I get up early most Wednesdays. These days it is very dark when I get up early. I walk the dog in the dark, grab a bowl of cereal, and set out for our congregation's morning Matins service.
We hold Matins in our small chapel, around the corner from the main sanctuary. A small group of people, mostly retired, gather every Wednesday at 8:00 a.m. to sing and pray together.
This morning when I stood in front of them, I noticed that I had not taken down off of the walls last Wednesday's confirmation lesson. There were some simplified scripture passages on the walls, all part of our lesson on Isaiah last week. We heard the vision from Isaiah 2 of peace on God's holy mountain, of the nations streaming to Israel, turning their weapons into tools for farming. We lit candles and listened and we also looked around at the walls.
In bright markers, some simple phrases were written: "Death Will Be No More" "God Will Wipe Away Every Tear From Our Eyes" "There Will Be No More War" "Pain Will Be No More." "Weapons of War Will be Transformed into Farm Implements."
It was not great art. Just butcher paper and masking tape and printed words. Visions. Some of the things we hope for. Someday.
I had cleaned up the candles, but I had forgotten to take the papers off the walls.
I explained to the worshipers our lesson last week. I said I would make sure to take the paper down soon.
"That's all right," they said, looking around. "You can leave it up for awhile.
The home of God is among mortals. The handwriting is on the wall.
1 comment:
OH, I like that quite a lot. I wish there were ways to involve the whole congregation in confirmation preparation. That makes everyone a stakeholder. And, aren't they? Really?
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