Communion Thoughts

I just finished a paper on Luther and his hymns. I think the thing about Luther that is ammusing is the view of the reformation in the sense that the worship and liturgies of the church were all taken away from the people and instead performed at the altar by the ministers and the choir.

While researching and reading, I laughed at the correlation of the church today and how we are in desperate need for a reformation of some kind within our church. The services are very performance oriented in churches who have the money to buy cool backgrounds for their powerpoint slides, and the services in churches who don't have money to buy all the bells and whistles strive to meet the standards of excellence that the bigger brother across town had set up.

I laugh earlier, but it makes me sad and upset that people's minds work in these ways to bring the worship to a point where somebody can come to church and talk of the "great worship" instead of meeting or experiencing God. Even at mid-week "communion" services, people are more moved by the music than a stirring of God in their thoughts and hearts. These services had also become a show. Once going in with the purest intentions possible, now instead of worshipping God through rememberance we look at setlists and service orders and try to figure out where we can place the taking of the elements of which this service was intended for in the first place instead of revolving everything around the communion itself.

And then, we also make communion such a personal thing by seperating the bread for people so that they can go off in a corner and hide as they consume Christ. When I think Communion, I think community. Something that we experience together - same bread, same cup. This is my traditional fascination coming out in me, but I think that it is something that could be practiced whether in a church of 20 or 2000. Christ said "eat me" and "have a drink on me" in rememberance of him. But he told all of his disciples and they did it together, not individually.

I did this in one of my classes, where we served communion to each other instead of our prof giving us the elements. It was crazy having the person on my left, who wasn't a pastor by title, giving the elements to me and taking them, and then turning to my right and giving the elements to that person. So on and so on throughout the room hearing the words, "The Body and Blood of CHrist for you...". Imagine hearing this 20-100+ times in your congregation's communion service rather than hearing the band playing, "amazing love", "the wonderous cross", or "insert cliche communion song here". Surreal yet awkward. Counter Cultural - the way we christians are supposed to be.

Music I'm listening to: This week I've decided to select a bunch of CD's and listen to them throughout the week. Here is my week's list.

Joss Stone - Soul Sessions
Television - Marquee Moon
Ben Harper - Live from Mars (Disc 2)
Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
Chris Issak - Baja Sessions
Lyfe Jennings - Lyfe 268-192
The Cure - Galore (The Singles 1987-1997)

Song Lyrics

Here are some lyrics from a song that I wrote for my CD that I'm working on. Originally I wanted to title it "whore", but instead I put the date.


1.25.01

Do you remember how they were living
Or how they used to walk
Do you remember all the love they shared
Or how they used to talk
Do you remember them walking fearless
Or how they used to act
Do you remember her reckless abandon
thinking he'd take her back

But now all her friends are laughing
And same goes for her enemies
"Why did you leave me?" she asks
"Why am I alone"

So now she sits in misery
Weeping buckets of tears
Now she sits without a soul
Or a soul to care for her
She feels so cheap and worthless
She groans and turns in shame
She longs for others just to feel her
and to feel her pain

And now all her friends are laughing
Same goes for her enemies
"Why did you leave me?" she asks
"Why am I alone"

Oh, oh, oh
How empty she's become
Oh, oh, oh
She was once on top of the world
Once the queen of the ball
Now a slave to the world
Once chosen by him
Now she's an ordinary girl

And now all her friends are laughing
Same goes for her enemies
"Why did you leave me?" she asks
"Why am I alone"


This is actually a lament out of Eugene Peterson's Message remix (first half of the bible, 25th book, first chapter - or Lamentations 1). I wrote another song out of Lamentations. I found lamentations easy to write out of because it is full of heartbreak and questioning and bitching and complaining (that's some blaine talk for you), but in the end people eventually remember that God is good and he is holy. Through all of the crap that we go through, God is still sovereign...this is something that I think we forget as Christians and choose instead to whore ourselves out and live the way we want. Why not, sometimes it feels good to be bad, right? But then we find ourselves in the same position as Jerusalem: Now all of our friends are laughing and same goes for our enemies. "Why did you leave me?" we ask.
"Why am I alone?".

