a holy experience

Sunday Morning: The Word of God was proclaimed. Babies were baptized. Communion was shared. I believe God was present at worship Sunday morning, it just didn’t feel like it to me. Most Sundays, even in the midst of leading worship, I’m able to worship at least in some way. I am able to feel God’s presence in some way. Sunday morning was not one of those days. Rather, I found myself distracted and worried about what was going on around me. Is the sermon going too long? Will the children knock over the Paschal candle during the Baptism? Am I going to run out of bread at Communion? These questions and other concerns ran through my head, keeping me from experiencing God in worship—keeping me from having an experience of the holy.

But, thankfully, I believe God isn’t confined to the walls of the church building.

Sunday Afternoon: God met me in a gymnasium (albeit converted into a recital hall) as I listened to seventy singers clothed in blue. The music I experienced during a choir concert washed over me and filled my soul, as only a Holy Spirit thing can do. Some of the music was familiar—old hymns in classic, rich arrangements. Other pieces were new to me. They made my foot tap in joy. I felt a smile come to my face as a deep male voice broke through the melody, as a high soprano voice sailed above the choir and as a brief sacred silence filled the air at the end of each piece. To try to describe my experience beyond this almost seems futile. After all, it was I believe an experience of God—an experience of the holy.

Thankfully, God meets us in all sorts of ways and in all sorts of places.

posted by Emmy.