Bit of a mix of various reflections this week:
Worship styles: I bought a bit of an odd CD this week, but one which I have been salivating over for a while - "Fisherman's Friends" - from the Cornish Fishermen based in the coastal town where they filmed "Doc Martin." And it's truly great: mostly sea shanties but with that wondeful male part singing and with vibrancy and guts. And at the moment I'm playing it everywhere. It reminds me that Worship in a church should be a broad spectrum of styles. To be completely frank, I for one would grow rapidly borred and yes, stale, if every week I went to church it was exactly the same thing played in exactly the same style. God is not tied down to styles of music, but refreshes us in numerous ways. I don't think that I am unique in having such a large spectrum of music taste in my upbringing, having sung in opera, choral society and choir when young, as well as listened to The Jam, Undertones, Cliff, Elton and oh so many I could continue. Lets keep that freshness in our worship of God!
Holidays & resting: whatever else we may do, holidays need to a part of life. A holiday should be defined as doing something different to what we normally do - on an emotional, physical and spiritual level. Not to do so would drive a person insane and burn them out. Whatever else, be refreshed this summer! Do something different!
What kind of church: I reflect that these days belonging to something is not in trend. Membership of anything is not in vogue and this is seen across all kinds of institutions and societies and the church is not exempt. However, at the heart of the kind of church I Pastor and belong to is the word "covenant" which is that sense of mutual committment to one another and to God. That's what sets apart the church from thr secular. Fundamentally this is about family. Am I apart of this or that family? That is one of those radical steps that is against the trends of today.
Half way: the summer is essentially half way, the sixth or seventh month, a natural pause point for many to look back and look forward to the remainder of the year. I reflect that for me, this year has in all honesty been a really hard year so far. There have been, it seems, challenge after challenge to face up to and deal with. I'm not going into here what those challenges have been, but they have been exhausting - emotionally and spiritually. I reflected last weekend how it feels personally to me: like the experiences of Job. Security after security taken away. Elsewhere this morning I have posted "when will the storms cease?" Will they? I so hope so.
The final Potter: and as a quick ps, I went to see the final Harry Potter film last weekend. and yes, it's all that it claims to be - but a quick gripe: 1) the emphasis is perhaps dominated onto the final battle at the expenses of all other aspects of the final book. 2) the "19 years later" scene is rubbish and a waste of time. The only one who pulls off being middle age and a convincing parent is Harry himself. 3) even the Gringott's scenes are hurried and generally the film seems to be in a rush to get to that battle scene.
A brilliant film? Well, not as convinced by that as some film critics are stating. So, what's next, I ask myself?
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