Dancing before the Lord

Today was our first 6:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist here at St. Luke’s since I’ve arrived. It was once a practice of Fr. Harrell, now mine. We had five folks here, including me. It was a little rushed as I wasn’t sure of the timing and had promised we would be no longer than 40 minutes. We finished in 20. On Tuesday, our next one, I’ll aim for 30.

There was a moment though that really spoke of who St. Luke’s is as a community. It was during the Eucharistic Prayer. I was at the altar and the four members of the congregation were kneeling in the pews. They each sat in their own pew, two on the Gospel side and two on the Epistle side, one behind the other. As I said the words, “As our Lord Jesus Christ taught us, we are bold to say…” the four rose, and came into the aisle. The two from the first pew joined hands as did the two behind them. It was just like a dance.

As we said the Lord’s Prayer, I glanced at them and saw the four – one from England via Jamaica, one from the USA, one from Chile and one from the Bahamas or Guyana. St. Luke’s a place where the world comes together to worship and dance before the Lord.

Thanks be to God.