Looking back on an early childhood worship experience, I remember: kneeling beside my mother (on the "woman's side" of a simple prairie sanctuary) my small bony elbows rest firmly against the polished grain of the cool wooden pew warmed by her nearness and the bright yellow sun- light streaming through the high cross- framed windows I listen to the comforting drone of the white-haired Aeltesta whose quiet words drift upwards mingling with the echoing remnants of an acapella song as he moves slowly through the cadences of a High German prayer: Gnaediger Gott, Beschuetze deine Kinder... (Gracious God, watch over your children) At that moment, I was fully at home in a world where all that I loved --physically, emotionally, spiritually-- became one flowing into and around each other. Even now, the stillness, warmth and simplicity of that experience of wholeness, shapes the way I measure (and seek to lead) worship.
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