Birds in Church

Yesterday at church the Hymn of the Day was "Consider How the Birds Above" (Lutheran Service Book 736). Our bulletin contained the following note on the hymn:

"The Hymn of the Day is a contemporary hymn with words by LCMS pastor Stephen Starke and a tune by Daniel Zager, an LCMS church musician and doctor of musicology at the Eastman School of Music. The text is rich with Scripture, drawing not only from today's Gospel reading (Matthew 6:24-34) but also from 1 Timothy 6:8-10 and 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. With or without the music, this hymn provides a wonderful spiritual exercise, reminding us of God's loving care for us in our daily lives that we may be kept mindful of His grace and trust His promises: 'For He who faced for you the cross will give you strength to live each day.'"

When it came time to sing the Hymn of the Day I heard a few high notes from the organ, then silence. My first thought was that the Cantor must have made a mistake--maybe he started to play and then realized he had the wrong registration and stopped to fix it. Or maybe he just hit a few stray keys by mistake. It happens to the best of us. :-) But then it happened again: random-sounding high notes played in various combinations and rhythms that didn't seem to be connected. Then as I listened the randomness disappeared and it all began to make sense: BIRDS! I'm hearing birds! The bird sounds continued intermittently as the hymn introduction began in earnest and as the congregation sang the first stanza:

"Consider how the birds above
Feed day by day with carefree ease--
Does God not keep them in His love?
Are we not worth much more than these?"

Once I figured out what the organist (a.k.a. my husband) was up to, I leaned over to Evan, my 7-year-old, and called his attention to it: "Evan, listen! Birds! Do you hear them?"

He did, and his eyes lit up as he listened. I then showed him the title of the hymn and told him that it was about what we had just heard in the Gospel reading: how if the birds see no reason to worry we don't need to either, since God loves us even more than he loves them! Evan smiled with understanding, and when it came time to sing he joined me and made it through almost the entire hymn without a loss of attention. (Such is not always the case.)

I share this story to demonstrate how the tiniest detail can focus the mind and spark the imagination, not just for children but for sleepy grownups, too. The "birds" in the Hymn of the Day turned something abstract--the words on the page--into something concrete. Suddenly we weren't just singing about birds--we were hearing them! And that hearing led us to give more attention to the words of the hymn and consider its message and connect it to the larger theme of the service. It was such a small thing, yet it accomplished so much.

If you're a parent trying to teach young children to worship, keep your antenna out for things like this--things in the service that appeal to the senses that you can utilize to draw your children in. Don't be afraid to talk to your children during church and point out elements of the service that they can easily grasp because of their concreteness, and then use those things to discuss the larger, more abstract picture of what is going on in worship.

And if you're a pastor or musician, look for ways to highlight what is happening in worship in a way that illuminates the message for those in attendance (both young and old). It doesn't take a high level of skill, but it does take planning, which in turn takes time. But if our worship is as important to us as we claim that it is, doesn't it deserve a measure of both?

House Progress

Much progress was made this week! I know you've been breathlessly awaiting new photos, so I will avoid lengthy commentary and get right to posting them.

Built-in bookcases complete with crown molding

Close-up of crown molding

Sliding glass door with new trim - Door still needs to be stained

Far end of family room as seen from kitchen. We have a new TV! (My mom has our old one in her room.) We decided to have it mounted so as to save space AND be able to point it in any direction easily. The mount slides left and right, tilts horizontally and vertically, and even allows the TV to come out 12 inches from the wall. We first toyed with mounting the TV over the fireplace but settled on this arrangement, which allows it to be seen from the kitchen (great for parties) and also preserves valuable bookshelf space. If we had mounted it over the fireplace I would have lost shelf space to various electronic devices. By the way, the metal cabinet that is right now standing in the middle of the room is not going to stay there. It just doesn't have a home yet.




Here's a close-up of the piece I found to store all our movies & games and such in. It was purchased secondhand at a local antique & used furniture shop. A few scrapes and dings and one stubborn drawer, but cheaper than all the much less roomy new units I spent a few weeks looking at. I'm not sure what this originally was--maybe a buffet?

A shot of the opposite corner of the family room. I'm not crazy about the seating arrangement. Eventually I would like to get a L-shaped sectional sofa to replace what you see here. But that will have to wait a while.

