A good service today. The sermon was about how we need more playfulness and less religion in the Church. The idea that the Emerging Church understands the value of play in the sense of bringing imagination and wonder into how it approaches the world. The dying Church still clings to the ideals of religion and rules and law and order and so on. I like a sermon that gets me thinking in new ways. I usually do much better with work and life in general during the nice weather when I can play by riding my bike. In good weather I commute to work and take different routes and stop when I see something interesting. My challenge is how do I get some playtime into my life during the dead of winter? Some good parts of the sermon were when Rev. John spoke about how old religious Church was about the end game, setting a goal and running the race (as Paul in the bible spoke of doing). He also spoke about how a great pianist plays the piano and doesn't work the piano. This made me think of seeing Vladimir Horowitz on PBS years ago, he was a player not a worker on the piano with a twinkle in his eye making magic with his instrument. And then it got me thinking about great conductors, they don't race the orchestra through a symphony with the idea that finishing it was what was important. Emerging Church isn't so much about actions and consequences as it is about how we get where we are going. Again this is like my bike rides in summer, I rarely have a destination in mind and often change course part way into a ride. John also, mentioned that this year instead of opening Board meetings with 2 minute prayer he is going to open the meeting with 10 minutes of play. Glad I am in the congregation I am in, as thinking and imagination and moving beyond religion are something that resonates with me. Not sure what play will look like for me in the winter months ahead, but I realize after today's sermon that living for a goal like Spring finally arriving is far less important than how I live between now and Spring. It also made me think of a line from a favorite hymn which was not sung today, but would have been a great fit. The line from the hymn is, "In the end, what matters most, is how well did you live, how well did you love and learn to let go."
