Note: This blog is basically a continuation of the "my sympathies" blog. I've had a heavy religious focus lately. Sorry if it bores you, it's just on my mind a great deal and I like writing about it so I shouldn't apologize, I take it back. I think part of me is wanting to explain myself to my Pentecostal friends, let'em know where I am at. This blog unfortunately came off pretty basic, I had a hard time getting a good handle on it and I'm not really sure why. Maybe I need some sleep. Anyway I'll try to blog about something else soon. (If I feel like it sucka-punk!)
Liturgy
Lit"ur*gy\, n.; pl. Liturgies. [F. liturgie, LL. liturgia, Gr. ? a public service, the public service of God, public worship; (assumed) ?, ?, belonging to the people, public (fr. ?, ?, the people) + the root of ? work. See Lay, a., and Work.] An established formula for public worship, or the entire ritual for public worship in a church which uses prescribed forms; a formulary for public prayer or devotion. In the Roman Catholic Church it includes all forms and services in any language, in any part of the world, for the celebration of Mass. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, IncAlong with my Anglo-Catholic leanings has come an interest in and a love for liturgical Christianity. Within it, I have found a great deal of good spirituality and methodology. I love the focus on Christ in the liturgical service (or the divine liturgy) and the reverence that is shown him. I believe that sometimes in the evangelical community we focus so much on Jesus being our friend we neglect to show him the respect that is due him as God. Coupled with this Christ-centered aspect is a strong emphasis on the reading of scripture. A selection is read from the Psalms, Old Testament, New Testament and a passage from the Gospels intentionally possessing the words of Christ. With some churches maybe only using two verses in a service, I believe a heavy scriptural content to be a crucial element.
The greatest thing about the divine liturgy to me however, is partaking in the Holy Eucharist. I don't think I can adequately describe the joy I receive from this unification with Christ, this consuming of grace, it is an absolutely wonderful mystery. I can't tell you whether I believe in transubstantiation or consubstantiation, I don't know. I do believe however, it's so much more than juice and crackers. I'm not sure why we would need fear being unworthy of the Eucharist if it's just Welch's and Saltines, there simply has to be more to it.
Liturgical Christianity has also influenced my personal spiritual life. I've really gotten into reading the daily lectionary from the Book of Common Prayer. http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/
So far I've really just read the morning lectionary during the week but coupled with the Anglican Rosary http://companyofjesus.net/beads.html it really has enhanced my spiritual life, it's really brought a stability to my morning that has never really been there. No other type of devotional style has ever stuck. While this may just be something that suits my personality it really has brought fulfillment, ease of use, and consistency to my devotional time.
This blog should have been more in-depth. Maybe that can come later when I have more mental energy to give to the subject matter but for now I'm open to discussion.
dig it.
(I'm not really sure why this blog is italicized after the definition. I couldn't turn it off.)
2 comments:
Good thoughts dude.. I like it.. You know I'm not a transubstantiation guy.. Just the thought of it is kinda gross. Like Jesus is willingly giving his blood and body so that we may cannibalize him..
Most churches have some form of liturgy, even if it is simply an order of service. I think you may be attracted to traditional liturgies because so many Pentecostal services lacked structure. While they had an order of service, people were able to get wild, with little teaching to back it up.
I also like liturgies, although my experience with them is very little. I'd like to get some more exposure to it in the future..
Ya man, I think your right about the structure thing. There are some issues I could get into about order of the service and the use of music as a manipulative device to control the "tempo" of a service. Not saying that all or most Pentecostal churches do that but I definitely think the temptation is there in any church with contemporary worship.
As for transubstantiation I agree with you it's a hard thing to deal with mentally and I haven't really been able to get all the way there because of the same issues you have with it.
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