Dear Friends in Christ -
The Spirit of God was so present with us this morning in our worship - as we sang, as we heard God's Word, as we heard a brief report from two of our members who just returned from working in Haiti, as we celebrated the ministry of our Sunday School teachers and the leaders in our youth groups. At the close of the service, we sang "Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord; open the eyes of our hearts. I want to see you; I want to see you." And indeed we did!
For me, the seeing of our Lord didn't stop there. I made the rounds and attended several parish related-events, culminating in a Mass Choir concert put on by the American Guild of Organists at Sacred Heart University's new chapel. It was powerful to hear members of 13 choirs from around the Bridgeport area join together in song. Heaven on earth for music lovers!
The amazing thing was that the choirs had less than two hours of rehearsal time together. It was clear that they made music so well together not because they all trained in the same style, not because any one or small group of them were such amazing singers on their own, but because they opened their hearts to listen to one another and opened their lips to offer their own unique contribution to the mix.
I sat there thinking, "Wow! If only all the groups I participate in throughout the community operated this way - with open hearts to listen and open lips to offer whatever good is inside . . ." Often, when I'm in situations where there is contention or division, someone says, "This wouldn't have gotten so out of hand if only someone would have listened." And, often, someone says, "I wish people would stop spouting opinions and simply offer to help."
Today I end the day praying that all of us will be led by the example of these choirs which made such beautiful music together . . . to open our hearts to listen and open our lips in beauty, encouragement, truth and peace. In this way, in whatever we do, we sing for joy.
Blessings,
Janet+
No comments:
Post a Comment