What we really can't live without

 

At church Saturday night one of my many rambling thoughts included “Jesus, we believe the weirdest stuff.”  I will let you decide if I meant a proper noun, an adverb or a verb.  I think Jesus would like us perhaps to think all three but eventually circle back to the first choice.  I had forgotten what Rite I of the BCP sounded smelled and looked like and why I love it so and hope it never goes out of vogue.  According to people who observe such things, there is a large movement of the postmodern generation of church goers who are leaving their low protestant roots and more hip styles of worship and flocking to the more orthodox style of worship.  

The last time I had been in that church was for a funeral.   She was my very first hospice patient and I loved her.  Somehow, I think she might have sat down next to me Saturday and whispered in my ear, “Child, would you please settle down.”  She always called me that.  Child.  She also promised to always watch my back from heaven and to always pray over Davis.  I believe she does.  She would have loved my Prada shoes that I found for 35 dollars and my new cream colored silk ruffled blouse.   She would have told me however, that I probably should keep my wrap on since it was sleeveless and I was after all in God’s house.  I forgot.  She also would have approved that I walked up the aisle bare-footed to receive communion.   She would have thought I did that because I knew I was walking on holy ground, but in truth, I forgot to slip them back on.  Not kidding.  I hope the priest didn’t mind.  And I can promise you she would have made Davis tuck his shirt in and wear socks.  She like I, were raised in the buckle of the Bible belt south and you always dressed for church.  To be honest, I kind of miss that.  Dressing for church. 

So, if you think you can’t live without food, water and shelter, you might just be in the minority.

Time magazine reports that out of 5000 people surveyed:

84% said they could not live without their cell phone for a single day.

1 in 5 said they check their cell phones every 10 minutes.

72% of adults use social networking websites.

73% of all American smartphone owners said they would feel panicked if they lost their device.

 When British respondents were surveyed on things they couldn’t live without:

Facebook came in at No. 5 and flushing toilets at No. 9.  And thank God we fought that war.

32% of all college students said that the Internet is just as important to them as food, water, shelter.

49% said it was not as important BUT PRETTY CLOSE.

High speed internet is the one technology that they couldn’t live without.

30% of all Americans check their phones while having dinner with someone.

40% of all Americans check their phones while on the toilet.

1 in 4 Americans have sent a sexually provocative image to their partners via their cell phones.

97% of consumers use the web to do local shopping and 72% of internet users have sought health care information online in the past 12 months.

91% of teens have posted a picture of themselves on Facebook and Instagram.

46% of adult Americans use Facebook to post videos they have created.

So if you think you can live without your phone, Facebook profile and internet…turns out maybe not.

But it occurred to me Saturday night that I can’t live without smells and bells.  The liturgy helps us live out a story in a story deprived generation.  We are characters in a divine drama that helps us realize we are part of something larger than ourselves. 

 Originally, the use of incense in worship was to mask the smell of the sacrifices, later in the medieval church it was used to mask the scent of the animals kept close to the church and the body odor of the worshippers.  Incense invokes a blessing.   The Gospels are blessed with it, the altar, the congregation, the priest, the bread, the wine.   

The practical use of the big bells at the belfry is to call the attention of the faithful before the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and other sacraments. It is also used in times of fire, storms and any other disasters to warn the people. Generally, important liturgical celebrations of the Catholic Church are heralded by the sound of the bells. St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, introduced the bells as a means to summon monks to prayer in the fifth century. Another practical use of the altar bells may have originated in the very architecture of the old Church. Before, there was a certain degree of physical separation between the faithful and presider in the sanctuary. There were even communion rails before the Second Vatican Council. In some cases, the altar was totally concealed from the faithful and only the sound of the bells could give a hint that the priest has reached consecration.

The processional used in Anglican worship is stunningly beautiful:  from the crucifer to the gospeller to the thruibers to the priest to the deacon.   Watching them process allows me for a moment to forget about my shoes.  Practicing genuflecting allows me to forget me.  And Jesus really does know I need that.  The icons remind me of the beauty of our world and no one really knows what Jesus looked like and this is good because Jesus looks like all of us.  The color of the vestments remind what time it really is and to remember the measure of all of our days.   Smelling the incense reminds me to stop… and breathe….just breathe.  The bells remind me that angels are all around us and sometimes we know their names and there really is a great cloud of witnesses watching over us all.  The altar facing East reminds of times far more ancient than my own and this good…people before me and after me have watched this ancient rite of the Church and stood in awe and wonder.  The blessing and standing for the reading of the Gospel reminds me how good the story really is.  And my story is part of The Story. The Nicene Creed written in the year 325 still is relevant….We  believe  in God…the maker of all things visible and invisible…Jesus…God from God…light from light…begotten not made.   We believe in the resurrection…forgiveness and life everlasting.  Repeating the prayers, the creeds, and the collects reminds of the power of the word that is The Word.   The kneeling reminds me to be humble and to remember that we are standing on holy ground.  The breaking of bread and blessing of the wine still speaks to me of mysteries that I will never understand.   Every single element of the worship service is laden with mystery and meaning from the number of candles to the number of times the bells are rung to the colors to the bowing to the words to wine to the bread to the hymns and psalms.  Mystery and meaning that transcend time and eternity.

I really do pray, “Jesus we really do believe the weirdest stuff.” And usually, hopefully, prayer after prayer and after experiencing perhaps a year praying with the Church year after year…the whole liturgical year…I am reminded of as we pray…we believe.   And I really do pray if I was polled and asked to name the one thing I can’t live without…that I hopefully I might say…The Anglican Mass…Rite I. 

In  deepest gratitude for the congregation at Christ Church for sharing the power of liturgy with those of us who forget and struggle with the weirdest stuff.