Friday, December 15, 2006

Gloria In Excelsis Deo?


Every Sunday at Broadway we pray for one another and we pray for the world. A member of the church called me yesterday and sent me to the Internet to watch an ad about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. It shows people from around this country reading words of those who are dying and watching others die around them. My friend asked me, “What does it mean that we pray for Darfur every Sunday?”

It’s a good question. What does it mean to pray on Christmas? The ad ends with the words “400,000 in Sudan haven’t lived to tell about the genocide.” You can see the ad by clicking on this Word.

The Church, our church, and others are called to bear witness to hear the voices, to hear the songs, of all those who struggle and yearn to have a chance to live lives of hope and meaning even in the midst of violence and struggle. We not only hear the songs, but we sing them ourselves.

When I was talking with Rachel about this today she said -- "Can't we do more than bear witness?" Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Can't we? And then I thought...well maybe really bearing witness is much more than the empty meaning it seems to have all too often today.

Earlier in the week Rachel and I were talking about the liturgy for welcoming new members into our life together at Broadway. In my original draft we have this question (in part): Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness...? It led to this great question about whether people would understand that language these days. I struggled with it because I believe that it's hard to understand things like what is happening in Darfur without calling it...well..."wickedness." Or what words to use to describe what is happening to African-American young men in this country.

At Christmas this year, I ask you to find, in a magazine, a newspaper, a poem, a web site, a book – somewhere -- the voices of those whose lives seem very far from your own. Listen to a new voice. Listen to that song.

I'd like to think that our prayers in the sanctuary on Sunday morning, and throughout the week we are in hospitals, schools, homes, streets, businesses, lead us into acting out of the commitment we have heard and voiced in our prayers. The ad that I have the link to on this page is a very powerful communicator and it makes me wonder how we can be more visual in leading us into and out of prayer -- in leading us in and through our liturgy.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo. The words are from one of my favorite Christmas hymns -- "Angels We Have Heard on High." It's words challenge me to make sure not just to mouth them, but to sing them with my life. Gloria in Excelsis Deo? I sure hope so.

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