A few close-ups of the desk you see in the above shot. It was my father-in-law's.

A few more shots of the room from different angles. Overall we are very pleased. The ceiling was repaired and painted as part of this project so now, of course, I want to paint the walls. Probably a pale shade of green. But that and the fireplace will have to wait a bit longer. For now, at least we can finally enjoy our family room!

BJS Conference Extras

Excellent blog post on the conference by Rev. Thomas Messer

Blog post on the Cantor's presentation by Rev. Al Collver

Audio links for presentations and the conference Divine Service

And a few pictures:

Pastor Fisk with three of his fans

Cantor Magness presenting on Witness

President Harrison speaking at the banquet

Trevor Magness providing pre-dinner music

And it tastes good, too!

From my 2011 Forgotten English calendar, here is part of the entry for Monday, February 14:

"In William Coles's Adam in Eden (1657), a love potion is mentioned: 'The confection made of cacao called chocolate, or chocoletto, which may be had in London at reasonable rates, is of wonderful efficacy for the procreation of children for it not only vehemently incites to Venus but causeth conception in women . . . . Besides that it preserves health, for it makes such as take it often to become fat and corpulent, fair and amiable.'"

Bet you didn't know your chocolate was doing all that! Go eat some more! (If you're married, that is--it is clearly only suitable for the hitched.) And have a happy Valentine's Day!

BJS Conference

The Brothers of John the Steadfast conference exceeded my expectations in more ways than one. I think much good came out of it, both in front of and behind the scenes, and I am proud to claim the head of the group as my pastor and the worship planner/musician for the conference as my husband! I met several people in person that I had previously only known online, two of whose efforts to teach the pure Gospel are an ongoing gift to the world: Rev. Jonathan Fisk of Worldview Everlasting, and Rev. James May of Lutherans in Africa. Wow. What excellent work they are both doing. I was also pleased to meet award-winning composer Terry Herald, who is a Lutheran church musician as well as the president of his BJS chapter and who is also the newest composer to be added to the Liturgy Solutions catalog!

My husband was called in as a last-minute substitute speaker for the conference. He presented on "Witness," the second of LCMS President Matt Harrison's threefold emphasis. As a member of the LCMS Board for International Mission and one who last fall went to Brazzaville, Congo to teach hymns and liturgy, he was well-suited to the topic. I bet it won't surprise you to hear that he made some connections between "Witness"--our confession to one another and to the world--and worship and liturgy. You can see a photo of him in action here. Continue checking the BJS site over the next week for more wrap-up and posting of podcasts. I also have a few photos that I hope to soon post here.

If you haven't attended a BJS conference, consider it for next year. They get better all the time!

Where did it go?

The week, I mean? I don't really know. But obviously blogging took a back seat, and for the next few weeks will probably continue to do so, as Solo & Ensemble season is upon us and I will be looking to fit in practicing and rehearsals for the 40 or so junior high and high school students that I am accompanying at contest this year. Add in four junior high choir concerts (plus the necessary rehearsals for those) and a conference at our church this weekend, and it will take all I can muster to keep up with much of anything beyond the absolutely necessary. It's like this every February. March isn't much better. Maybe I will be able to stop holding my breath in April.

Speaking of breathing, I have been having trouble doing so lately. Just can't seem to get enough air. Has anyone out there ever experienced this? I feel as though I'm in constant need of a yawn, but I can't seem to succeed in getting one. I have had this sensation at other times in my life so wonder if it's just stress. Then again, maybe it's allergies, or the chlorinated air that I have been breathing several times each week since I started attending a water exercise class, or the carrot I accidentally inhaled last week. Who knows--I'll just be glad when I can breathe again.

Anyway, the piano calls, so in lieu of more lengthy blog posts on the topics that have been on my mind of late, here are some pithy comments:

The Super Bowl halftime show was pathetically bad. I am aghast at what has become of our popular culture.

That Ronald Reagan was one of our greatest presidents has become a truism. Everybody acknowledges it, even those who opposed him when he was alive and would oppose him now if he were still with us. But after watching the Reagan 100th birthday tribute on Sunday and then viewing with my husband and children a documentary about his life and presidency, I have been reminded anew of the reasons for his greatness. And while I am saddened to see how far we as a country have traveled from the place that he took us to, I am also encouraged to remember how much he managed to accomplish in his eight years as president. It gives me hope that if we as a nation can find and elect the right leader we can reverse our current course and return to the path that he put us on.