Blaine Damaged

My friend Kurt has a new blog that you should check out. Kurt and I attended TWU summer classes last year, but I feel like I've known him for my whole life (Cable Guy reference anybody?). He is a Young life guy for Northern county here in Whatcom county and and resides in Birch Bay, Wa (Everyone thinks he lives in Blaine, but Birch Bay is not Blaine). Kurt also has an amazing discussion on our theology as compared to the beer we drink that was written on March 22nd that you should check out.
Below is a clip taken from an article from my hometowns paper, the Northern Light in Blaine Wa, in which the city council is trying to decide what bricks to use as they are constructing a boardwalk in hopes of attracting more tourists to teh town. "Liebert", which means lover in german, is the mayor of Blaine and my old high school history teacher.


"Council member Charlie Hawkins suggested to Ely perhaps it was a job better suited for his wife. Liebert, however, added it will be difficult to please everybody. “Contemplate all you want. Once it goes on, someone will be bitching about it,” Liebert said."

I think that:

1. what the blaine city council is forgetting is that you cant polish a turd

2. I also think that the funniest part is that the paper printed it word for word. It shows the class of Blaine. You stay classy borderites.

and

3. Blaine High School Football rules!

random thoughts

I've realized that I am growing old. I'm only 29 but, as I posted earlier, I threw my back out and even today I am having troubles with it. I may as well throw in the towel and start using those rascal scooters when I go grocery shopping...actually, that would be pretty cool.

I finished recording some scratch tracks this week. Now I listen to them and the other songs I recorded last year and figure out what I want to do with them. It's kind of scary though because if I record a CD of some kind, then I will have to play out again. Hopefully that won't mean waiting until 2:00 am to get paid for a show that no one went to, but it probably does. I'll begin recording in June.

My NCAA bracket is going well. My small group does one every year, and last year I won lunch. THis year I hope to repeat because I am a hungry man...a hungry old man.

Currently studying about Martin Luther and his writing hymns. Before the reformation, the worship was a show for the people and was non-participatory. Martin Luther wrote hymns to help bring worship back to the people so that they could worship God and worship would be for God instead of for the people. I have 10 pages to write about this, and then 10 pages to write about Jesuit missions. fun.

peace,
ron

listening to: Bedouin Soundclash. A reggae band from Toronto. You should listen to them because they make me smile. It makes me long for the sun to come out at about 70 degrees in the mid morning. then I can wear shorts again.

What has Ron been doing...

Well...

I've been hating school. I'm in a couple classes that are some real snoozers as I keep saying throughout this semesters blogs, but I have one instructor who is really a cool guy. Dr. Klassen is an old guy, but the kind of person that you know you can learn from. Usually anybody who talks about when he saw Karl Barth lecture is a) really old and b) really cool.

I've been working out. Yes, I've been pumping the iron. Actually it's all a ploy so that I can lose weight. I have lost about 15 pounds and have thrown my back out. If I believed in Karma, I would think that this was because of all of the fat jokes I make about myself and others.

I'm addicted to Lost. Cynthia and I began watching season one on DVD and we cant stop. We're almost finished, but I don't want it to end.

I'm amused by myspace. Yes, I have a myspace. I think that the people who are really into it are very funny though (the people who take the time to photograph themselves making kissy faces at the camera or without their shirts on). It has been cool though, because I have found people from school who have myspaces and have been able to try and catch up with them. Also, people who want to "add" you as a friend but don't know you are pathetic.

I'm writing a few songs. Tomorrow, 3/13, I will be recording and beginning toward a full length album. it should be fun.


That's it for right now. School is out for summer in the middle of April. that's cool. THen I can get drunk and dance on campus.

ron