Friday Five: We Who Sing Pray Twice

MaryBeth at RevGalBlogPals says:

Music is a part of the human experience, and part of religious traditions the world over. It is evocative and stirring, and many forms of worship are incomplete without it.

Our title comes from a quote popularly attributed to St. Augustine: "He who sings prays twice." A little Googling, however, indicates that Augustine didn't say exactly that. In fact, what he said just doesn't fit well onto a t-shirt. So we'll stick with what we have.

"Singing reduces stress and increases healthy breathing and emotional expression. Singing taps into a deep, age-old power available to all of us. When we find our voice, we find ourselves. Today, sing like you mean it." And let's talk about the role music plays in your life and worship.

1) Do you like to sing/listen to others sing? In worship, or on your own (or not at all?)

Absolutely! even when my vocal chords aren't involved, there is almost always a song in my head.

2) Did you grow up with music in worship, or come to it later in life? Tell us about it, and how that has changed in your experience.

Always had it. I know the words to many of the great old hymns and can have great difficulty with some of newly rewordings, especially when they change the meaning. I also love the ones that I know the harmony line for, I love the soaring joy of adding harmony!

3) Some people find worship incomplete without music; others would just as soon not have it. Where do you fall?

Worship is not complete without music. Unfortunately, I currently serve a church with no choir, and not a great deal of love for singing. but I sing enthusiastically, anyway!

4) Do you prefer traditional music in worship, or contemporary? That can mean many different things!

yes. I love the "sung theology" of the old hymns, and I detest the new 7/11 choruses. But some folks play the old songs too slowly; and many new praise songs have great depth and meaning (just try explaining why this song works/won't work to a musician who only cares about the tune!) Frankly, I think we need both.

5) What's your go-to music ... when you need solace or want to express joy? A video/recording will garner bonus points!

It depends on the day. Since we sing mostly hymns, I tend to listen to KLove. When I'm getting contemporary music in church I listen to hymns in the car!

Today, it's a this kind of day:

Friday Five decisions

SongBird at RevGalBlogPals posits the following Friday Five:
Since I've been in the midst of a discernment process, I've done a lot of reflecting on how we make decisions. But don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to reveal a dark story about a poor decision, or a self-flagellating story about an embarrassing one. Let's keep it simple and go with five word pairs. Tell us which word in the pair appeals to you most, and after you've done all five, give us the reason why for one of them.

Here they are:

1) Cake or Pie (Fruity! although neither is gluten-free :( )
2) Train or Airplane -- as much as I flew for business for 15 years, I still don't like to fly. the crowds, the insanity, and the queasy part.
3) Mac or PC -- well, betamax wins again :) I might have to look into a mac once Logos finishes their Mac version, though. I did use a Lisa for a while back in 84...
4) Univocal or Equivocal -- oooh. Equivocal can be more fun, layers of meaning and such, but lately, especially in the church, we're talking past one another when we have different definitions and can no longer understand one another. I use analogies a LOT.
5) Peter or Paul -- or Mary! Sorry, smart aleck got the better of me.

Try not to pull on the big cat's tail when you answer. :-) Mreow!

Summertime Friday five

Today's Friday Five over at RevGalBlogPals invites us to share five things we love--or don't--about summer.

1. Love: Blackberries -- the edible kind, not the cell phone kind! I used to love to go to the hill behind my great-grandmother's house and pick them! I'd come home with as much on my face as in the bucket (more in my belly!) and Mom would make cobbler. YUM! I also remember one day at the end of school, when I was 6 (?) I was walking home, which included a short stretch of dirt road which had, you guessed it, BLACKBERRIES! I got home around 4:30, Mom was frantic, I was confused. I hadn't gone anywhere but straight home. The fact that it took me an extra hour because I was picking blackberries didn't register on a little mind.

2. Don't Love: heat and humidity. I am a native Floridian, but hey, we Floridians know what AC is. These northerners don't realize that at 85 degrees and 75%+ humidity, one should have AC. Especially in churches and manses (that last bit could be personal prejudice).

3. Love: Vacation in the mountains. I'm headed to Presbyterian Mecca next week over the fourth of July weekend and a few extra days in the NC mountains. I spent several summers of my youth at a summer camp right down the road from PM, so it's kind of a homecoming.

