September 23, 2018 - Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost - A Mistake and Unexpected Moments of Meaningfulness

At 93 my mother peacefully passed away this past Wednesday at her assisted living facility.  For the next few days everything I did felt uprooted from how I usually experienced daily events. I even considered not attending this Sunday's worship until I was in a less melancholy mood. Before long, however, I felt a deep urge to follow my Sunday preparation routine. Following a routine is something my mother would have done. Carrying on.

I looked for hymns and music I didn't know and, thankfully, they were all familiar. I read through the Gospel lesson for an emotion or thought to emphasize or, at least, not contradict the messages in the readings.

Some in the congregation expressed their sympathy and condolences about my mother before worship. The congregation's performance of the opening song, Geoff Bullock's The Power of Your Love, felt very intimate. Pastor Ray's sermon on the disciple's arguments of who was the greatest was a continuation of "the disciples just don't get Jesus" theme that was there last week. I had followed the routine and worship was fairly usual until midway through the service.

I was getting ready to play guitar and sing the Hymn of the Day which was, as printed in the bulletin, I Want To Walk as a Child of the Light. Unexpectedly we played Thy Holy Wings, the next hymn, instead. Really just the music leaders were singing because the rest of the congregation did not known the words for this hymn. It was the Offertory hymn and the music could have been found there. Matt realized a good way through the first verse what was the "correct" hymn to play and we went back to the true Hymn of the Day.    

Yet this out-of-order Thy Holy Wings connected deeply with me. I knew this hymn was one of my mother's favorites but had not thought about it until that brief time we were singing it. The Prayer of the People nestled in before the Offertory where my mother's name and my family's grief was included. Another performance of Thy Holy Wings bookended the prayer and this was a powerful moment for me.

That would have been enough but the service ended with Canticle of the Turning which held special significance since the song was sung at my son's baptism.

The musical connections in this service were obviously personal and provided an emotional context this Sunday in a moment that was meaningful.

The Oblique Strategies card for this Sunday was "Just carry on".