Community Worship
Sep. 25th, 2005 04:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosThis morning I returned to worship with the local Swedenborgian congregation for the first time in over a year. It is a 30-40 minute drive to get there from my home, and for a long time I simply did not have the energy on Sunday mornings. Besides, while I was attending seminary, it fulfilled my need for involvement in spiritual community. But since I'm on a leave from school right now, I don't have that community, and I've been missing it.
It was good to be back, welcomed with hugs and friendly questions about where I'd been and what I've been doing, with lots of gasps of surprise and admiration about how my daughter is growing up. I was invited to take part in the opening ritual, which is always a pleasure. It is a very small congregation, with only 20-30 people (at most) there on any given Sunday, so it's not a place where one can slip in and out without being noticed.
Each Sunday, the service begins with centering, then group singing, then a welcome, a children's message, and then the children are dismissed to Sunday School. Then there is the official 'opening ritual.'
The altar is set with a closed Bible, a center candle, and four smaller candles. Two people from the congregation come forward. One opens the Bible and says, "We open the Bible, one of many sacred writings in the world, as a symbol that God's Word is open and available to all." Then there is a quotation from one of the world's sacred scriptures or spiritual elders.
This morning, I read the words of an Australian Aboriginal elder who spoke of the Dreamtime. The last words were: "Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love. . . and then we return home." I found it particularly lovely to be given those words today since my studies over the past few months have been focused on shamanism.
Then the center candle is lit with these words: "We light the flame to remind us that the light of Divine Wisdom and the warmth of Divine Love are ever present." Followed by another quotation. [According to Swedenborgian doctrine, Love and Wisdom are the two fundamental attributes of God.]
The four outer candles are lit to the following words, each then followed by a quotation.
"We honor the good and truth found in all spiritual traditions."
"We honor and support the variety of individual paths which together make our one spiritual community."
"We honor an enlightened Christianity found in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, who wrote. . . "
"We honor and provide an open and safe place for all who seek a greater understanding and a life of deepening spirituality."
In the Christian world it is their doctrines that cause Churches to be distinct and separate, and because of these they call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, or the Reformed, and Evangelicals, among other names. It is solely by reason of their doctrines that they are called by these names. This situation would never exist if they were to make love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor the chief thing of faith. In this case their doctrinal differences would be no more than shades of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith which truly Christian people would leave to individual conscience. . . If this were so, all the different Churches would become one, and all the disagreements which stem from doctrine alone would disappear. Indeed the hatred one man holds against another would be dispelled in an instant, and the Lord's kingdom on earth would come. The church of the Lord is universal and all those who do the best they know are members of it.. Arcana Coelstra: 1799
Note that Swedenborg did not write that "all Christians" who do the best they know of, but simply "all." In his theology, the benefits of the redemptive act accomplished by Christ are universal. It is not beliefs or doctrines which matter, but the quality of love in a person's life. And love can be grown and deepened in any authentic spiritual path.
For our closing ceremony, we stand and form a circle with joined hands. Names are offered and repeated by the group as a prayer, and then we close with a simple benediction song sung to the tune of Eidelweiss. The song is particularly special to me because it was also frequently used as a closing hymn in the church where I grew up. This morning as I started to sing, I felt the tie going back to those roots. I would never have expected to find myself where I am today, spiritually speaking -- but I also know that if I went back to that church where I grew up, I would also be greeted with love and with friendly questions. I'm sure the reactions to where I am now in my spiritual life would be mixed, but I am also sure that most of them would do their best to try to understand, out of love.
It was good to be back, welcomed with hugs and friendly questions about where I'd been and what I've been doing, with lots of gasps of surprise and admiration about how my daughter is growing up. I was invited to take part in the opening ritual, which is always a pleasure. It is a very small congregation, with only 20-30 people (at most) there on any given Sunday, so it's not a place where one can slip in and out without being noticed.
Each Sunday, the service begins with centering, then group singing, then a welcome, a children's message, and then the children are dismissed to Sunday School. Then there is the official 'opening ritual.'
