I wandered into Dorchester Abbey the other night to a service unlike any other. It was called Contemplative Fire [www.contemplativefire.org] and was a blend of instrumental music, meditation, prayer and communion.
I wasn’t given a Prayerbook, hymnal, or notice sheet when I arrived. Instead a blank piece of paper and pen. This, we were told, was for doodling and writing anything we wished.
The 60 or so chairs were arranged in a semi-circle in one of the transepts facing the piano. It was here the service began with music, an introduction, and prayer. Importantly there was another similar semi-circle in the entrance area at the rear of the nave. After some 15 minutes we were invited to get up and walk to this area for readings and reflection. Later we would return.
The importance was in the movement. Unlike your standard Anglican fare we were being invited to move around. We would quietly chat as we moved; commenting to those we came with about this or that. We could look at the beautiful building on the way, or stop and sit in the main pews facing the High Altar. Like with the pen and paper inviting freedom of thought, the movement invited freedom to whisper, ponder, and pause in an un-orchestrated fashion. It respected our individuality and different spiritualities. We weren’t being squeezed through a sausage machine.
Later we had communion. It was both simple and profound. An unrobed priest simply took a large loaf of bread and offered a prayer of thanks – linking the bread with life, with the earth, with us, and with God. He then broke it into chunks as another priest recited Paul’s words, ‘On the night Jesus died he gathered with his friends. And after supper he took bread…’ We then filed past in silence, taking a chunk, dipping it in the wine, and walking to some place in the vast abbey to sit quietly and think.
There was no mention of blood sacrifice, there was no invoking of the Holy Spirit, there was no lambs taking away sin, there wasn’t even a Lord’s Prayer. Rather there was silence, and soft instrumental music.
Words didn’t get in the way of worship.
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Words often get in the way of our worshiping God. I wish we could lose for ever the idea of the blood sacrifce.
ReplyDeleteHi Lucky Bear. I wish others would post comments on your writing as I seem to be the only one who does. I believe dialogue and talking can aid our growth. I find talking with others greatly aids my faith journey. It is good to hear others thoughts whether we agree with what is said or find it challenges our thinking. Open dialogue can deeply aid our inner process. Please keep writing Lucky Bear and I would really encourage others to post their comments. Shirley
ReplyDeleteI wonder, did you feel part of a group in this? Or just a whole bunch of individuals occupying the sacred space (of the church)
ReplyDeleteDid you feel that you collectively built a worship-space ?