Worship and Refreshment
Fr. Tony’s Letter to the Trinitarians
The Trinitarian Parish Newsletter
June 2012
Over the last few weeks, I on several
occasions have found myself moved to tears of joy and reverence during the
Trinity choir’s singing of an offertory or communion anthem. The choice of music is so fine, the choral
direction so sensitive and informed, and the actual singing done with such
heart, that it was difficult not to hear the angels in the rafters. It has made me wonder if our worship and
liturgical practices, as good as they are, match the high standard set by our
music ministry or our pastoral care teams’ service.
June 15 is the commemoration of Evelyn
Underhill, Church of England writer on the mystic experience, who died on this
day in 1941 at the age of 65.
Hill’s 1911 book, Mysticism: A Study of the Nature and Development
of Man's Spiritual Consciousness, did much to rid the study of peak
religious experience of the intellectual objectification and relative emotional
sterility that had been introduced by William James’ 1901 book, The Varieties of Religious Experience.
In describing worship, she likened a
congregation to a tide-pool depleted and wasted at low tide that suddenly
revives when the tide turns and the fresh ocean begins to flow in:
“Many a congregation when it assembles
in church must look to the angels like a muddy, puddly shore at low tide;
littered with every kind of rubbish and odds and ends - a distressing sort of
spectacle. And then the tide of worship comes in, and it's all gone: the dead
sea-urchins and jelly-fish, the paper and the empty cans and the nameless bits
of rubbish. The cleansing sea flows over the whole lot. So we are released from
a narrow, selfish outlook on the universe by a common act of worship. Our
little human affairs are reduced to their proper proportion when seen over against
the spaceless Majesty and Beauty of God.”
This is not just a matter of being quiet and prayerful in the minutes before worship begins and after it ends. It is a matter of maintaining a relaxed attentiveness to what we are doing in worship, whether it is reading the scriptures, preaching, saying the Eucharistic prayer together, or actually communing at the altar rail. It is also a matter of being spiritually open to practices that are beautiful and meaningful to others with whom we worship but that we may find, for many personal reasons, uncomfortable.
This is not just a matter of being quiet and prayerful in the minutes before worship begins and after it ends. It is a matter of maintaining a relaxed attentiveness to what we are doing in worship, whether it is reading the scriptures, preaching, saying the Eucharistic prayer together, or actually communing at the altar rail. It is also a matter of being spiritually open to practices that are beautiful and meaningful to others with whom we worship but that we may find, for many personal reasons, uncomfortable.
As we move into ordinary time and the season after
Pentecost, and as we continue to seek to discern what our congregation here at
Trinity does best, and what gives us the deepest joy while identifying how we
can make this meet the deepest needs of the community around us, may we notice
the refreshment that worship gives us.
And may we in our private and family prayer life continue to pray for
growth at Trinity, and attracting more worshippers, including young people and
families with children.
Grace and Peace,
--Fr. Tony+
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