The altar is set with a closed Bible, a center candle, and four smaller candles. Two people from the congregation come forward. One opens the Bible and says, "We open the Bible, one of many sacred writings in the world, as a symbol that God's Word is open and available to all." Then there is a quotation from one of the world's sacred scriptures or spiritual elders.
This morning, I read the words of an Australian Aboriginal elder who spoke of the Dreamtime. The last words were: "Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love. . . and then we return home." I found it particularly lovely to be given those words today since my studies over the past few months have been focused on shamanism.
Then the center candle is lit with these words: "We light the flame to remind us that the light of Divine Wisdom and the warmth of Divine Love are ever present." Followed by another quotation. [According to Swedenborgian doctrine, Love and Wisdom are the two fundamental attributes of God.]
The four outer candles are lit to the following words, each then followed by a quotation.
"We honor the good and truth found in all spiritual traditions."
"We honor and support the variety of individual paths which together make our one spiritual community."
"We honor an enlightened Christianity found in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, who wrote. . . "
"We honor and provide an open and safe place for all who seek a greater understanding and a life of deepening spirituality."
In the Christian world it is their doctrines that cause Churches to be distinct and separate, and because of these they call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, or the Reformed, and Evangelicals, among other names. It is solely by reason of their doctrines that they are called by these names. This situation would never exist if they were to make love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor the chief thing of faith. In this case their doctrinal differences would be no more than shades of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith which truly Christian people would leave to individual conscience. . . If this were so, all the different Churches would become one, and all the disagreements which stem from doctrine alone would disappear. Indeed the hatred one man holds against another would be dispelled in an instant, and the Lord's kingdom on earth would come. The church of the Lord is universal and all those who do the best they know are members of it.. Arcana Coelstra: 1799
Note that Swedenborg did not write that "all Christians" who do the best they know of, but simply "all." In his theology, the benefits of the redemptive act accomplished by Christ are universal. It is not beliefs or doctrines which matter, but the quality of love in a person's life. And love can be grown and deepened in any authentic spiritual path.
For our closing ceremony, we stand and form a circle with joined hands. Names are offered and repeated by the group as a prayer, and then we close with a simple benediction song sung to the tune of Eidelweiss. The song is particularly special to me because it was also frequently used as a closing hymn in the church where I grew up. This morning as I started to sing, I felt the tie going back to those roots. I would never have expected to find myself where I am today, spiritually speaking -- but I also know that if I went back to that church where I grew up, I would also be greeted with love and with friendly questions. I'm sure the reactions to where I am now in my spiritual life would be mixed, but I am also sure that most of them would do their best to try to understand, out of love.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-25 11:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-26 12:00 am (UTC)You can visit on Sunday morning when you're here, if you'd like.
No pressure, of course!
(no subject)
Date: 2005-09-25 11:52 pm (UTC)How interesting
Date: 2005-09-26 05:57 pm (UTC)I began humming the tune of Eidelweiss to Trevor in utero several months ago. I kept thinking I should look up the lyrics (I probably haven't sung them since I was a child)...when I read this in your post, it seemed quite significant. Hmmmm.
Re: How interesting
Date: 2005-09-27 05:08 am (UTC)Eidelweiss, Eidelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Eidelweiss, Eidelweiss
Bless my homeland forever.
I was about four years old when The Sound of Music came out. I saw it in the theater, and actually remember standing in the very long line (I wouldn't see anything like it until Star Wars. I still get tears in my eyes during the farewell concert when the Captain sings this and gets choked up, and then the whole hall starts singing.
And here's the benediction version:
May the Lord, Loving God
Bless and keep you forever
Grant you peace, perfect peace
Courage in every endeavor
Lift up your eyes and see God's face
And God's grace forever
May the Lord, loving God
Bless and keep you forever.
Alternatively, you can sing, "Lift up your eyes and see His face, and Her grace forever."
I wish I could credit whoever wrote the lyrics, but I have no idea.
Re: How interesting
Date: 2005-09-30 03:58 pm (UTC)