipline that I often use and I find it very helpful.
The second thing we did was something that occured to me as I walked up to start the meditation.
2. Pew Kicking!
As I shared the story of trying to lead worship with construction noise happening outside it occured to me that Experience is better than Information. I wanted to find a way to make a distracting noice and all I could think of was to kick the side panel of the front pew! It worked rather well :) I must have given it about 15 kicks during the meditation - all as a way of illustrating the point of the distracting nature of Construction and how God is really in that place with us.
3. Tape Ripping!
We had to get the tape down to be able to serve the Communion Elements. We kept the tape up during the Consecration and as the Minister held up the bread and broke it, I broke one tape and allowed it to flutter down. As the Cup was held aloft I held up the second tape in a similar manner and also broke it. It was a nice connection to the Communion Symbolism.
People seemed to connect what I was sharing this morning - and I felt good.
2 comments:
Peter you are very talented. I wish I could have heard what you had to say. Anyway it is available online anywhere.
It's not available on line, but the link at the top of the page too 'Under Construction' is basically what I talked about!
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