Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Movers and Shakers

Who'd have thought it? Not just that our Sunday worship seems to have been enhanced by the use of musical instruments ... but that it is not only children who take the shakers out of the box! It is fantastic - to see people of a wide range of ages taking a shaker or seed-filled egg or tambourine! Without meaning to sound over-the-top, it's one of the best things about being the minister of this church! Why? Because it's not just about making the singing better than before - with people contributing to the overall sound in new ways. It's also about worship being a community activity - it's something we all do - and a bodily activity - it involves not just our mouths, or ears, but our arms and hips! And to play instruments, along with the organ, with three-year olds and seventy-three year olds, we certainly need our ears, but also our arms - and our smiles (because sometimes it's really funny), as well as our patience (because sometimes the shakers are shaken at the "wrong" time!) But more than that - may be it also helps us to think of ourselves as "movers and shakers" out in the world, too ... to see that our worship of God leads us to be people of hope and joy, justice and peace in the world. That's a thought.