Dear Friends,
Music has filled my days this week in the appropriately named town of “New Harmony” (site of several utopian experiments in the last 100 years).
I was helping with a retreat for a group of young clergy. Ken Medema, who gifted us with his music in worship last June 1st, listened as each young clergy person shared a story with him. After each story, the person would sit down, and Ken would sing a song he had just come up with based on the story.
After a song you might hear quiet, interrupted by sniffles and the blowing of noses as tears flowed. Other times you might hear everyone join in a chorus of “Do small things!” in response to a Kenyan pastor’s story. Another time, as the last note was sounded, the whole group jumped to its feet in applause, and then as Ken continued to play and sing, everyone danced. The laughter, tears and music made me wish we could do this every Sunday morning for everyone who gathers together.
Our stories, your stories are stories of joy and trauma, stories of gifts and challenges, stories of history, remembering, family, friends and one-time encounters. We will spend the next few years listening to and telling each other our stories. I’m glad we sit in a sanctuary surrounded by art telling some of the stories of the artists.
What is clear is our lives, our stories, our art, our music could also be known by another name: Scripture. God didn’t stop speaking when the book went to press, but continues to write in our lives and stories.
Let’s listen….
Keep tellin’ the Story,
Michael Mather
Please enjoy this piece – Viva la Vida performed by a flashmob!
This week’s takeaway: Each of our lives is scripture, is song, is a piece of art.