A last piece from this section of "Let the Bones Dance" - Marcia W. Mount Shoop - in a section called 'Disposition of Interdependence: Embodying Relationality.' Worship experiences that allow bodies to be awake to interconnection are centrifuges for dispositions of interdependence to be practiced and to spring from lived realities. Worship can be a place where churches learn to settle in to the labor pains that usher in new ways of being church.... We surrender too a power we share in. This kind of surrender brings with it expansive possibilities instead of a rigid set of standards. The power allows us to stretch a bit. It does no constrict. This kind of power releases us from the need to control with our consciousness or rationality: it allows us to live with contradictions and creative tension. Distortions are gently healed relational practices that pay attention to differences, to uniqueness, to strangers who cross our paths, and to strangers within ourselves. The idols of individualism and conformity that we tend to deify in church communities can give way to icons of active, ingenious, embodied relationship. The Spirit moves freely when the Body of Christ remains open to the interdependence of God's creative presence. The fact that we come together as one body means that the individual must move away from what is mine and for me. Worship draws us into what is ours - what is given to us - the people of God - the body of Christ. Since I am up front each Sunday, I must say that I thoroughly enjoy the visuals. I enjoy seeing singles and couples and families all arranged in pews and in seats as they - as themselves - take part in the larger picture of worship. It is not always easy - but people work at it. There is the noisy child and the parent(s) who attempt to limit the disturbance - the very quiet soul who is often sitting with closed eyes - the many faces of people participating in the singing of a hymn - the person that does not sing - the person who does not say the creed - those who find delight in the enthusiasm of children being children in worship - the ones who are embracing fear and doubt - the sad and lonely, each one taking us beyond ourselves as we worship the one who claims each and every one in the boat. It is truly in such a space that the Spirit moves the church in new ways through new days. The Spirit brings all of us together in the hope that our relationships and companionships will bring life to the world. Connection: I find that the Holy Spirit is always expansive. Too often, I hear people talk about 'spirit-filled people' but when I look at them, their lives are filled with restrictions. I find the expansive wind of the Spirit to be life-giving and adventurous. Gather us as one, O God, so that we may see the way you open yourself to the wide variety that makes us your beloved humanity. It will be then that we begin to see the other as sister or brother. Amen. |
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