Singing with Lutherans

Tonight's agenda had the promise of a lot of excitement.

President Ogilvie's presentation reminded us of what it means to be a humble servant of God. A humble servant like Mary who new the risks that life entailed and who knew that the choice and path of her life where not decisions that she would make and who proclaimed the joy, the real joy of being God's servant in The Magnificat.

Then came the presentation of the Task Force on Marriage, Family and Human Sexuality. There was a great deal of anticipation going into this moment of the agenda. However, the presentation went quite well, but left us with lots of questions that will be discussed tomorrow. If the Task Force showed us anything, is that this issues is exceptionally divisive, but in the midst of that there is way to work through it, even if it must be ultimately referred back to our Bishops and Seminary professors.

To round off the night we worshiped together in Nighttime prayer or Compline. It was an exceptionally fitting end to the long day. And the Singing! I could not help but think of what Garrison Keillor wrote about what it is like to sing with Lutherans. Our unaccompanied, four part harmony is truly one of the finer things in life.

One of my favourite parts of the Compline service is when we sing, "Into Thy Hands I commend my Spirit". When we sing these words we are practicing. We are practicing for when we must say these words for real in the funeral liturgy. And so when some 250 of us sing together these words at the end of a long, difficult and fruitful day of work, we are reminded of whose we are and who we belong to. That in midst of our business, our study, our discussion we are God's and it is into that pair of loving hands that we commend all that we do here together.