Quote of the Day: Matthew 18 (The Message)
18-20 Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.
To follow up on Thursday’s Post, I did play for Palm Sunday worship service. We are a newer Lutheran church in our area, a smaller congregation, and we gather at the middle school cafetorium on Sunday mornings for worship. Yesterday, it was the site of a chess tournament. Three of my boys played in the tournament, one earned a medal. They all played great and had fun. The one who didn’t play, enjoyed being an individual, having free time, and reading a good book.From chess boards, and serious concentration on Saturday, to a worship space on Sunday, this space is filled with the Holy Spirit. With just a few symbols of our faith, a cloth over a folding table, candles, scriptures, and a piano, we come together as a congregation. Members took speaking parts as we read out loud the script of the drama to the cross. Verses of hymns broke up the dialogue, and I felt the Holy Spirit working through my playing, through the words spoken, through the fellowship of my faith community, and the spirit of this place.
We had a larger attendance than expected, so I had to think fast for additional communion music. I played a piece called Song of India, but you can only repeat and tag back so much. When I saw that the servers ran back for extra communion wafers, I pulled out Beautiful Savior, our sending hymn.
Monday, this space will be a cafeteria again filled with middle schoolers. They will be loud and rough, or meek and quiet. They’ll spill milk on the floor and flirt with that girl or guy from math class. They’ll be thinking about grades and friends, and wishing for summer vacation, and worrying about their families, and trying to be grown up, but needing to be just kids.
And, the spirit lingers on.
Journaling Prompt: How was your weekend? Did you have any spirit moments?
Mary, That’s really neat that the cafeteria is providing so many precious memories! We had a “sick” weekend, kids laying around the house and battling fevers and coughs.
Ohhh, Mary, thank you ever so much for sharing!!!
Oh, so MANY God stops!!
In a moving Palm Sunday service in Beeville, Texas, the pastor spoke of Christ, THE LIVING BREAD, being born in a MANGER, a place to put FOOD for animals.
And I met a jewelry artist whose work hangs around my neck.
And God arranged a divine appointment with a man here in Beeville, Texas (our vacation spot) who shared an experience in an East Coast China village years ago. Yep,same place my protag. for 4th book resides…
I am overcome with God’s goodness; better stop now.
Patti
Sorry to hear about all the illness. Hoping for a quick recovery at your home.
Patti, thanks for sharing all those God stops. How great!
Wow, what a beautiful changing scenery of life transpires in your cafetorium! It sounds like the service went very well. I took a long walk with my daughters as winter temps made a return here! It’s been a quiet weekend, all in all.
Joanne, glad you got a walk in despite the chill. I went for a bike ride.
A situation with friends has been challenging me lately, Mary, so this weekend I still gave some thought to that problem. But I also had a great sense of peace about it, and that was really comforting.
Rosslyn, So sorry to hear about your challenging situation, and glad that you’re feeling peace.
That would make a beautiful image for a novel, you know … meeting for services in the character’s cafeteria. You should tuck that memory/image away for future fodder.
And, our Sabbath was lovely. We took a long walk after dinner. hooray for spring!
Oh, thanks, Tess, for the great idea for a story setting. Will definitely tuck that one in my back pocket. Your Sabbath celebration was amazing! Saw the pics.
Your service so reminded me of the simplicity of services in Kenya, where worshippers gathered beneath an overhanging tree, with a simple altar but with the most gorgeous voices lifted to the heaves. Thank you, Mary.
Whoa! I HAD to return here to comment…your previous post made me want to craw thru the Internet, give you a big hug and say Yes, you can; Yes, you’re good enough. We’ve all probably encountered negative voices at one time or another (I have, anyway, like those around me) and know that these voices not only hurt but linger. Bravo your sister held firm. Bravo you’re in another church. I’m so proud of you for getting your sea legs back (not everyone does). Play On!
Kittie, you are so sweet. Thank you for the description of the Kenyan service. It must have been amazing. And, thank you for those affirming words. I tucked all the compliments I received in my heart for when the Negatives growl again.
How did the playing go?
We had a lovely Sunday as well. I feel happy when I’m at church and reflect on my God and my beautiful family.
Tamara, the service went well. Glad to hear that yours was also a joyous experience. Happy Easter, soon!
Hi Mary,
Thanks so much for the kind words on my blog today. I’m glad you hopped on over from Elizabeth’s blog and even more glad that the words encouraged you!
I had a lot of spirit moments last weekend. The biggest being a homeless man who kept me company the entire time I was greeting before our Saturday night church service. A cop dropped him off at our church. Afterward, hubby and I found him and took him out to dinner and prayed with him. It was one of the coolest things. God is good!
Blessings to you!
Katie
Wow. Katie. What a generous spirit you have! Glad to be connected with you.
Mary, I’ve been wanting to tell you how proud I am of you and your music and how glad I am that God put me in your path around this time last year, so that I could share in the suffering and then Resurrection with you! Happy Easter and thanks so much for coming to visit yesterday! XXOO, Roxane
Roxane, Glad to have you back in the commenters box. I was glad for your presence at that time, and now. Lunch and conversation with you are as sweet as the desserts that we share!