After Easter...

We have covered a lot of territory over the last few weeks.    Lent and the roller coaster ride of Holy Week where we enter Jerusalem full of hope and aspiration, only to witness death on the Cross.  Then came the big bang:  Easter and the Resurrection.

Over this time span, Christ has walked on the earth with us, breathed the air we breathe, shared our joys and suffering.  Up to Good Friday, we lived with Christ and watched him die on that day once and for all; facts on the ground attested-to through the Scripture, and very real and verifiable places that exist to this day.

It is Eastertide.  Since the Resurrection,  Christ remains with us, but his presence becomes more shadowy.  We “know” that Christ is resurrected.  But, he is not  yet departed from Earth.  He appears and disappears.  He walks through walls and has encounters.  Doubting Tom has been reassured. 

We are decidedly transitioning more and more into the realm of faith, now.   Christ’s worldly, fleshly existence on this earth is morphing from a direct experience of him as one of us; to a more esoteric, other worldly and entirely faith-based realm of existence.   One foot in the door and the other in the afterlife that awaits us.

After the upcoming Ascension, Christ will return to his eternal home.  We will be left with  memories of the experience of Christ in our living midst; the shock of his Resurrection; and  the final farewells and transition to his seat at the right hand of God, culminating in Pentecost.

While Christ will no longer be of this world;  he has left us the tool chest from which the Christian faith and Trinitarian theology could be formulated, codified and carried forward.  In the early years of the church, a creed developed, as well as liturgy and patterns of worship.  And of course of seasonal cycles and holy days to commemorate important messaging was packaged and transmitted forward to us.

We are on our own, now.   But well-equipped.  We can keep our own balance now as we spiritually journey onwards, following the footsteps of Christ both in this world and the next.  To be re-lived by each generation of believers.

In John, we hear a passage that encapsulates this concept, “And now I no longer in the world, but they [those to whom you gave me] are in the world, and I am coming to you.”   That’s us!

Look at the flowers, trees, plants and creatures that come alive, as if mirroring this amazing realization that was conferred upon us via our Jewish ancestors two millennium ago.

- James Harrison, St James Groveland

The Postlude

A message from the blog host:   Rev'd Susan is not available this week, you are in for a treat!  Ms. Sarah Brink, Director of Music found this blog by Pam Robinson (I have no idea who she is other than a musician and a pretty eloquent one) on how we perform and listen to music in church.  I hope you enjoy it.

What Is a Postlude?
  Does Anyone Listen?   Does Anyone Care
Unless an organist/pianist has the opportunity to attend and play at a congregation that stresses silence when exiting the sanctuary, they may unfortunately often experience loud talking, chatter, hustle and bustle of the congregation as people make a mad dash out the door after the closing "Amen." The postlude may become more like background music and as church musicians we may think or ask, “Is anyone listening?” This can be frustrating, but just because everyone is leaving doesn’t mean no one is listening. So how can we approach this particular situation?

•  Most importantly, we need to remember we are playing for God and the edification of his people. If the congregation leaves or stays in the sanctuary talking and socializing, the message that we convey is that we are still offering our best music to God. 


•  Postlude music should reflect the spirit of the meeting and should never be approached as an afterthought. If the meeting was quiet and reverent, the postlude music should also be quiet and reverent. If the meeting was jubilant and full of praise, the postlude music should also reflect jubilation and praise. I have found that when the postlude is chosen for its relationship to the theme or sermon of the day, there will always be a few people who will have their spirits uplifted and touched. Some may decide to stay and reflect on what has transpired or even come to the piano or organ console and share their appreciation verbally. 


•  If chattering becomes a huge problem, consider playing a more meditative, quiet postlude, it’s a great way to keep people praying and reflecting on what has just transpired. The postlude should function as the last musical commentary on the entire service. I’ve had many experiences where people have come to me said, “Wow…what a wonderful way to end the service” and then I hear them singing or humming the tune that was played.


•  Finally there is the personal part. It’s enjoyable to play pieces of music; it helps one stay in practice. It helps the musician develop more skill, whether it’s sight-reading, registration, improvisation, or some other skill. A postlude doesn’t have to be a mammoth 5-minute work by a major composer; sometimes only 1 or 2 minutes of music is needed. Believing in the words of the song you’re playing, and allowing God's spirit to work with you, causes you to play so that the people listening feel what you’re feeling. You can actually express your emotions through the way you play the song.

Remember, the postlude can be just as important as the prelude in providing ministry and in the sending forth of the people.

an article from Pam Robisonon - 

posted bySarah Brink, Director of Music, Trinity Haverhill

"Putting on" the breastplate of faith and love, or learning the rules?

A group of us from St. Paul's in Newburyport are traveling to El Salvador in July under the auspices of Fundacíon Cristosal to continue some mission work we began a year and a half ago. I'm privileged to be able to go along with our group. But, I never learned to speak Spanish: I grew up in the era when most public schools taught French instead.

So, lately I have been cramming to learn this new language. I'm using one of those total-immersion tutorial computer programs, and it's a really transformative experience. The last language I learned was the Koiné (Biblical) Greek I studied in seminary.  In that class we used a little black textbook full of grammatical jargon and lists of vocabulary words.

Fun grammatical fact to know and tell:  When Jesus said (Mark 1:15) "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." the verb fulfilled is the written in in the perfect passive indicative tense.  Wow! How about that?

I can hear you muttering "Whoop de doo. Who cares?"  Who cares, indeed?  Maybe some Bible geeks care (I admit that I am a Bible geek), but these factoids of grammar don't have much to do with the life of the world, do they?

But this full-immersion Spanish curriculum I'm studying doesn't work like that. I'm a month into it, and I haven't yet heard one word of grammatical jargon.  Instead, I hear sentences and see pictures, and the program asks me to speak and write what I see and hear.  Amazingly enough, it's working: I'm starting to "put on" this new language. I'm starting to learn it without knowing anything about it. When I tune in Spanish-language TV I'm starting to be able to follow what people say.

Is there a lesson here for our journeys of faith?  Most Sundays we repeat the Nicene Creed in worship. Certainly, if we spend a lot of time unpacking those words we can learn plenty about our faith. If we're trying to figure out who Christ Jesus is, there's a lot to be gained from pondering over "God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made."

But, learning about Christ Jesus is not the same thing as experiencing his presence. Paul didn't write a letter to his congregation in Thessalonika saying "this is faith, and that is love." Instead he urged them to put on, and to wear, that faith and love.

That's what the Way of Christ Jesus is all about: putting on faith and love. When we do that, it's like learning the language from the inside out. It's about recognizing Christ in the people around us, and about growing into his full stature. Learning about our faith journeys is good, just as learning about a language is good. But living our faith journey together is VERY good.

May the peace of Christ that transcends all understanding guard your hearts and minds.

Ollie Jones+