My friend Jon has invited people to an interesting discussion on his brilliant blog about the similarities of theme in both our Valedictorian addresses. Like him, I am not sure if the similarities are because we are both friends, we read each other’s blogs, have similar experiences before seminary, or if it is symptomatic of a wider questioning of “success” in ministry. Take a read of his address and feel free to comment on his discussion here.
Is this a growing common theme? What does it mean? Is it good or bad? Where will it lead?
This last Sunday I had the opportunity to go to a local Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship) and attend their worship service with my Inter-cultural class. It was fascinating on so many levels and I learned a lot. You can learn a lot of things from a classroom or a book, but nothing beats learning by experience and this was no exception. The Sikh community was incredibly welcoming and gave us a full tour as well as hosted us for lunch.
One of the highlight for me was seeing the children run around freely and unencumbered in the midst of their worship. Even during the prayers (which was a highly respectful time), kids were just being kids and it was acceptable and embraced. Children were frequently running back and forth from father to mother, grandmother to grandfather (men and women sit on different sides of the room) without it being a distraction or annoyance to anyone. This is one of those things I wish was more evident in Christian churches as kids were just being kids, even in the midst of their worship and teaching.
What would it look like for our Christian worship services to be more family friendly and naturally relaxed around children? What makes it so tense when a child cries or a child gets antsy? Why do we feel awkward or embarrassed when this happens ?
I think we are often oblivious to the pervasive individualism in our society and culture. We go about our lives and don’t realize how much or world-view is affected by our very individual perspective. Interesting, it hasn’t always been like this, as I have been reminded of recently in my studies. For example, did you know that in medieval times people didn’t sign their artwork – there was no thought of individualistic ownership or copyright? Did you know that in the Ancient Near East, the perspective of life-after-death was a communal one; they believed that they would simply live on in the memory of their community? Those are just two examples that has led me to the question:
Have we, in our culture saturated with individualism, lost sight of a communal perspective on life, theology, ministry, art, worship, reading, prayer, preaching, family, life, work, school, etc.? Are we blind to an important community perspective? How would that perspective affect us?
Have you noticed that the “minute of silence” has gotten shorter and shorter over the last several years – we even call them “moments” of silence now. There seems to be a weird cultural allergic reaction to silence that permeates almost every activity (individual and corporate). This simple observation leads to the following question:
Why are we so uncomfortable with Silence? Do you take time to purposely “fast” from noise? Do you Sabbath from active sounds?
