Clergy "secret" revealed

Recently I shared a story of my son who was "mortally wounded" by melted chocolate to talk about the power of rituals. There is even science supporting the power of rituals.

When I clergy go into a hospital setting, there is an unspoken ritual that takes place and what I have come to discover is that ritual is generally to quick to be meaningful for most people. Here is the ritual:

Greeting - physical contact with the sick - talk with people present - pray - leave

The only thing that separates a clergy visit from a visit from the doctor is a prayer at the end. It is as though prayer is an exit strategy for us or a way to put a Jesus shine on the visit. Clergy leave but people are left behind in the cold hospital room, waiting. 

If it is true that the number of steps in the ritual matter, might I suggest all of us the way Jesus preformed rituals. Now we may not have healing powers, but look at the ritual Jesus does on John 9, verse bracketed for reference:

Addressed the crowd/ill [3], stated why he was preforming a ritual [4-5], used an external tool/element [6] and touched the sick [6], and gave a directive [7] 

Could it be that this would be a better ritual for hospital visits? Maybe this is why it would be worth Protestants considering to draw from our lost tradition but not forgotten by our Catholic sisters/brothers - anointing. 

Address the room  - Hello my name is ______, Peace be with you.

State why you are preforming a ritual - In the tradition of the Church, I would like to anoint your head with oil so that you may know even when I have left that God is always with you and that you are never alone.

Use external tool - in this case, oil

Touch the sick - mark a sign of the cross on forehead

Give directive - "Christ is with you, this day and every day. You never walk alone. From this moment on may you remember that you are a beloved child of God and a valued member of this world. Remember that you are of great worth and that your life has touched the lives of many. Remember who you are and who's you are. Amen." 

Pray.

I have now done this ritual in hospital settings about twenty times. With a variety of people in different settings, but the response has been overwhelmingly meaningful. Generally a thank you follows the standard ritual, but this ancient ritual has brought tears, smiles, thanksgiving, recommitting to God, hugs and holy kisses. 

And so, while this may not be something everyone feels comfortable doing, just like I do not feel comfortable putting an IV into someone's arm, I would commend clergy to consider the rituals we create and preform in the hospital setting. 

Let us do a better job at showing the peace of God, the love of Christ and healing of Christ in a place that often times desperately needs it.  

What is really hurting the church - sentimentality

I have a pair of clear glass bookends shaped like seals balancing a ball on their noses. They were from my grandparent's depression era glass collection. When I was younger I was impressed by the smoothness of these weighty statues. They less detailed than you might think and look more like 3D silhouettes as you look at them. I have carried them with each move I have made and presently they sit on book selves in my joint office.   

I cherish these bookends. Some might look at them and see rather plane glass seals and they have some dollar value to collectors but to the average person, they are hunks of glass. To me however, they have sentimental value.

Often times, I confuse Love and sentimentality. When I look at the seals I remember the Love my grandparents and I share, and I think that if I throw those seals away the Love would go away with them. So I hold onto those seals in an attempt to hold onto the Love. 

But the truth of the matter is, sentimentality is not Love. Well, let me rephrase that, it is love but it is self love. 

Those things that have sentimental value mean that they only have value to the individual. And that individual values them because it reminds them of something that is unique to themselves.  

It seems to me that the reason the church is "irrelevant" is not because the church is not doing relevant things. Heck there are still people going and joining churches all around. So it is relevant for some people. But there in lies my point.

As long as we choose a church based upon our own preferences and styles rather than choose a church that we can serve, then the church confuses Love with sentimentality.

What is really hurting the church is not the Love we have, it is the sentimentality we have. 

The glass seal bookends in my office seem irrelevant to anyone who knows that I own more digital books than paper books. The only reason I keep them is because they have sentimental value. That is I love the feeling and memories they invoke in me.

As long as the church loves the feelings we get when we attend church more than we love the God for whom we worship, then the church confuses Love with sentimentality.  

As long as we take more delight in the personal benefits of attending church rather than the delight in being a child of God, then the church confuses Love with sentimentality. 

Taxidermists and God

While in Seattle, Estee and I attended worship at FUMC Seattle. Which is a fantastic church. For instance, this church is the center for the entire state of Washington for a political movement to require background checks on all people who buy guns anywhere in the state. Regardless of your thoughts on guns, I think we all agree that we do not want guns in the wrong hands. (As a side note, I think that just as some criminals loose the right to vote so too should some people lose the right to own a gun if they commit certain acts. Cough *Aaron Hernandez* Cough.

Anyway, while we were there the preacher, Sandy, told an old joke that I had not heard before. So I share it with you.

Two taxidermists are looking at this stuffed owl in the window of another taxidermist shop. They each notice that the wings are a bit off balance and the eyes are not even. They even notice the talons were posed in a not-natural posture and there must be some rod that is holding the owl up, because owls cannot stand like this owl was posed. The two taxidermists each spoke about what they would do to correct the poorly stuffed owl, when the owl jumped of the branch it was on and landed on the branch below it.  

In the context of worship, replace the "owl" with God and the taxidermists with people, and you have a sermon right there.