Finally, if you homeschool in Illinois, you need to be paying attention to this. Really, if you homeschool anywhere I think you will want to watch how this effort plays out. With apologies to John Donne, "Any homeschooler's loss of freedom diminishes my freedom, because I am involved in homeschooling. Therefore, never send to know for whom the educational despots grasp; they grasp for thee."

Blizzard Videos

Evan is surprised by his dad, lying in wait in the snow.

Surprise! - Blizzard of 2011 from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Shiloh catches snow fever.

Frisky Beagle - Blizzard of 2011 from Cheryl on Vimeo.

Blizzard of 2011

Some shots from the Blizzard of 2011, in no particular order.

Back yard with snow touching bottom of granny swing

Snow drift on front steps

View out the front windows


Front yard



View out the front door




Shoveling a path for the beagle

The driveway is done, but the front steps await!

And the shoveling begins

Our neighbor helped.

Almost done!

Front of the house

There are some steps under there somewhere!

View across the street

Phillip standing in a snow drift in front of the neighbor's house.

Snow piled up in front of the garage.

Collapsing before he even began.

Staying warm with love.

Shiloh exploring

Back of the house (no sunroom!)

Phillip sitting on the swing with his arm buried in the snow.

It's a snow recliner!

Me and Evan

Building a fort for the snowball fight

A Little Trip South

We have been on the road the last few days, taking my older son to audition for the music program at University of Alabama. The school was not one that was originally on Trevor's list, but they came after him with a pretty enough offer that he decided to give them a look. The visit went well, but Nebraska is still number one on his list. I think Trevor is theirs to lose. I am amazed when I think back to the beginning of his college search to recall that UNL was not even under consideration. It was an accident, really, that it came to be so. Sure, my husband is a huge Husker fan, and he raised Trevor to be one, too. But that's not the reason Trevor began looking at UNL. It all started when I took Trevor to a local college fair. There was a UNL table there, but hardly anyone was visiting it. We stopped by "just for fun" and in doing so discovered how well they treat National Merit scholars. And then Trevor researched their programs and became even more interested. Finally we visited the campus and met a top notch piano professor that impressed us in more ways than just his music. And then UNL turned on their recruiting machine. It's not final yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if the path between our house and Lincoln gets well trod over the next four years. We should know in a few months, and when we do, I'll announce the news here!

But back to the weekend. It was a quick trip with a lot of driving. We left Thursday, spent Thursday night in Nashville, Friday night in Tuscaloosa, and Saturday night back in Nashville, arriving home tonight. Everyone went, including Caitlin and Evan. It was a lot of time cooped up in the van watching the Sponge Bob movie more than most of us cared to, but we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the time together away from responsibilities, not to mention the warm temperatures in Alabama Friday and Saturday. We hit the 70s! We had a meal at the highly recommended Full Moon BBQ in Tuscaloosa, and several of us enjoyed a swim in the hotel pool (actually, that swim occurred in Tennessee, as the pool in Alabama was an outdoor one). And on Sunday we had the pleasure of worshiping at Grace Lutheran-Clarksville, shepherded by the meandering Pastor Larry Peters. We were warmly welcomed by Pastor Peters and several of his flock. The music and preaching were excellent and we felt right at home. I was interested to see something I have not seen at many Lutheran churches. Following communion, Pastor Peters invited those who desired it to come forward and kneel for anointing. Enough people did so that the altar rail was almost full. Pastor went from one to the next, speaking Scripture and praying over each one while anointing him or her with oil. I was touched by the love and affection that I saw demonstrated for each individual that came forward. It was a beautiful ritual. I am not sure how often it is performed, but my guess is that it is a periodic event. Fifth Sundays, perhaps? Maybe Pastor Peters is reading and will let us know.