4. Don't Love: Did I mention heat and humidity? We've moved services to 10 instead of 11, but it doesn't really help. I'm not wearing the Geneva gown, but I still wear a blazer, but maybe not this week. 88 predicted for Sunday. But I get more comments about my outfit than the sermon when I'm not wearing the gown... Do men deal with this? don't answer that!

5. Love: Veggies from my garden. OK. I was late planting because of the move, so I'm not yet harvesting, but the zucchini has blossomed and it looks like I have a couple of tiny okra pods, so, soon.

"I'm Late" Friday Five

Jan over at RevGalBlogPals says: I'm late, I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!

As I opened up my computer this morning, I directly went to my blog and RevGals to see what the newest Friday Five would be! Nothing was here, which seemed odd. Then I went to look at the calendar and counted the Fridays, and it is the THIRD Friday! How did that happen so quickly? It's my turn, so here's a quickie:

1. Do you tend to be a late person or one who is timely, arriving on time or earlier?
I tend to be a bit early, prevents the late thing.

2. Have you forgotten anything of importance lately?
yes. I'm still getting into the rhythm of a new position and getting settled into the house. Some things are dropping through cracks. Working on getting that solved. not there yet. Luckily I was forgiven by the Ladies whose meeting I missed.

3. Is procrastination your inclination? Why or why not?
For things I don't like to do, yes. sometimes on other things -- the sermon is not yet done, and here I am, playing the Friday five!

4. Do you like schedules or spontaneity? Which works best for you?
mostly spontaneity, but with a structure -- so schedules, but not rigidly so.

5. How do you stay on track with the various things you need to, people you must meet, etc., etc.?
See #2 above. :)

BONUS: Whatever comes to mind about forgetfulness or lateness.
I forgot what I was going to write and now I've gotta run before I'm late.... :)

MomPriest over at RevGalBlogPals posits the following for this week's Friday five....

For this Friday Five let's ponder the various ways we work out (or not), physically, spiritually, and/or psychologically.

1. Do you work out physically, spiritually, or psychologically? (I'll let you define what that might mean to you)
I do not work out physically -- I'm an Immagunna who never does. Spiritually/psychologically? Daily devotions and weekly sermons put me in contact with the Word which I probe and which probes me in return. I'm in my first call as a pastor, so all the things I have to deal with in the congregation system require me to examine my reactions and motivations and turn them over to God (usually multiple times because I keep taking them back) so, yeah, i think I'm getting a work out here.

2. Are you more inclined to join a gym, or a book club?
Book Club. Definitely. Now that I'm out of seminary I can read for my own pleasure!

3. Are you more inclined to read self-help books like Gail Sheehy's "Passages" or spiritual books like Richard Rohr or Theresa of Avila? And if so, what is your favorite?
Spiritual books. I just re-read Yearning by Craig Barnes (which helps keep all this "not quite good enough" in perspective) and read the Relational WORD.

4. Are you a loyal fan of a sports team? Or do you join the bandwagon when the local team is winning? And, if so, which one?
Gators. 'nuff said. Been a fan since I was in a onesie, back when they could scarcely get a win in a game, much less a season!

5. Or do you lean more toward having a favorite theologian/Spiritual writer or self help author and if so, who? And, why.
I have not settled on a favorite, still reading many.

Bonus: What was the last play-off series you watched and did your team win?
NCAA football and, uh, that would be a no.

travel Friday Five

Songbird at RevGalBlogPals gives us the following Friday Five: By the time you're reading this, I'll be en route to a Great Big City to see my son in a play. I'll go by car and bus and train and no doubt cab and maybe even subway. Thus, our Friday Five.

1) What was the mode of transit for your last trip?
RV. We've had the RV for about 12 years now, and we took it on a long trip this past summer, with the cats, to visit my presbytery of care and get examined and blessed to look for a call, to Atlanta to shmooze at a national event in search of a call, to visit my family and preach in the church where I was baptized and confirmed, and then back up through Presbyterian Mecca in NC and back to current abode. 5 weeks total, although 2 weeks were a little more spread out in the family's house on the river.

2) Have you ever traveled by train?
Yes, When I was a young lass, my Girl Scout troop took the train to Savannah to visit the Daisy Gordon Low home. As a business person, I took the train several times from DC to NY for business trips. Much more pleasant and efficient that flying for my locations.

