Sunday reflection: stained glass & songs

 

 
Part of my family's Sunday routine is to attend Mass at our neighborhood church in the morning.  We sit in the same area each Sunday, which means we are directly opposite the gorgeous stained glass window you see above.  We arrived early this morning, so I took these photos with my phone.  The photos do not quite capture the beauty of the window.  Probably a specials lens and lighting would be necessary to photograph it adequately.  Let me assure you - it's a lovely thing to look it.  I have often reflected on its colors, patterns, details and features.  I could research it and find out more about its design and meaning, and maybe someday I will.  For now, I'm content to gaze at its beauty and appreciate it.  One day a few months ago, when we happened to be discussing the window, my daughter said, "When I was little, I thought that window was heaven."  What a great reminder of how beauty - in the form of a stained glass window or a painting or a tree-lined river or a butterfly or in a variety of other forms - can help us connect with the spiritual. 

Music can also help us connect with our religion or spirituality.  In a previous post, I've written about how I love to sing in the car and at home.  For the record, I also love singing at church.  And, here again, my taste is not very discriminating.  I enjoy singing everything from old-school Latin songs - to the folksy church music that came out of the seventies - to traditional hymns.  Singing with others helps me lift up my thoughts and feel part of my church community.  As one variation of the saying goes, "To sing is to pray twice."  This is attributed to St. Augustine.  According to my quick research on the web, he didn't write exactly that, but something a bit more complicated.  I'm no religious scholar;  for my own part, I enjoy praising through song.  And with my faith community, I feel comfortable and welcomed to sing joyfully and loudly regardless of my actual ability.

In addition to church music, I also enjoy religious-themed songs from musicals.  Think The Sound of Music, Jesus Christ Superstar, and even (not actually a musical, I know) Sister Act.  This past Lent, I decided that I wanted to watch Jesus Christ Superstar with my family.  My husband and daughter agreed to watch.  My husband, if I remember correctly, fell asleep.  My daughter was not thrown off by the seventies feel of the movie and enjoyed watching with me.  The next day we set ourselves up with the Jesus Christ Superstar station on Pandora and were belting out "Everything's Alright," "Hosanna," and "Superstar."  Shocking, I know, but one of the teenaged boys in our house was very dour when he came into the kitchen for breakfast and heard his mother and sister belting out, "Jesus Christ Superstar, Do you think you're what they say you are?"  Some people don't know how to have any fun.

Back at church this morning, we sang a really beautiful hymn.  I have heard and sang it before, but its words really touched me this morning as I was thinking about all the strife and conflict happening in our world right now.  The hymn is called "For the Healing of the Nations."  I looked it up, and it was written by Fred Kaan, who was ordained in the United Reformed Church and served in England.  The song was first sung in 1965.  The beautiful and poetic lyrics are just as meaningful today, perhaps more so, as they ask us to work together for the good of all humanity.   

For the healing of the nations,
Lord, we pray with one accord,
for a just and equal sharing
of the things that earth affords.
To a life of love in action
help us rise and pledge our word.

Lead your people into freedom,
from despair your world release,
that, redeemed from war and hatred,
all may come and go in peace.
Show us how through care and goodness
fear will die and hope increase.

All that kills abundant living,
let it from the earth be banned:
pride of status, race or schooling,
dogmas that obscure your plan.
In our common quest for justice
may we hallow brief life's span.

You, Creator God, have written
your great name on humankind;
for our growing in your likeness
bring the life of Christ to mind;
that by our response and service
earth its destiny may find.