All in all, it was a fine weekend. We did have a larger than usual number of fast food foul-ups. The worst was Thursday night when we arrived in Nashville. We dropped our bags at the hotel and went in search of a late night snack. We were happy to see a Jack-in-the-Box, one of our old Texas haunts that doesn't exist in Illinois. We went through the drive-through lane only to realize that no one knew what he wanted and there was a car behind us. So rather than making that car wait we decided to drive around and just go in. Of course, as soon as we did we encountered another car at the window, and that car seemed to be having a problem with its order because we were stuck for a long time. Finally we got out of the drive-through lane and parked and went in. But wouldn't you know it, after everyone finished studying the menu and we started placing our orders (which were heavy on the ice cream products), we were told, "We're out of ice cream." I couldn't believe it. Who ever heard of a Jack-in-the-Box with no ice cream? Evan was crushed. Out we went. Can you guess where we ended up? Say what you want about McDonald's, in all the times we have been there they have never, ever run out of ice cream.

Can We Talk?

Pastor Beisel at One Lutheran . . . Ablog! writes about what he sees as a "confessional awakening" in the LCMS and suggests that for it to be truly fruitful confessionals need to be able to have meaningful discussion:

"There is so much fear out there still–fear to say the wrong thing. Fear to offend, or to take a position that is not popular, or to offend this group or that group of friends. If we are really going to take this confessional awakening into the end zone, then I think this is the key. We have to be willing to stand up and take a stand on things, and not just give 'thought-provoking' papers, or write 'provocative' essays, but to actually bring the Word of God to bear."

I think he's right on. Problem is, I also think the fear that he speaks of is well-founded. In my experience, those who take a stand for what they believe in risk ridicule and marginalization. If they dare to chart a course that departs at all from the narrowest of confessional paths, their "confessional credibility" is likely to be questioned. If they stand up to those with more power or influence or popularity, they risk being labeled as difficult, volatile, or not a team player. If they don't play by all of the confessional rules, their club membership may be summarily revoked. In the long run they are turned out, no longer included in the discussion, no longer invited to the table. No wonder there is fear.

Before he was elected, the new LCMS president Rev. Matt Harrison outlined something called the Koinonia Project, which as I understand it would be an ongoing effort to address some of the questions that are dividing our synod with the hope of finally bringing some measure of resolution to them. I have always looked at the Koinonia Project as something aimed at bringing together the so-called "liberal" and "conservative" wings of our church body. But more and more, I think we may need a Koinonia Project for just us "confessionals." Before we can even begin to think about coming together as a synod, we need to learn to communicate in love and kindness and openness with one another. How to make that happen, I have no idea. Sometimes I despair of it ever coming to pass.

Just Stop Talking, Please

Pastor Messer at Abide in My Word is asking for comments on a video he recently posted. It is a great example of what many of us mean these days when we use the term "Contemporary Worship." (I capitalize the words to make a distinction between worship that is Contemporary and worship that is contemporary. All worship is by definition small "c" contemporary since it is something that happens in the present.)

Anyway, I encourage you to watch the video and participate in the discussion. As I was doing just that, I came across another video from the same church, Faith Lutheran in Troy, Michigan, that I think is quite lovely. It is a flute choir, accompanied by piano, playing an arrangement of "Be Still, My Soul" as the Prelude to the service. Whereas my church would never present anything musically comparable to the video posted at Pastor Messer's blog, I could easily see us doing something like this. It is a reverent instrumental interpretation of a hymn from our synodical hymnal (LSB 752) presented at an appropriate time in the service. The problem comes when the Prelude is over. Instead of embracing the stillness and quiet of that moment when the music is over and the service is about to start, the "audience" breaks into applause. What happened to "Be Still, My Soul"? And then, wouldn't you know it, the pastor has to come out and add his own two cents about the whole thing (starting at about 3:40 in the video):

"Praise God for instruments, right? I hope that that music that was played would help set your minds on, as the Bible says, things above, not on earthly things . . . . When we come in to worship . . . that's God's doing, and He's here, right with us, and He helps us to worship, Amen?" That comment is followed by an introduction and additional chatter.

Before I opine further, here's the video:



Again, I think the music is very nice. The applause and the pastor's comments ruin it. How much better if once the Prelude were over the service continued, without interruption, into the Confession and Absolution. No discussion needed. Just confess the sins and get the absolution. It's almost as if by talking about how God is present, the pastor is trying to convince himself and the congregation of the fact. The pastor is correct in saying that worship is "God's doing" but then he contradicts that statement with all his talk. And that's the problem with much of the Contemporary Worship I see. The people so often seem to be trying to convince themselves that God is acting by their talking and singing about how they feel. If we trust that God is present in Word and Sacrament we don't need to talk about it, we don't need to demonstrate it, and we don't need to look to others to demonstrate it to us. All we need to do is soak it in.

