Dear Rose Park,
When I was a senior at Hope College I lived on Lincoln Avenue not too far from the train tracks. I lived with a few friends and I can remember when we first moved in it seemed like the noise of the train was not only going to knock the house down (this perhaps says more about the house than the train) but also deafen our ears. However, when I moved out of the house some ten months later, the sound of the train became so commonplace, so much like white noise, we hardly noticed it at all.
I can’t imagine this is unique to my experience living near the train tracks; I’d imagine there are noises going on around you right now that you don’t even notice. Perhaps it’s the sound of overhead lights, the dull hum of a dishwasher, the tick and tock of a clock, or even the conversations of coworkers. There are so many sounds happening in our world that eventually they become like white noise just filling in the background but never catching our full attention.
This dynamic made me think of the rhythms, words, and sounds of our liturgy. I hope and pray that our worship liturgy hasn’t become white noise for you. I hope you attentively hear when we are welcomed into worship with the sung words, “God is Here.” I hope your heart is fully present when we collectively offer a prayer of confession. I hope your voice joins the choir of saints when we announce “Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come again!” during communion. I hope your mind is willing to imagine and envision when God’s Word is spoken and preached. I hope and pray all this because if the words of our worship and the Word of our God becomes like white noise in our lives, then we have seriously missed the mark when it comes to an intimate relationship with God.
This is all to say, as you prepare to read a devotion, say a prayer, attend worship, listen to a sister or brother preach the Word, or approach the communion table may your eyes, ears, hearts, and minds be fully present so that you might be fully available to receive all that God has in store for you. So, when Rick plays the opening chord to “God is Here” this coming Sunday for worship, let all the other noises dissipate for a brief time so that we can fully attend to presence of God.
Grace & Peace,
