Hello,
I usually leave my house around 7 a.m. on Sundays, as I did this past
Sunday. The first thing that I do
when I jump into my car is ajust my radio to NPR where a weekly program called
“Sunday Baroque” is aired. It
purports to be on for four hours, but I only catch the 30 minutes that it
serenades me over the ridge.
Believe me, I am not always so cultured. Often times when I jump into my car my, my radio is blaring
“oldies” (rock music from pre-2000), or sports talk from listening to the Pirates. But for some reason, neither “Oldies”
or sports talk seems appropriate to set my mind for worship, and so I listen
instead to Bach, Mozart, Handel and the like on “Sunday Baroque.”
As I was about half way to work, a piece came on the air that had been
written for the recorder.
Remembering the days in grade school when we were taught to play the
recorder, I prepared myself for something akin to “Twinkle, Twinkle, little
star”. Instead what I heard was
this complicated piece with notes streaming by as fast and numerous as shoppers
entering a store on Black Friday.
In my mind’s eye I could see the recorderist’s fingers tapping on that
plastic white tube with a red mouthpiece more quickly than a middle schooler
texting in English class. On and
on he went. Never a break. Never a time to take a breath. How did he do it? I was losing my breath just listening
to it.
People who play wind instruments tell me that the secret to playing
these kinds of pieces is to learn how to circle breath, which as I understand
it is to breath in through your nose as you are breathing out of your
mouth. Sounds like it requires a
bit more coordination than rubbing your tummy and patting your head.
I suspect that there are weeks, and maybe even every week, that your
life mimics that recorderist’s piece: the list of things to do and places to be
looking like a Bach musical score, and the pressure of the expectations that
others lay upon you squeezing the breath right out of you. No time for a break. Never a time to take a breath. How do
you do it?
Most of us have learned to circle breath in life, breathing in and out
at the same time, multitasking, texting and tweeting. And as amazingly good as we can be at playing our life’s
complex and crazy score, we can’t circle breath forever. We need to take a good long breath and
clear out our lungs. We need to gather
air for the days when the wind gets knocked out of us. We need to draw our breath in slowly
and feast on the fragrances that come with it.
For me, that is what Sunday morning worship is all about. It’s about taking a break from circle
breathing and just breath. Breath
in……and then breath out. Clean out
the residue of the smog of life as my lungs are filled with the forgiving grace
of God. Take a deep breath and recover
from the gut punches the world has thrown at me. Savor with a slow breath the love and wonder of God’s
presence in my life.
For me, going to church on Sunday morning is not just one more thing to
do, one more place to be, one more commitment to fill in a circle breathing
life. For me, going to church on
Sunday morning is the deep, lung filled, life filled breathing that I need to
carry me through the circle breathing days of my life.
So, come this Sunday to church….and take a long, deep, and slow
breath. It beats circle breathing!
Have a great week,
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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