LENT Photo #24 "Holy Smoke"

   Candles... light, warm light, symbol, connection with reflection, silence, presence... and then sometimes those things are true for one person or group at one time and others forget the reason we lit one and why we continue to do it. In the case of symbolising a 'safe space' there are too many places where you'd think that lighting such a candle was all you needed to do to create such a space...

   Then of course there are those communities of faith, usually more theologically conservative and claiming the use of the word 'evangelical' OR more interested in informal community worship and some would say theologically 'lightweight' where a candle is just too "Catho Anglican" for them... such are the risks of symbols, they can become more like cymbals!! [a loud noise out of sync unless your playing the rest of the drum kit]...

   I've left this observation a few lines in, just in case my friends, who'd laugh so hard their sides would ache, might have stopped reading... but "I am not very into what many would describe as 'high church' liturgy and worship"... there I said it, sorry to shock you... Big words that could be more easily understood as smaller words, distant formality, hard to access tradition... careful, they've all got adjectives attached, so not just big words, formality & tradition... some of that can be 'bang on' what's needed and gives people credit for unspoken understanding, connection, spirit and meaning making... a thin space where God comes close....

   The flip side is slapdash, laid back, 'dogs breakfast', wordy or sparse, half formed ideas that make sense to the curator, but not too many participants. Different words don't make those words any more transcendent... just different... then there's things you try that just don't work, but are honest experiments...

   But the key is in the idea of 'curating' or designing not just content but what the experience of the worship might be like for those participating. What kind of experiences the theme or hope lends itself to, what gifts and skills are available in people and the space to make stuff happen and how we are invited to engage with God always present everywhere...

   I feel led to use symbols of a candle, rock and water bowl alongside bread and juice on Easter Sunday but to do that I will have to overcome the idea that for many who will be present, the idea is just a waste of time and could in fact be a barrier [but I know that for others it would add meaning]... so I'm still thinking about all of that... there will be some possibilities in how those symbols might be part of an invitation to engage in the space OR maybe the rock and water are part of the time spent sharing bread and juice BUT the candle is just lit and visible, without words!! That and three well known songs that can be belted out with gusto might just get us through...