May 3, 2017

Trying

I try to do my best – I really do. And I think most of us try to do our best as well.

I try to balance my schedule so that I make the proper amount of visitations, see people who are in the hospital, meet with people in the office, find time to write weekly and monthly pieces to be sent out, and create a sermon every week. Some things I do well, other things I do less well; but through it all, I try to put forth my best effort.

I met with a parishioner during Lent over the general topic of liturgy. If you have read the latest edition of Soundings, you will know that this became the basis of my monthly Ramblings when I was made aware that maybe not everybody understood my approach to liturgy.

As I recall, that meeting happened toward the end of Lent, and then things got busy with Holy Week and Easter and hospital visits and a transportation crisis at home. What had been percolating in my mind for a topic didn't quite make it out on paper in a timely fashion, and I found myself under a deadline trying to get multiple thoughts into one coherent article that would explain my liturgical thoughts and practices. As you can clearly see from the last Soundings, I made it.

However . . . I was shocked and more than a little upset when I read the following sentences:

“And when used today, liturgy expressly refers to the what the ceremonies of the church look like.”

“Because Lent asks us to come face to face with our sins, I also make us of the contemporary version of the Lord's Prayer.”

“May what we do hear be always pleasing in his sight.”

In my rush to get the Ramblings written, I neglected to properly proofread the article. As I sat in my office reading it, I could almost feel the eyes of past teachers, current readers, and pretty much the universe docking my life grade down to a D. I was embarrassed to the point of wanting to go home, turn off my phone and lock the doors for a couple of weeks until something else came along to distract anyone who might have read that particular piece.

But as I thought about these major typographical gaffes, the words of Genesis 1 came to mind: “And God saw that it was good . . . And God saw that it was good . . . And God saw that it was good . . . And God saw that it was good.”

I don't know if God was under a creation deadline, but he got it done. And it was good. What God created wasn't perfect, but good. Someone once said, “Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good.”

So, please know that “liturgy expressly refers to what the ceremonies of the church look like,” “. . . I also make use of the contemporary version of the Lord's Prayer,” and, “May what we do here be always pleasing in his sight.”

Nobody's perfect. But if we try to do the best we can, we just might follow in God's footsteps and be good.

Blessings,

Todd+