3) Do you live in a place with public transit, and if so, do you use it?
yes and no. It doesn't tend to go where I want to without lots of transfers.

4) What's the most unusual vehicle in which you've ever traveled?
hmmmm. Here, I am boring. I don't even have any unusual cars to reference.

5) What's the next trip you're planning to take?
A week from today, over to my church of care (5 hours each way) to be ordained.

If you were a ....

Jan at RevGalBlogPals offers up the following Friday Five:

In EFM this week, our question was, "If you were a color, what would you be?" So that's where this Friday Five comes from, at least its jumping off place.

1. If you were a color, what would you be?
Deep, amethyst PURPLE





2. If you were a flower (or plant), what would you be?
A mesquite tree. they can grow with little water or nutrients, they're really bent and twisted by their environment, but they are also doggedly strong, long lasting and tenacious. And they make good BBQ!






3. If you were an animal, what kind would you be?
a cat. but what kind? a Florida cougar, smaller cousin to the mountain lions of the west, critically endangered, yet living free in the wilds of Florida (and yes, there are wilds in Florida!)

4. If you were a shoe, what type would you be?
shoes? well, either practical (naot) or better yet, NONE!

5. If you were a typeface, which font would you be?
Well seminary leads me to answer Hebraic, but I think I’ll go with Dauphin. Just enough individuality, but you can still read it! (successfully copying in with the fonts is beyond my blogger know-how)

I have been called

The church Committee and I have been pretty certain we were meant for each other for 3 months. The Congregational Meeting and vote was this past Sunday. I preached on Isaiah 43 1-7 and told them that God loves them, calls them and considers them precious; then I left the sanctuary while they had the congregational meeting and vote.

It was not unanimous. It might be too much to ask for unanimous, but it would have been nice.

Someone brought up 1 Timothy.

7 of the 48 who stayed voted against the call. I want to say voted against me, but it's not. Not really. It feels very personal, but it's not.

The moderator (a representative of the presbytery's Committee on Ministry) brought me the numbers and asked me if I wanted to accept the call under these conditions. I paused. I felt drenched in the cold shower of disappointment and hurt, but I told him it didn't change my sense of God's call to me to go to this place.

It's bitter sweet.

I have a call.

Time to brush up on my biblical apologetics for women in ministry.

Oh, and I have to go before Presbytery in a week. They'll want to think about a vote that was almost 20% "no" and whether I can successfully serve in that environment.

Sally from Eternal Echoes, hosts the RevGalblogPals Friday five today, and she says:

As I prepare this post I am aware that it will be posted on New Years Day. We stand at the beginning of 2010 looking not only at a New Year, but at a new decade full of promise and possibilities. For some of us this will be exciting, but others will approach it with trepidation and probably most of us stand on this threshold with a mix of emotions and reactions.

It is at this time of year that many (British) Methodist Churches celebrate their Annual Covenant Service, a service that will include this prayer:

I am no longer my own but yours,
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing,
put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you,
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you,
or brought low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now glorious and blessed God,
Father , Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.
May it be so forever.
Let this covenant now made on earth
be fulfilled in heaven. AMEN

This prayer is said every year, and offers every member an opportunity to renew their covenant with God. This is no soft or easy prayer, it states in the company of others our willingness to worship God come what may, not that we should become doormats, but that we place God above all else. (And every year if we are honest we have to acknowledge that we fail).

With this prayer in mind I bring you this Friday Five:

1. What will you gladly leave behind in 2009?
unemployment :) OK, I graduated from seminary in May, but I have been unemployed for the first time since high school, in 1978. 7 months with no real daily purpose and activities has been mentally draining.

2. What is the biggest challenge of 2010 for you?
Beginning my first call as a Minister of Word and Sacrament. Writing a sermon every week, getting to know the new folks, trying not to step into too many unseen piles of fertilizer. My first wedding, funeral, baptism, etc. I'm coming off a successful career and starting back at the beginning, totally new to the job and expectations so I have to find my voice as a pastor.

3. Is there anything that you simply need to hand to God and say "all will be well, for you are with me"?
see above :) Without God, #2 would be impossible!

4. If you could only achieve one thing in 2010 what would it be?
becoming their pastor in truth, not just in title and paycheck.

5. Post a picture, poem or song that sums up your prayer for the year ahead....