Tonight, we re-start our Lenten midweek tradition of Holden Evening Prayer at 7pm. Composed just over 40 years ago by Marty Haugen (who has his fair share of musical artistry in our hymnals), at Holden Village in Washington, it has become a cherished collection of vespers (evening sung prayers) for communities of faith around the world, including Divinity. Over the decades, the music has had a way of creating its own soul-soothing environment, of instilling beauty and hope no matter the hardship endured that day or whatever is troubling our hearts and minds.
I wonder if numerous instances in ministry are filled with “yes, but…” including for Ash Wednesday. Yes, today, will have its fair share of mentions of sin: our own individual messing up’s harming others (and God along with it), our own seemingly impossible-to-escape human nature of it, not to mention a worldwide reality of it. Yes, but…the church is also obligated today to ensure that no one gets bogged down with that not-so-Good-News to the point that some might wonder if it’s really worth trying to pull off acts of love and compassion and mercy.
It’s not always easy to navigate the shock for how much companies will spend for 60 seconds on television to sell a product, while also recognizing that in that one minute of time amidst one of the most watched events for the whole year, can come a soul-reaching message that many of us worship leaders cannot always pull off in much more time allotted than that. And it happened again this past Sunday, not only amidst most of America’s favorite game, but also amidst the larger backdrop of uneasiness, fear, uncertainty, worry, and an unwavering wish-could-do-more but not-willing-to-risk-it-ness.
As with many Christmas-celebrators, one of the standards for every holiday season (almost as if it may not quite be Christmas without it?) would be watching Home Alone and Home Alone 2, the films that somehow made a heart-felt and laugh-out-loud comedy about a child being left at home or lost in the biggest city in the world, respectively. Unfortunately, the one who played the mother in both movies that have managed to stand the test of time for over three decades, died last week in Catherine O’Hara.
There are a few instances in life in which one word can be mentioned, and the hearer can automatically remember where they were to watch it all unfold…usually in front of a television screen in the last half century, at least. Forty years ago, today, was one of those shocking moments that caught a nation and a world off-guard, and the video and corresponding images haven’t left our heart and mind memories since: Challenger. Just over a minute after take-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, after NASA set off its next space exploration team, the space shuttle appeared to explode for numerous many to see (whether live or tape-delay), including children in schools around the country.
