Today, I experienced a church service unlike any I have had the opportunity to participate in. The service was broken into five different stations which included: Labyrinth, Communion; Stewardship; Praying in Color and Taize. Although, I have experienced each of these individually, I had never experienced them all in a single service. Each station was a seven minute mini-service; each station had a designated leader to maintain the focus. I found the experience inviting and thought-provoking but left me wanting more, which may have been the anticipated outcome. In preparation for Easter, each station was designed for individual moments leading to a movement in celebration for the precious gift given freely to each of us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I hope you find the information on here helpful and I pray that you experience Christ in a very real way during this Easter Celebration. Psalm 46:10 (NRSV) “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.”
Labyrinth: It is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. The Labyrinth represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools. Labyrinth has only one path. The way in is the way out. There are no blind alleys. The path leads you on a circuitous path to the center and out again. A labyrinth is a right brain task. It involves intuition, creativity, and imagery. With a maze many choices must be made and an active mind is needed to solve the problem of finding the center. With a labyrinth there is only one choice to be made. The choice is to enter or not. A more passive, receptive mindset is needed. The choice is whether or not to walk a spiritual path.
Communion: It is an intimate personal interaction between you and God; a relationship, especially one in which something is communicated or shared; a religious group with common faith: a religious group with its own set of beliefs and practices, especially a Christian denomination. Sharing in the The Lord’s Supper as He did with his Disciples.
Stewardship: It applies to everything we have been given. Our time, our money, our God-given gifts and abilities, our influence, it all comes from God.
Praying in Color: To be honest, all I can share it what we actually did today. We used coffee filters, flattened out, using a permanent marker and wrote words describing prayers; i.e. hope, friends, love, peace…and then using food coloring drop single drops onto the filter which makes a tie-die effect. I do have good news, after looking on the web I found a great website called “Praying in Color.” I hope you try it, I found it therapeutic and a strong visual for my feelings.
Taize: It is an ecumenical sung and silent participatory prayer service designed to achieve a contemplative state through music, song and silence. Taize worship can be short chants, repeated again and again, give it a meditative character with a brief introduction printed in the paperback songbook. Using just a few words, [the chants] express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being.
~Blessings and Peace~
References:
http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/taize.htm
Bing Dictionary
HOPE SEEKER 