Finally, a mild Sunday! I was actually brave enough to go outside this morning in a coat rather than my Tuktoyaktuk Parka, which I seem to have been living in for months!
With Nick away today, I took the early bus down to St. Stephen’s House, laden with a strange collection of items from a staple gun to game boards, from my knitting to a box of coloured paper clips. As you might have surmised, it was All Ages Gathering Sunday, and today we focused on the Spiritual Discipline of Prayer.
The Gathering included a 24/7 Prayer Video, personalising (with Washi Tape), the individual Prayer Journal booklets I had been assembling over the past
week, a Prayer Challenge game,Prayers gathered from different cultures and read aloud in various languages, then hung on a Lenten wall montage and… Liturgical Dance.
week, a Prayer Challenge game,Prayers gathered from different cultures and read aloud in various languages, then hung on a Lenten wall montage and… Liturgical Dance.
I was leery as to what sort of a participatory response there would be to the dance. Blair was leading music and had offered me a couple of options from which to choose for choreographing. I chose “We Fall Down”. Standing beside Blair as he announced the song and invited everyone to follow my moves, I was fearful that the piece would end up as solo and was pleasantly surprised as I began to see almost everyone on the room, young (very young!) and old, following my gestures in a beautiful, corporate act of worship. Several people said they had been moved to tears watching the piece unfold and it was a most unexpectedly profound experience, making me realise just how much I have missed the weekly practices with St. Matthew’s Liturgical Dancers, and the numerous Services at which I have had the privilege to dance in prayer.
Even though we had been a bit shorthanded preparing for the Gathering and there had been many emails back and forth all week, the finished product was a mete offering to the Lord and, hopefully, one which filled up our community members for service in the world during the coming week.
The balance of the day will be spent in more prosaic activities like making dog food, ironing, mending and other mundane tasks, but, hey, mountain top experiences can only be short-lived, be must return to the “valleys”, but one hopes nourished and invigorated for the work ahead!