Peace and Quiet

People seek God’s presence in their lives for a number of reasons, but most often I hear a deep need to find connection and peace in the midst of chaos. These are valid, sensible needs and, even if they are not your primary reason for coming to church, they are a great way to develop our relationship with God.  I believe that it is important to set an intention when we worship, focusing our energy on what is important to us and for us in that moment.  During this Advent season, I invite us to set our intention to seek peace and quiet in our hearts, minds and spirits.

Our primary interaction with each other and God each week is our Sunday morning Worship.  I have seen an unsettling pattern of people arriving later and later each week.  Services start at 8:30 am and 10:30 am.  We want to be respectful of your time, so we so we begin the service at the designated time.  The entire service is important and we want you to experience all of it.  Perhaps this season we can be intentional of not only showing up in a timely fashion for the service, but even a few minutes early to get settled and centered for our worship. 

Additionally, I have also noticed a lot of noise in the Sanctuary prior to the start of the 10:30 AM service, even during the Prelude.  I find this distracting and unhelpful to prepare for worship.  There are other places in the building to have conversations if you want to talk, but prior to the service, it is a time for reflection and focus, not socializing or dealing with the many important aspects of our lives together.  We have Coffee Hour and the rest of the week for those conversations.
 
When we enter the Sanctuary, it should be just that, being in a holy place set aside for our being with each other and God.  We need to be intentional in being peaceful and quiet.  Our worship can be loud and joy-filled, but let us be mindful of our preparation apart from the noise and busyness of life.  Take a few moments to slow your breathing, clear your mind and focus your attention on the Spirit’s presence in you and around you.  You may experience worship more completely when you do it with intention.

I will also be more intentional about offering several minutes of silence during the service.  We need to make space for the Spirit to move in our hearts and minds, and silence is one of those ways, since we have so little of it in our lives.  It will feel awkward, but that is OK.  A new practice is never easy to begin, but that doesn’t mean it is not worthwhile. 

Prior to offering the Collect of the Day, I will say, “Let us pray.” I will pause for a minute or two at that time to offer the opportunity for all of us to set our intention for our worship. Then the spoken prayer, literally, collects all those intentions into one communal intention.  Similarly, after the sermon, there is a time for reflection.  I don’t do a great job of holding the quiet, so that is my opportunity to live into this exercise.  And the service is framed with a second “Let us pray” prior to the Prayer of Thanks and Mission.  Here is another opportunity to be intentionally silence and offer our thanks for the worship and consider what we will take out into the world with us.  We will start with these three places for intentional silence to seek God’s still, small voice.

Today’s reflection would not be complete without acknowledging the Thanksgiving holiday.  I am mindful that each week we offer the “Great Thanksgiving” in the Eucharist, so offering thanks and praise to God should be habitual and intentional for us. And yet there is something powerful when our entire country stops for a day to be intentional in our giving thanks.  We do have much to be thankful for, including the wonderful community at St. Barnabas.  Thank you for all you do and God’s blessing be with you all today and always.

In Christ,

Rev. Valerie+

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