The Land of Beginning Again

       The Bible is a book of beginnings. Genesis 1 and John 1 and a thousand texts in-between, speak of God as author and initiator.

       But not only is the Bible about beginnings; it is about beginning again.

       Over and over---from patriarchs to priests, from prophets to apostles---even the best of the biblical characters have more pratfalls than a carload of clowns in a three ring circus. The "Roll Call of the Faithful" in Hebrews 11 could as well be named the "Hall of the Fallen."

       The greatest leader, King David, is one of the Bible's greatest sinners.

       Yet, the scriptural storytellers never end a story with a dead end. God doesn't believe in dead ends. There always is the prospect to begin again.

       Two months ago I stood at the Earth's End. That's what the ancients called it. Finisterre, Spain, literally means, "the end of the Earth." It was there the would-be cartographers sat and peered into the distance and saw as far as the Earth's curve; and there was no more after that.

       Many pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago go on to Finisterre and complete their pilgrimage with a ritual. I was one of them.

       The custom is for the pilgrim to take off his or her old clothes and toss them into the sea. Then, put on new clothes and begin a new post-pilgrimage life.

       Since this is the tradition, I did it.

       On a windy June afternoon on the beach at Finisterre, after my 500 mile Camino walk, I took my high-mileage socks, shirt, pants, and underwear and threw them into the Atlantic Ocean. I felt like I had been born again....

       For the onlookers on the beach, I am sure it was a different experience. My hunch is that the Finisterre emergency rooms saw a spike in post-traumatic-stress-syndrome after that!

       No, actually I walked into the lapping waves with my old clothes already bundled...and new shirt and pants already on...and watched the tide roll-away with what I had come to leave behind.

       It was a sacrament of beginning again.

       Have you seen the poem about that?

I wish that there were some wondered place

Called the Land of Beginning Again

Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches

And all of our selfish grief

Could be dropped like a shabby old coat

at the door

And never be put on again.

       As we start the new church year---with its committees and ministry teams and calendars and schedules and leadership and Church Council and Sunday School and Wednesday nights and reentry into the sanctuary post-summer---we reenact the ancient rhythm of beginning again. And we do so in the sacred company of the Holy Spirit.

       Early this morning, autumn whispered. Prayer happened. Opportunity arrived. The old was left behind. The land of beginning again beckoned. Grace happened.

       Thank God.

       The Music Ministry, through careful preparation and meaningful execution, seeks to nurture the congregation as we participate in the song of the Church. The song which we are called to offer comes from our heart and plays to the heart of God.

       Northside Drive is alive with the sound of music. Music forms an integral part of all our worship experiences, and many of our special events are built around music.

OPPORTUNITIES...

  The Sanctuary Choir (begins September 5)

       Wednesdays at 7:30 PM in the Undercroft Choir Room.

  Northside Drive Ringers (begins September 9)

       Sundays at 5:00 PM in the balcony classroom.

  Beginning Handbell Ensemble (begins September 16) 

       Sunday evenings at 6:30 PM in the balcony classroom.

  NDBC Children's Choir (begins September 9)

       Sundays at 10:25 AM in the Chapel.

Led by Rev. Zachary Bay

     Come and join in a discussion of beginnings. We will read and discuss stories, and hopefully, overhear the groanings of Creation and Creator as each strives to exist with the other. This will be a study about us and God trying to live together this thing called faith. To prime the pump of conversation, we will make use of Bill Moyer's Genesis: A Living Conversation as commentary material. The book can be purchased inexpensively on Amazon.

Week 1:  The Image of God ..................................Gen 1-2

Week 2:  Temptation ............................................Gen 2-3

Week 3:  The First Murder .......................................Gen 4

Week 4:  The Flood, the Ark, & the Apocalypse ....Gen 6-9

Week 5:  Call & Promise ....................................Gen 12-13

Week 6:  A Family Affair ...........................Gen 16-17, & 21

Week 7:  The Test ..............................................Gen 22-23

Week 8:  God Wrestling ....................................Gen 28-32