A KINDER, GENTLER TIME!

We had carolers sing at our door a few nights ago.  They come every year to the homes here in Heron Woods Retirement Village.  They’re brought by David and Beverly Whalen who also live in our village.  We assume they’re a church group.  They always bring a nice plate of cookies!  😊

This is a rare practice in the twenty-first century.  Perhaps people don’t like to be intruded on; after all, a person’s house is his/her castle [moat and all]!  We just don’t intrude on people these days. 

But, when I was growing up, caroling was still a common practice.  We were accustomed to hearing Perry Como singing on our radios:

Here we come a-caroling
Among the leaves so green
Here we come a-wandering
So fair to be seen

[Chorus]
Love and joy come to you
And to you glad Christmas too
And God bless you and send you
A Happy New Year
And God send you a Happy New Year

We are not daily beggars
That go from door to door
But we are friendly neighbors
Whom you have seen before
[Repeat Chorus]

We also heard Nat King Cole singing:

Caroling, caroling now we go
Christmas bells are ringing
Caroling, caroling through the snow
Christmas bells are ringing
Joyous voices sweet and clear
Sing the sad of heart to cheer
Ding, dong, ding, dong
Christmas bells are ringing

Is it any wonder that this practice was an integral part of spreading the joy of the birth of Christ?

Church groups would actually schedule visits to nursing homes and hospitals to share the joy of the season.  They would also crowd onto the porches of their shut-ins and sing several songs for their pleasure.  Sometimes we would be given cookies as a reward for our songs!  

At the New Brighton Free Methodist Church, we were blessed with a lot of folks who loved to sing.  We also had an extremely capable and sensitive song leader – Morrison Baker. He decided what we would sing and led us in our mission.  I suppose what made our group unique was not only the fact that we were a transgenerational group, but that we almost always had all four parts represented: soprano, alto, tenor and bass.  We would jam into cars [or occasionally the church bus] and caravan around our town making as many as ten or twelve stops.  We dressed appropriately and would sometimes run back to the cars to warm up. 

We were taught to be respectful in the hospitals where we would gather closely at the end of a hallway and sing several carols.  Back then, we were a welcome intrusion to the busy environment of caring for the sick.  By visiting in the early evening the staff seemed happy to welcome us! As we would walk down the hallway we were often greeted by family members who thanked us for coming!  We would go to nursing homes early enough that they would often have many gathered in a room to hear our songs.  Many would sing along with us with genuine expressions of sincerity and appreciation. 

We always went home feeling that we’d somehow made a difference by delivering a little joy of the season to those who might have felt lonely or left out!  I miss those days and the joy they brought!!  

EXPERIENCING THE PRESENCE OF GOD - 1

Some reading this blog may be able to identify with my childhood experiences - others will find these descriptions foreign or strange.

I grew up during the 1950's and 1960's in a very spiritually oriented home.  I was the youngest of four children who were spaced over fifteen years.  I never really knew my oldest sister and brother very well.  My parents were very devoted to the Lord and this took its form through faithfulness to their church.  

Our church was a large church by 1960 standards.  A layman [Joe Douglas] was devoted to visitation and outreach and almost single-handedly grew the Sunday School to a record-high 614 one Easter Sunday around 1968!  The church operated three old school buses and brought [mostly] children in from neighboring towns.  

Another layman [Morrison Baker] was a charming and talented man who led the song service consistently throughout my growing-up years.  [The 'song-service' was the time of worship preceeding the giving of the message by the 'preacher'.]  We always had a pianist and organist to accompany our singing and they were equally capable at their assignment.  Consequently, this congregation loved to sing as an expression of their worship!

Although we did not sing through the hymnal, at one time or another we sang nearly every hymn!  I recall these times of singing with great favor - even those of us who were part of the youth group sang enthusiastically.  We loved the occasional Sunday evening when 'Brother Baker' would open it up for us to call out favorites.  We automatically hollered out number 106, which was "Wonderful Grace of Jesus" [written by Haldor Lillenas].  Our church was blessed to have people capable of singing all four parts enthusiastically, so - to our ears - we sounded like a grand choir!  

Something happened frequently during those 'song services'.  It's difficult to describe, but at some point I would sense that there was something more going on than just singing a song together.  In my childhood and youthful zeal, this experience simply caused me to want to sing louder and more enthusiastically!  I had little language to express what I was experiencing, other than to say that the service was really blessed that night.

As a theologically trained pastor reflecting back, I can now observe that these were genuine experiences of the presence of God through His Holy Spirit!  These experiences were fairly frequent, very powerful and usually came in the midst of our act of worship!  

These were simple, ordinary people who sincerely loved God and were trying to live their lives to His glory!  They had excellent leadership that fostered a great passion to see the Kingdom of God grow and expand!  

I am deeply grateful for these experiences of God's presence!  I hold these memories as precious!  They elicited in me a desire to continue to be in environments where God would draw close and we could sense His nearness!  That desire became a drive in me as I grew into the role of being a pastor!  I desperately wanted the churches that I led to be places where people would frequently experience the presence of God!