Thanks a ton to everyone who came out and made Winter Weekend a success! The folks at St. Andrew’s, Kitchener were just swell (they even decorated their hall for us!) Our billet hosts were generous. Waldo was just as much fun to find in real life as he is in books. Worship was powerful, and Mark Gaskin’s theme addresses were were insightful.
With references to 1 Corinthians 12, he encouraged us to worship fully with our minds and bodies. And looking at the passage from Isaiah 6, he suggested that we, like Isaiah, live in a time of a king’s death—times of transition—as old institutions and ways of doing things pass away like former kings, and we’re left wondering what the new ruler will be like. In such times of turmoil, bland religious faith fades, and only deep and meaningful faith can be sustained. The same is true for worship.
Our own worship was vibrant and included a wealth of musical talent from the members of PYPS, as well as snazzy dancing and thoughtful prayers.
As well all head back home, and many of us set the guitars and drum kit aside for electric organs, we’ll try to remember the call we felt as we came together, the movement of the Spirit in our midst, and the fact that worship is a state of body and mind that always extends beyond the borders of the temples we build.
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’
And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”—Isaiah 6:8