Witness

 

I’m sitting in CotC (surprise, surprise) working on stuff for this weekend and listening to Sarah McLachlan.  I’ve put one song in particular on repeat - “Witness.”   Here are the lyrics

Make me a witness/take me out/out of darkness/out of doubt

I won't weigh you down/with good intention/won't make fire out of clay/or other inventions

will we burn in heaven/like we do down here/will the change come/while we're waiting/everyone is waiting

and when we're done/soul searching/as we carried the weight/and died for the cause

is misery/made beautiful/right before our eyes/will mercy be revealed/or blind us where we stand

will we burn in heaven/like we do down here/will the change come/while we're waiting/everyone is waiting

This song for some reason is really speaking to me today.  I’ve had the album it’s on – Afterglow – for years but something about today and something about this song just clicks.

In our Wed night bible study class, one of the things that has come up is how scripture can speak a new word to us each day thanks to the Holy Spirit.  I’m also convinced that this same Spirit speaks through other familiar words/images/people anew each day.  We just have to be looking and listening.

Re-form

This Sunday on the Presbyterian Church calendar is Reformation Sunday – a Sunday that in some churches means dressing up in tartans and playing the bagpipes. While we here at Covenant will welcome the brave soul that wears a kilt, it certainly isn’t the required dress code. No, instead we’ll mark Reformation Sunday with the beginning of a new short-term series Sunday school class.

This Sunday John and I will begin our class “The Church: Where On Earth Has It Been And Where In Heaven Is It Going?” As church historians and scholars have noted, about every 500 years the church goes through some sort of upheaval—and the word “great” seems to associate with these changes. There was the time of Gregory the Great, the Great Schism, and of course, the Great Reformation. These same historians and scholars – as well as ministers and laypeople – have noted that right now we’re at the 500 year mark. And yes, the times, they are a-changin’.

During the next five weeks, we’ll explore our history as the church – look back at the “Greats” as we look toward the future. We’ll look at the contemporary cultural upheaval and what that upheaval means for the church now. Is the internet our printing press? Are folks like Brian McLaren and Phyllis Tickle our Luther and Calvin? How does a modern church navigate a post-modern world? What might our church (both universal and particular) look like in 50 years?

Come join in this exciting discussion as we find gain strength and insight from our history and ponder hopefully about our future.