Over the next few posts, I’ll be posting an accumulation of posts from the course of the day. Apparently, the Wi-Fi connection at First EV Free is saturated and I’ve been unable to get or maintain a connection all day today… but I have been writing… so, here you go.
This morning, we recited the Nicene Creed together as a corporate body. This is a beautiful creed and an historic creed that says so much with such richness of language that I always enjoy hearing and speaking it corporately. Immediately after we recited this, out came a dancer (yes, a dancer) who recited and interpreted through dance the exact creed we had just spoken. It was, honestly, breathtakingly beautiful. What a concrete and beautiful example of the liturgical value of art even when done in a non-traditional way (at least in the context of typical Christian tradition).
We also recited once again today a prayer for artists that was quite beautiful in its expression and covered the gamut of creative activity. I’ll have to look for it online and reproduce it here.
I’ve been a bit in awe of the variety of cultural and artistic language on display at this Symposium. In reflection, it makes obvious sense to ensure that a multitude of voices and media are expressed in something of this type… but I was not anticipating it and it has been a very refreshing experience. There are forms of art that I do not find comfortable but I now believe it’s because they’ve been done so shoddily in my past experience that I’d lost respect for them as a possible liturgical language. I am so pleased to be wrong.
At this symposium, I have seen dance used so effectively, I’ve seen the art of written and read testimony, and I’ve seen the use of liturgical devices such as responsive reading and corporately read prayer used to great effect. I am so thankful that God does not see fit to leave us in our ignorance and isolationism; instead, He challenges us, prods us, and even forces us at times to come to grips with the fact that He has created variety and it is not only good, but it is necessary for all of us as it enlarges our perspective of the bigness of God.
I pray He continues this in my life and that, in some way, I’m able to take the experiences I’ve encountered at this Symposium and translate them for my brothers and sisters; moreso, I pray fervently that this experience shapes my further artistic expression and that I’m able to find creative ways to use art to further the liturgies of our corporate gatherings both large and small.
Hopefully, you see in these writings a man who is staying The Course and pursuing The Path amidst the pitfalls and selfish ways of being a son of Adam. I pray earnestly that my writing would encourage some of you by showing you that this journey - though arduous and sometimes tragic - is a journey of great satisfaction. A satisfaction greater than our greatest imaginings. The trials and refining fire of tribulation are to be recognized as a small shadow of the suffering of our Savior so that we can rejoice, as Peter and the disciples did, to be counted worthy to suffer for the sake of the Name.