SixFeetOver version 4.0

Tom Howard

Tom Howard, a Catholic scholar, author, and teacher, spoke today in chapel.  Unsurprisingly, he was spot on about everything he said.  Also unsurprisingly, I think 75% of the people in attendance missed the whole thing because they weren't paying attention.  More about that later.
One of the main points he made is that worship need not be (perhaps he went so far as to say "should not be") an emotional event, but rather something more intellectual - an action performed, not an emotional response.  At this statement, my intellect (ironically) leaped with joy.  It's something I've believed for quite some time, but unfortunately, when I've expressed my opinion to fellow Protestants, I'm usually given one of two reactions: 1)  I'm put down being told that I must feel my personal relationship with Christ for it to be authentic; or 2) I'm given looks of the utmost concern, as if my very soul is at stake on this point, and am told something vague like 'don't worry, it will come'.  A combination of these two reactions is also possible.  Unfortunately for me, articulating my thoughts on the spot is not my biggest strength, so the debate is usually not very long or fruitful for either party.  I think those same people would have had a problem with the liturgy we said in chapel today.  We said the phrase "Christ have mercy" or "Have mercy on us, O Jesus" dozens of times in response to small statements, usually of the form "Jesus, the Redeemer of sins" or "Jesus, lover of Chastity", for example.  Now, I am not used to liturgical readings at all, but it occurred to me during the liturgy that the repetition served to really drive home our need of Christ's mercy and a reminder of all the things Christ is.  As Howard said (paraphrased), "If someone asked you to describe Jesus in 25 lines, what would you say?  'Jesus is like, wow, awesome'?  The liturgy gives you the words you could not come up with yourself."  It is not spontaneous or emotional, and it strikes me as a truer form of worship than jumping around waving your hands in the air.  Not that that is bad, necessarily.

He wasn't able to touch on it much, but I think the Catholics have the right idea about Communion too.  We Protestants have much to often just an assembly line form of communion: We distribute the elements as efficiently as possible, and say "Here, take your saltine and your fruit punch, and think about Jesus!" Yes, this is an exaggeration, but if you have to rise from you seat, solemnly approach the Priest, and take real bread and wine, I think the experience will be much more humbling and genuine.

Unfortunately, as I said, I think a lot of people missed the whole thing, and it was probably those who needed to hear it the most.  I was surrounded by people reading (bad) or sending text messages (worse) or just chatting with their neighbors (awful).  There were two girls behind me who I think were much more concerned with how fashionable they looked than learning anything.  They even talked to each other during the hymn we sang.  Now, not even they would dare speak during a prayer.  I think anyone at Gordon would blush at the thought of talking or making noise while someone was praying in chapel.  What they don't understand is that singing a hymn, reciting a liturgy, and paying attention when someone is teaching about God are all just as important, and are all in their own rights acts of worship.  I wanted to smack them in the head and tell them to grow up and listen up, but I'm afraid the results would not be positive.  Actually, the results could probably be the impetus for Tom Howard's next book, Blunt Force Trauma to the Head is Not Enough.

Howard said a lot more, and I could not disagree with a single point he made.  I might write more on it later after it stews in my mind for a bit.  For now, these were my initial reactions.