Skip to main content

Sing a New Song

 (This sermon will not be done with any spoken words, but rather with use of body percussion and singing. Please imagine sitting in a circle or a sanctuary.)

THUNDERSTORM

Start rubbing hands together to create wind and gets louder as it grows from left to right. Once all are wind, allow the sound to wash over them.

Have some rows snap their fingers slowly at first to imitate rain. Just enough so people are aware.

Have one row simulate small thunder as they slap their thighs. Have last 10 seconds. Go back to snapping. 

Have those on right side still rubbing hands start to clap for harder rain. Listen for about 30 seconds.

Have left side slap thighs for loud thunder. Last 20 seconds...

Have left side rub hands while right side is clapping. Allow the sound to wash over everyone. 

Have right side clapping side go back to snapping. Rain is lightening up. 

Have one row simulate small thunder as they slap their thighs. Last about 10 seconds.

Have right side go to back to rubbing hands. Let wind wash over us...

Have far left become silent and let the silence become louder until it reaches the right side. 

Sit in silence....   2 minutes

Sing the Alleluia chorus from All that Dwells below the Skies (5 Alleluias) repeat 

Sit in silence...  2 minutes

MORNING

Have right side pick up Hymn Book and scratch to simulate trees rustling. Let sound wash over.

Have left side slowly rub hand to again simulate wind. Let the sound blend.

Whistle or imitate a bird, try to encourage others to join in. Roughly two minutes, try not to get too wild.

Croak like a frog at a pond and encourage others to join the chorus. Let it be brief.

Go back to just the wind and trees. Let it wash over us. 

Silence for 2 minutes

Sing Leonard Cohen's Alleluia chorus (repeat)

Fade to Silence

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Great is your Faith

 Who knows about the passenger ship St. Louis during WWII? It was a ship filled with mostly German citizens, who were Jews trying to flee the Nazi regime that was supposed to go to Havana, Cuba. When it arrived in Cuba, the government changed its mind and the ship went up the East Coast of the United States, looking to dock and save the 937 passengers from what was going on during the Holocaust. Cables were even sent to President Franklin D. Roosevelt but went unanswered because of the "American First" propaganda was strong in our nation. During our trip to Washington, DC and the Holocaust Museum, as we were talking about it the night before, I mistakingly told the youth that Anne Frank and her family were on that ship sitting in the New York harbor just out of reach of safety before they were turned back to Europe. The Frank family did apply for refugee status here in America, but were denied, again, because people and leaders didn't think or act that their lives mattere

Going up the Mountain

 Who heard of St. Anselm? He was a Bishop in the 11th century who put the final nail in the coffin of the theology that says that Jesus died to pay a debt to Satan so we can be released and go to heaven. Yes, for the first thousand years, most Christians thought Jesus died to pay a ransom to Satan to free us. St. Anselm thought if God was truly God and no one could stand against HIM, then nothing was owed to Satan. Then how this goes is that the debt wasn't owed to Satan but to God. St. Anselm lived in a world dominated by the church and kings, nobles, and a time when honor wasn't about doing the right thing, but who had the power. And because we weren't God, we didn't have the power, so we were slaves, servants, chattel to God whose very existence was an affront to God, until Jesus paid for our very lives and souls and then, then we had a chance to get into heaven. This fermented and grew until it became the individual quest for salvation that was removed from our worl

Rainbows and Hearts

 In the story of Noah, we hear and see the first time the word, "covenant" used in the Bible. In the prophecy of Jeremiah, he tells of the last covenant that will be given to us humans. The first covenant is given not just to Noah and humanity, but to every living thing and the world itself. The last one will be written on our hearts. In the story of the great flood, it is Noah who sacrifices and worships God that causes God to regret the action of flooding the world and so God makes the sign of the rainbow to remind Godself never to destroy the world again. Of course, the rainbow is a bow of an archer a weapon that is now turned upside down which can't be used to harm or destroy. Whether or not we believe in a flood that covered the whole world or just a portion, the story gives us assurance that God isn't in the world-ending business anymore. God literally hung up their weapon as a sign of peace to all life and a reminder not to do it again. On Friday night, we had