Hello Friends,
Welcome to the second edition of our new series, “Hump Day Happiness”! Every Wednesday I’m going to post one thing that inspires joy, happiness, connection, and ALLTHEWARMFUZZYFEELINGS. In honor of Mother’s Day, today’s come from “The Liturgists” new compilation of amazingness, “God Our Mother”.
I learned about this album yesterday when, “The Brilliance” shared it on Facebook and now I’m officially in love with “The Liturgists”.
Growing up Assembly of God, I never experienced liturgy, it seemed like “that things Catholics and Spirit Quenchers do”. The first year of our marriage my husband and I attended a Presbyterian church with his favorite professor at bible college. Every Sunday they said the Nicene Creed and it really irritated me. Sunday after Sunday I would just say the words, feeling that old Pentecostal conviction that we’re somehow “quenching the Spirit” until one Sunday when it clicked. It wasn’t the words, it was the Spirit. The very same Holy Spirit I thought our recitations grieved, was moving in the sanctuary. I saw the connectedness between the blue-haired widow down front and the dread locked teen the back; we were all saying the same words, to the same God, at the same time. Unity. It was perfect harmony. Then I realized somewhere else in New Orleans, somewhere else in the the state, the country, the continent, the whole world, Jesus followers were reciting the Nicene Creed and my heart was overwhelmed with wonder, with love, with joy. I think liturgy has the power to break barriers in ways that even our most eloquent sermons or passionate prayers in tongues can.
I’m so thankful to have found this new collective. On this album is a fantastic lesson on Apophatic Meditation which is simply put, praying without images. From Shalom Place:
No words can express this, and so apophatic prayer emphasizes loving silence and “unknowing” as distinctive features.
I’m intrigued by it, even though it scares the heck out of me, I’m more of a rambly words, imaginative prayer kind of girl.
Here’s my favorite piece on the album read and written by Shauna Niequist, music by The Brilliance:
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Today’s Hump Day Happiness Menu is: Papa John’s pizza! (yay for a break from cooking for Mama!)
In our family we celebrate Hump Day Happiness by choosing a family member and then making (or ordering) their favorite meal. Today, we’re celebrating my husband for going to a job interview at a local church yesterday and acknowledging the tender way he cared for me and the kids when we were sick a couple of weeks ago.
Go and buy the album, it’s only $4.95 on iTunes.
ALLTHEWARMFUZZYFEELINGS and Shalom,
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