One of the things I most love about the intentionality of liturgy is how suddenly it can catch my throat in worship. Lately, though I\u2019m always moved by words in music or scripture, it\u2019s in the physical movement of worship that I am most reminded of God\u2019s sweet presence, that I hear most loudly the movement of grace and forgiveness and restoration.<\/p>\n At Christ Church, we follow a liturgical tradition that is a bit odd (compared to your regular liturgical service\u2026at least I think it must be). I\u2019ve been told our liturgy comes from an African tradition of worship in the Anglican church and is highly influenced by the physical freedom of that tradition. So, when we offer up our fears and sorrows and \u201csend them to the cross of Christ,\u201d we literally raise our arms up and push the invisible things toward the cross at the altar. The first time I visited our church, I stared in wonder that this room full of seemingly normal worshippers wildly shoving at the air. And then, after a few weeks, I joined in. And I can\u2019t get enough of it. It feels so good to throw my burdens at Jesus and then raise my arms to receive the blessing.<\/p>\n It feels good to cross myself. I\u2019ve been crossing myself for a few years now, allowing my hands to move through the most sacred parts of me: my mind and my heart, brain to lung, shoulder to shoulder. There\u2019s such an assurance as I pray that God is covering me: the words I will speak, the thoughts I will own, the air I will breath\u2026it\u2019s all already redeemed. I cross myself as a simple reminder.<\/p>\n Who would think that in an Anglican church I would watch the mother of four in front of me quietly move out past her row of children so she can make it to the aisle and dance (not distractingly, just joyfully) simply because the song has moved her?<\/p>\n I\u2019ve mostly been the girl who skeptically raised an eyebrow at emotional worship. I\u2019ve always inwardly sighed at those who seemed to only \u201cfeel the spirit\u201d during the emotion-inducing key change and hyper drumbeat arriving three-fourths of the way through the new, cool praise song. But, here at our new church, I find myself in the midst of honesty, of movement that belongs to Jesus in all of its dorkiness, all of its sweet humility.<\/p>\n And always, at the end of the service, as we sing, the last remnants of those taking communion filing back into seats, there is my pastor walking the length of the rows, eyes fixed on us, holding high the Host, the bread that represents the body of Jesus, broken and strewn about for us, the broken and strewn about. Our pastor Cliff has this stare, the look of hospitality that I\u2019ve rarely seen before. His eyes say, This is still for you, whoever you are. You can still come. You may always come.<\/em><\/p>\n And every week I stare at his face and every week I shiver at the deep magic* of the invitation. What is it for God\u2019s life to be given, broken to pieces, and rebuilt? What is it for my life, your life, to be reformed by a story, a Person, that once was dead but now lives, that keeps living\u2013its pieces given to all and yet always remaining whole? Such magic. Such an invitation, our hands in the air, chunking our broken places, our fears, our hopes, and grateful loves\u2013toward the cross of Christ, and sighing that internal breath of relief that someone not only holds our empty fears, but is remaking them, and remaking us into who we always were meant to be.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n One of the things I most love about the intentionality of liturgy is how suddenly it can catch my throat in worship. Lately, though I\u2019m always moved by words in music or scripture, it\u2019s in the physical movement of worship that I am most reminded of God\u2019s sweet presence, that I hear most loudly the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":999,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[35,126,130],"class_list":["post-2649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-praying-life","tag-communion","tag-sweet-monday","tag-the-church"],"yoast_head":"\n*We\u2019ve been reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/a><\/em>\u00a0aloud to August and I\u2019ve been reminded of the \u201cdeep magic\u201d that brings Aslan back to life\u2026<\/h5>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"