The Flash! – May 21, 2015
The next time you need an inoculation to drive out darkness and doubt, or an injection of hope and light, find your way to an elementary school band, orchestra, and choral concert. Really, you haven’t lived until you’ve had the experience. In order for the vaccination to work, however, you must first prepare by suspending any expectations of technical precision or professionally polished performance and presentation. Instead, prepare yourself to receive the blessing of what it looks like to live in the moment with raw, unfiltered, and unadulterated joy.
Earlier this evening I received my inoculation and injection: a concert with everything from classical Haydn to rockers Bon Jovi and Journey, from ragtime to jazz, and from Beethoven to the blues. The Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby made an appearance, and the Indiana Jones theme brought down the house. It was all capped off with a prepubescent rendition of a creative medley of “Lean on Me” and “Don’t Stop Believin'”.
Now if music isn’t your thing, check out a local Little League schedule and head out for a game. And if sports aren’t your thing, keep your eyes pealed for a local school’s production of one of your favorite plays. And if music, sports, or drama aren’t your things, find a park with a playground and just soak in what the confluence of freedom and joy look like.
This Sunday we will gather and celebrate the presence and role of the Holy Spirit in our faith and in our journey. On the first Pentecost there were not yet guidelines, structures, and doctrines about what was liturgically appropriate. In the absence of expectations and assumptions there was an openness, if not a desire, to live in the moment.
I was reminded this evening that the young ones in our midst have a powerful Pentecost lesson for us: God is much less concerned with how polished our performances are than with the spirit in which we offer them. May God bless us to not just live in the moment, but to do so with joy and rejoicing.
Peace,
Andy