So I decided to go on a little spiritual retreat today. I’ve wanted to do this for some time now, but I’ve been procrastinating. In my job as worship director, it’s very easy for me to get caught up in the details of what I do, and it’s so easy to forget the big picture. Our Advent theme has already been announced, we’ve already had a brainstorming session about how best to portray our theme throughout the season, and it feels like we’re good to go.
But . . . something’s been bugging me and I couldn’t put my finger on it. Our pastor is going to be preaching on the first few chapters of Hebrews. That excited me because if you ever asked me what my favorite book of the Bible is—that’s it. So here I was with sermon titles, all sorts of music and plenty of ideas for artistic illustration, but the scripture had not yet spoken to me.
So I decided to leave for a day, find a quiet place and see if I could hear God speaking to me through the book of Hebrews. I chose today as the right day—a bleak and rainy Tuesday. After procrastinating until close to 10:00, I drove to Petoskey, listening to “You are Holy,” the song we had sort of decided as a good theme song for Advent. I listened to the background music to see if I could figure out the right piano part, I listened to the volume, I planned how to introduce the song, etc. It took me at least 20 minutes to let all of that go, and really sing along, “I’ll sing your praises forever, deeper in love with You. Here in Your courts where I’m close to Your throne, I’ve found where I belong.”
Okay, that put me in the right mood. My first stop was a coffee shop—after all, I needed sustenance for the day. I found myself a cozy little corner and started to read some notes and think. Okay, so I did a little bit of people-watching also. I watched a mother chastise her son who had Downs Syndrome because he was holding the outside door open too long. I melted when his dad put a comforting arm around his shoulder briefly. Oh, and I gave directions to someone who asked how to get to Petoskey High School—I hope they were right.
My next stop was the Petoskey Library where I found a quiet table by the window. I became very diligent—I filled at least 10 sheets of paper with notes. I organized things and I made progress that felt really good. I dug into my Bible finding wonderful Old Testament scriptures that applied to the Hebrews passages. I thought about the Advent candles, the children, the stage arrangements, and those wonderful creative props. I got really excited working on the communion service that we have just before Christmas.
I got a little hungry again, so I walked over to a Pub for lunch. They gave me some peanuts, but I couldn’t bring myself to throw the shells on the floor like everyone else did. I kept them in a little pile on my table and even after the waitress came and swept them from my table to the floor, I still couldn’t do it.
So, back to the library to finish my day with some more note-taking. I was feeling rather smug about my accomplishments, and it was getting late in the afternoon, so I thought I’d try my hand at a little poetry. Here’s where God stopped mumbling. (Yea, I know He never was mumbling; I just wasn’t listening.) I tried to put Hebrews 1:1-4 into a poem. It took a little bit of work, and it may need a little bit of tweaking, but something happened in that writing. I started out writing about Jesus, and all of the things those verses say about Him, and suddenly the poem became about who I am because of Him.
So, here it is:
Reflection of the perfect one
Was mirrored in God’s only Son.
The imprint of the Father’s face—
A human visage of His grace.
Creator, when the world began,
Now offered as redemption’s plan.
Unlike the angels, Jesus came
To share our life, our death, our shame;
And humbled down to hell’s abyss,
Was raised above to heaven’s bliss.
Inheriting all things divine
My Savior/Brother makes them mine.
His faithful word I now embrace,
I too reflect my Father’s face.
And that’s what I did today.
