Beauty — Page 20

31 Days in which I Am Saved by Beauty – Day 7

October 8, 2012 By Diana

Have you ever been hungry for something

and didn’t know it

until you ate,

and found relief?

Tonight, we held our first Taize worship service,

and I was filled with the sweet and savory

presence of the Lord.

If you are unfamiliar with Taize, I write out for you here the descriptive paragraph found at the top of tonight’s worship folder:

A Taize service is a worship service of sung prayer and contemplation. The distinguishing marks include repetition and silence. Taize style prayer is repetitive with simple musical lines and core biblical texts that can be sung by a whole assembly. The assembly is to immerse itself in the simple but profound harmonies and let itself be carried by this sung prayer. Silence is perhaps the second most important aspect of this particular prayer practice. It is simply holding oneself in the presence of God and letting Christ, through the Holy Spirit, pray in us. The simple, repetitive prayers and an ample silence are means for the gathered assembly to “hear the Word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.” (Luke 8:15)

Candles, candles everywhere,
soft light spreading,
flicking
into dark corners,
lighting our way into the room.

Thirty-five people,
sitting spread out in the space,
two-thirds of them
under the age of 25.

Gentle singing, sweet harmonies, simple words . . .

“Come and fill our hearts with your peace,
you alone, O Lord, are holy…”

“In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful,
in the Lord I will rejoice!”

“Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten.
Those who seek God never go wanting.
God alone fills us.”

A three-fold reading of Mark 10:13-16,
a lectio passage that spoke
to the deepest places in my heart tonight.
“…that he might touch [the children]…
and he took them up in his arms,
laid his hands on them,
and blessed them.”

“The kingdom of God is justice
and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Come, Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom.”

A penitential psalm . . .

“O Lord, hear my prayer. O Lord, hear my prayer:
when I call, answer me…”

Space to make silent intercession for others.

And then . . .

. . . this . . .

Our worship leader led us in the refrain,
“Adoremus Te Domine,”
and then he chanted,
very simply,
these lines,
in between each simple singing of that phrase:

“Christ the Lord, you became poor and you offer the kingdom of heaven to the poor of the earth.”

“O Lord, gentle and humble of heart, you reveal a new world to all who abandon themselves; we receive of your fullness.”

“O Lord, you fell prostrate on the ground, and you show us a path of consolation in our distress; you are the joy no one can take from us.”

“O Lord, you shed your blood, and you give the cup of life to seekers after justice; you quench every thirst.”

“O risen Lord, you showed yourself to the disciples and you pluck from our flesh our hearts of stone; we shall see you face to face.”

“O Lord, you divest the powerful and clothe peacemakers in festal robes; you transform us into your likeness.”

“O Lord, first of the living, you welcome into the kingdom all who die for you; we dwell in your love.”

Sung liturgy.

That’s what I was hungry for,
starving for,
in fact.
And I didn’t even know it . . .
until I heard it.
Until I took it in.
listening,
eyes closed,
singing the refrain,
holding my just-lit Christ candle.

Saved by beauty, indeed . . . indeed.

As the service ended,
we each took our candles,
placing them in the white sand
surrounding the
One light that lit us all,
a circle of flickering flame.

And the melting candle wax
dripped onto my finger,
stinging,
biting,
as I moved my one,
lone light
to join the circle.

Because sometimes
to step into
the circle of light,
we have to burn a little.
Sometimes
we have to let ourselves
drop out of our
carefully shaped
plastic holders
right into the dust of the earth.

Oh, that the Flame would shine,
brilliant and true,
through the gathered Body –
in this place,
for this time.

Joining tonight with Michelle, Jen, Ann, Jenn – and with Laura and Laura this week, too:

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Beauty, community, Music, The Church, worship

31 Days in which I Am Saved by Beauty – Day 3

October 4, 2012 By Diana

It is dark as I begin.

I am an owl, a night owl,

so this early morning darkness

feels strange to my skin.

Yet it invites discovery.

I sense a secret,

waiting to be unwrapped.

I gently close my lodge-room door,

walk down the lighted hallway,

the one on the outside

of the building,

searching the downward pathways,

the ones that take me past the art studio,

the gallery,

the large covered pergola,

the tennis courts.

I am hunting the jogging track.

One quarter mile,

circling through the brush,

winding a bit,

decorated with deer scat,

yet carefully tended and groomed.

Like everything else in this place,

a welcoming thing.

Slowly, the morning sun

makes itself known,

and as I reach the halfway

point of round four,

I stop for a moment

on a bench, perfectly placed.

And this is what I see.
The darkness is fully rent now,
no more flash required,
that flash on my small pocket camera,
the one that bounced back
at me,
reflecting only
trunks and branches.

Now I can see through them
to the river below,
almost out of sight,
down the grade.
The river that flows easily,
gracefully,
gently.
It does so in the light,
but also,
it does so in the dark.

In the feeble, clouded light of day,

I can see the path itself,

all of it –
the edges,
the surroundings,
the general direction of things.
And somehow,
it feels more real,
more solid,
more purposeful.

