Open Mouth, Insert Foot ......

All I need is one more thing to do! So what did I do today? Opened my mouth at the SouthEast Texas Interfaith Organization for Disaster Recovery (SETIO) meeting and said, "We're an interfaith group and we've not once as a community of faith gathered in worship since the storm. Another hurricane season is upon us. We need to worship together." Guess who's now on the planning committee for a community worship service. ......... That's right. Me!

I've gotta stop doing stuff like that! *chuckle* I'm going to get in trouble one of these days!

Thing is, I love planning worship services. You can sucker me with a worship service almost any time. There's something compelling about the symbols and ritual and music which resonates deep within me. With interfaith worship, I love the opportunity to explore cultures beyond my own familiar Presbyterian one.

One year in Idabel, our annual community Thanksgiving service was held at one of the African-American churches. Instead of the plate being passed row by row, the culture of that community was to come forward and bring your offering to the table. It was absolutely the best offering the Ministerial Association had received since I'd gotten there. Even the 'big steeple' churches weren't able to compete with what we collected that year! Our worship together was sprinkled with a diversity of music, prayer styles, and Amens tossed about whenever the Spirit moved. Certainly nothing like the usual worship of the 'frozen chosen'.

One of the things I've always regretted is that we were never able to get any of the local Native American congregations involved in our community worship services. I'm sure we would have been deeply enriched by the gifts they would have brought.

There's a wealth of culture for us to draw from for a community worship service here in the Golden Triangle, too, and not all of it from a Christian perspective. I'm hoping we can draw from each of the faithgroups here. Something which we neglected after Rita came in and roughed us up was the communal spiritual need for healing.

Oh! Our individual congregations most likely did a fine job of working within our memberships, and maybe even touched a few lives outside of the 'usual suspects'. There are so many people who do not have a congregational home! Yet, the storm touched us in ways that may not be addressable through the act of putting one's home back together, or by seeking mental health assistance. Both of those are needed! No doubt about that at all! And I wouldn't for a minute suggest that either should be ignored.

But so are opportunities for us to gather together and recognize the blessings we have received as we've picked up the pieces of our lives. There also seems to be a definitive anxiety that's touching the lives of many as we look to the months ahead and see the specter of another hurricane season facing us. Gathering together for comfort, companionship, consolation, and to share concerns may help us in the days ahead.

So, guess what I did today........... I opened my big mouth ......... and reminded us of whom and whose we are and suggested that maybe we shouldn't keep silent any longer. It's time for us to pray together, and sing together, and cross beyond the boundaries that keep us apart even today to worship together. *shakes head* Oh, what have I gotten myself into!