In awe before the glory, in awe before God’s visible power,
Psalm 96:2
Worship God in holy splendor.
We gathered last Sunday, June 26, in the Garden of Remembrance.
Along with many of our folks, I had been longing for this outdoor time since last October, when we decamped to our Meetinghouse for the cold-weather months. We have comfortable seats, good light, a lovely acoustic space for the musicians, and state-of-the-art streaming facilities in the Sanctuary.
The Garden means bring your own chair, bring your own lectern, bring a single video cam and a ton of control equipment, bring your own piano…pretty much, bring your own everything.
What it also means is fresh air, sunlight, a thousand blossoming plants that shame our artful arrangements indoors, and a certain freedom to feel God’s Spirit, very, very close to us. It means a silent awareness that we worship where ancestors and loved ones are interred—none of us knows exactly where, because the Garden by design has no markers or stones where ashes have been laid to rest.
What I love is the sense of relaxed order when we gather outdoors. Instead of a grid of pews, there are patches of shade. Families and friends gather where they are comfortable, and everyone can get a good look at butterflies and blossoms while we take in God’s presence among us.