In sum, we don't need to try so hard.

Disturbing

At the 2010 convention of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, my husband was elected to the Board for International Mission, newly formed as a result of the synodical restructuring that was approved at the same convention. As part of his duties on the board, he has been giving the assignment of reading a book on missiology: Mission from the Cross: The Lutheran Theology of Mission (Klaus Detlev Schulz, Concordia Publishing House, 2009). This morning, he shared this passage from the book with me:

"Mission typically penetrates areas where the negative effects resulting from man's inability to be good stewards of God's creation are starkly apparent. Werner Elert once compared our failure to be good stewards to riders in a closed paddock where the horses are allowed to trample everything under the hoof. Therefore, not everything brought into this world through the progress of civilization should be seen in a positive light. The alarming increase of the world's population, the ongoing drain on the world's resources, the destruction of pristine rain forests, the pollution of land and water, and atomic radiation are all a result of human failure. The myriad of such failures prove that in order to be better stewards of God's world and creation, we must use our reason in a faithful and conscientious way. For God placed the obligation of taking care of His creation into the hands of humans . . . ."

I am speechless, utterly speechless to see this sentence-- "The alarming increase of the world's population . . . [is] a result of human failure"--coming out of our synodical publishing house. The increase of life is never alarming. It has nothing to do with human failure. It does not drain resources. God gives it and wherever he does so we are to receive it with joy as a blessing, not look upon it as a burden or lapse in stewardship. Whatever other good there is in this book, and I'm sure there is some for it to have been assigned for board study, this sentence for me would call it all into question. Did anyone even read it before it was assigned as a guidebook for one of our synod's governing boards? Both possible answers--the affirmative and the negative--are disturbing indeed.

Disturbed . . .

. . . by so many things these days. The world, even more than usual, seems turned upside down. Things I thought I could depend on, people I thought I could believe in, "experts" whose judgment I thought I could trust, leaders who are not leading, "friends" who may or may not fit that designation . . . all of it seems called into question. I find myself wondering whom I can trust, what I can embrace without hesitation, what I can rely on without doubt. The answer comes back: nothing and no one save Him who is eternal. I know this. Why is it so easy to forget?

At Long Last, or How I Spent My Weekend

Last spring we began making plans for a major home project. We finally embarked upon it this fall. It is not primarily a remodel but a repair, as it was necessitated by the accelerating decline of an aging, leaky sunroom that was causing water damage to our house. After researching our options and the associated costs, we decided that our best course of action was not to repair or to replace but to remove the offending structure. That removal opened up some other possibilities for changes to that part of our home, one of which was the building in of custom bookshelves (yay!). As our house has been in a state of flux and mess and chaos for months now, those bookshelves have been a lodestar to get me through the remodeling darkness. So you can imagine my elation last weekend when they finally arrived and this weekend when they were at long last installed!

I wish I had taken a few more "before" pictures. I had to search for one of the interior of our family room (which adjoins to the sunroom). Here is a shot from Christmas of 2009. Beyond the 2-way fireplace and the glass panels on each side is the sunroom that was built on to the back of our house (not by us).

Here's an outside shot of the sunroom.

A shot from inside the sunroom of the other side of the fireplace and glass panels.

Bye-bye, sunroom and hello, patio.

Then, the plastic time.

Finally the plastic was gone and dry wall took its place!

No more glass. No more 2-way fireplace.

HELLO, BOOKSHELVES! After seeing them in place, we found ourselves wishing we could have replaced the brick, too.

It was a major undertaking to move all those books. I'm tired and my back and feet hurt. But I'm so pleased with the result! I wish I had taken a photo of the old, falling apart shelves.

LP records and games are stored in the cabinets.

There is much left to be done. New siding is on the back of the house (you will have to wait until spring for a picture of that), but gutters and downspouts are not. Landscaping will also wait until spring. The bookshelves are actually not quite complete--crown molding and knobs for the cabinets are coming. A new mantel and eventually a new fireplace will be installed. A new sliding glass door is already in place in the kitchen, but it still needs trimming and staining. Ceilings and walls need painting. Carpet needs to be stretched and stapled back in place. I'm sure I'm leaving something out. But for now, we finally have a family room that is functional!

Until the painters come . . . .