Yet nothing has changed.
The river,
the path,
the trees –
all of them are there
in the light and in the dark.

But sometimes it takes being in the dark
to fully appreciate the light.
Sometimes what seems hidden
in the dark
is not really hidden at all,
only veiled beauty, waiting
to shimmer in the light of day.

And sometimes we have to walk
the path when we’re not sure
where it is,
much less where it’s going.

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Beauty, Blogging, Laity Lodge, personal journey, Spiritual Formation, Writing Retreats

31 Days In Which I am Saved by Beauty – Day 2

October 3, 2012 By Diana

The blessing of Moses over the land of Joseph:
“Blessed by GOD be his land:
The best fresh dew from high heaven,
and fountains springing from the depths;
The best radiance streaming from the sun
and the best the moon has to offer;
Beauty pouring off the tops of the mountains
and the best from the everlasting hills;
The best of Earth’s exuberant gifts,
the smile of the Burning-Bush Dweller.”
Deuteronomy 33:13-15 – The Message

Ah, this is a land blessed by God. The canyon edge

does not a mountain make. Still, it pours beauty.

Fountains spring up from the depths and a river is born.

From far below the ground, tumbling from a secret place,

a hidden lake makes the Frio flow.

Together, canyon and river, they wander these hills,

carving layers of pink and golden beige,

encouraging cactus, wildflower, scrub brush.

Standing on the edge, the sun sets behind you,

and history shines up, right into your lens.

You remember that eons flowed, suns rose and set,

the earth turned millions of times before you ever looked

through that viewfinder.

Strange comfort, this feeling. Maybe the beauty,

this shimmering, reflected glory,

speaks to the grandness of God,

the faithfulness of stone, the stability of water.

Maybe the whole idea of age is ludicrous

in such a setting. Three score and seven is a blink,

a sigh, a shift in the sandy soil at the bottom of

all

that

water.

Filed Under: 31 Day Blogging Challenge, Beauty, biblical reflection, Blogging, personal journey

31 Days in which. . . I Am Saved by Beauty

October 2, 2012 By Diana

At the end of it all, I am tired.

I am weary, to tell it true.

I wonder about so many things,

so many people,

so much pain,

confusion,

loss.

There are days when I am tempted

to lose heart.

To chuck it,

check out,

roll over and play dead.

And then . . .

I walk into a room

where I will be alone

for a few days.

And I sigh, deep.

I peer through the slats,

find greens and browns,

lines and curves,

light and shadow.

And I am stunned,

silent.

I hear water,

moving over rocks.

Smell rain,
coming in the back door,
blowing, dancing,
playing with the sky.

I find welcome,
tables spread with goodness,
candles lit,
napkins ready,
bread fresh-baked.

I find row upon row of hand-thrown mugs,
colors of earth and sky,
ready,
for the taking,
for the warming.

And the sighs keep coming.

One of my mother’s

greatest gifts to me —

the finding of beauty in both

the everyday gifts

and the

once-in-a-great-while ones.

Like simple wild roses,

and cerise beauty-berries,

exotic and unusual
to this California
grandmother.

Solid, old hymns,

and newly-minted words,

all of it gifted

with excellence

and joy.

There is deep thinking,

hard questioning,

good learning —

about our brains

and our words,

and our faithfulness

to the gifts

given us.

And there is the turning-around
closing service,
chairs facing out over the glory,
beholding the Glory.
Because this is the heart of it all.
When we’re weary,
when we’re frightened,
when we wonder where next
to put our feet,
this is how we find the way.

We hear the words,
we say the words,
we see the words,
and we meet the Word.
We take the Word,
we share the Word,
and we remember.
We re-member.
We find food for the journey,
rest for the weary,
and hope for the world.

Giving thanks this night for time at Laity Lodge, whose location, hospitality, beauty and generosity are not to be matched. We were led by brilliant and creative teachers – Professor, researcher and author Dr. John Medina; author and film critic Jeffrey Overstreet; publisher and editor, John Wilson; author and priest, Lauren Winner; Professor, poet and essayist Julia Kasdorf; musicians extraordinaire, Ashley Cleveland and Kenny Greenburg.

And with this post, beginning a 31 day exploration of a famous Tolstoy quote which has haunted me for the last three years, since it was given to me by my spiritual director as we began our time together. Somehow, these seven words (“The world will be saved through beauty.”) have spoken to deep places in me and I’d like to explore those a little, with photos, words, quotes, scripture, prayer. It’s not all mapped out, but I believe we’ll get there just the same. Kind of like life.

Joining with The Nester and the 1000 (YES, ONE THOUSAND other bloggers who have taken up the gauntlet and will write every day for the month of October. Go on over there and check it out if you don’t believe me.

And I cannot leave this particular post without saying specific words of thanksgiving for the people with whom I was privileged to live, eat, work, think, talk and worship this past weekend. Here are a few of them:

From left to right-Dena Dyer, Sheila Lagrand, Michelle DeRusha, Deidra Riggs, Nancy Owens Franson, Sandra Heska King, Amanda Johnston Hill, me. (with Shelly Miller and Marilyn Yocum at the table just behind this one.)