Our "Lord's Prayer," a Liturgy with Words, Images

Prepared by the evening EfM class, March 19, 2019. See my EfM blog. Prior to the worship, members of the group had time to choose a line of the prayer and to find or create a text and / or image to share that in some significant way corresponds to that line. This approach, intended to bring new mental images to a familiar text, was applied earlier to the Apostle's Creed. See my post of 02/23/2019. [Photo: All the images and texts displayed in one place.]

Clockwise from upper left, images and texts corresponding to kingdom, temptation, will, bread, Father in heaven, forgive, and name.

Worship Centered on the Lord’s Prayer

Prayer Leader (Scott) from Matthew 6.7

Jesus said, “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:

All (in unison)

Our father who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come;

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer Leader from the BCP, Collect for the 2nd Sunday of Advent
and Psalm 19.14

As we now repeat these words, let us pause after each clause to offer corresponding text or images taken from scripture, our culture, and experience, so that we may more fully read, mark, and inwardly digest the prayer.

All from Psalm 19.14

May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer.

Prayer Leader

Now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say…

All

Our Father, Who art in heaven…

Reader One

I offer a corresponding reading from Genesis 1.3-4, with an image from a book, The Art of God, the Heavens and the Earth. 

And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

(At the conclusion, the reader says…)

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.

All

Amen.

Hallowed be Thy name…

Reader Two

I offer a corresponding reading from Exodus 2.13-14, with an image of the burning bush made from Hebrew calligraphy.

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, “What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 

(At the conclusion, the reader says…)

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.

All

Amen.

Thy kingdom come…

Reader Three

I offer a corresponding reading from Isaiah 6.6-9, with images from the Isaiah portion of the Knesset Menorah, and Edward Hicks's Peaceable Kingdom.

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

(At the conclusion, the reader says…)

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.

All

Amen.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…

Reader Four

I offer a corresponding image: a photograph of a Celtic "thin place" where a violinist can be imagined to be making beautiful music, doing "God's will."

(At the conclusion, the reader says…)

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.

All

Amen.

Give us this day our daily bread…

Reader Five

I offer a corresponding reading from Sara Miles, Take this Bread: a Radical Conversion.

I grew inside my mother, the way Katie grew inside me. I came out of her and ate her, just as Katie ate my body, literally, to live. I became my mother in ways that still felt, sometimes, as elemental and violent as the moment when I'd been pushed out from between her legs in a great rush of blood. And it was the same with my father. He had helped make me, in ways that were wildly mysterious and absolutely powerful. Like Jesus, he had gone inside somebody else's body and then become a part of me The shape of my hands, the way I cleared my throat, the color of my eyes: My parents lived in me -- body and soul, DNA and spit. That was like the bread becoming God becoming me, in ways seen and unseen.

(At the conclusion, the reader says…)

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.

All

Amen.

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…

Reader Six

I offer a corresponding reading from Genesis 45.4-15, with an image from The Brick Bible.

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.


Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. 

(At the conclusion, the reader says…)

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.

All

Amen.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…

Reader Seven

I offer a corresponding image, a stock photo for the word "temptation."

(At the conclusion, the reader says…)

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.

All

Amen.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

(Silence, while the images and texts are placed together in full view. Then the leader continues…)



Prayer Leader

Finally, let us pray for our own needs and those of others: For the church, and this church; for those who govern and hold authority; for grace to do your will in all that we undertake; for those in any need or trouble; for the departed. We remember especially those on our prayer list, and any we remember now, silently or aloud. (pause) We give thanks for the blessings of this life. (pause) Finally, we collect all our thoughts into one prayer that the Lord taught us, saying…

All (in unison)

Our father who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come;

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer Leader

Let us bless the Lord.

All

Thanks be to God.

[Since we put this together, the images and readings have come to mind as I've prayed the familiar words. This fits in with the reading by Timothy Sedgwick concerning kataphetic worship -- i.e., using significant images to stimulate meditation and awareness during prayer.]

Dementia Diary: Queen Mother

She wakes when she feels like it, usually around 10 a.m. Her clothes are laid out for her where she will find them. She goes out with lipstick, earrings, hair combed. We, her servants (including Laura and Denise, both of "Visiting Angels"), drive her to restaurants, manicure, doctors, shops, and we handle all the payments.  Sometimes she says, "Wait! I don't have any money with me!"  I say, "You're like the Queen -- she just waves her hand and her people do the paying."  Mom laughs at that. Staff in Memory Care make her bed, clean her room, kneel to massage her sore knees, and offer her daily meds.

Looking back, I can see that all the emotional crises we had during the previous years came from one basic source: the dissonance between her self- image as an independent, take - charge kind of woman, and a thousand daily reminders that she couldn't manage. Now, she's never alone longer than an hour; her choices are limited; and she is the queen of her own domain.

And, dare I say, she's happy? For months, she has laughed at every little problem, every encounter, every piece of news. She laughed even when she asked, "Wait! What is my name?" There was a sad moment when she asked, "Do I still have a dog?" I reminded her that dear little Sassy had died a year ago. "That's good," said Mom, "because I haven't been feeding her anything."

[Photos, from top: Mom at her mirror; at our Sunday lunch; at Tiffany's Nail Salon; at 10:30 a.m. on a Saturday, listening to Frank Sinatra before she decides to get up and get dressed.]

"Anne Frank" Lives On Stage at The Walker School

[Photo: Gillian Stoltz as "Margot" and Katrin Surkan as "Anne", Anne's movie - star pin - ups in the background (from the Walker School's Facebook page)]

We left the theatre after The Diary of Anne Frank feeling uplifted by affection for the characters and inspired by the power of creativity and kindness to make life where none would seem possible.

But we had entered the tiny Mozley Studio Theatre at The Walker School feeling trapped. The set, as oppressive as impressive, was designed by Mr. Bill Schreiner from ideas that director Mrs. Katie Arjona brought back from her own pilgrimage to the secret annex in Amsterdam. A cutaway view of annex and attic filled the space so that the audience, too, felt packed together with the characters. The stage, raised to remind us that the action is up stairs, also pressed the actors' heads close to the actual ceiling of the theatre, a tight squeeze emphasized by heavy - looking artificial rafters.  To enhance our feeling of being enclosed with no escape possible, Arjona kept actors busy in character on stage even during the audience's intermission.

[Left to right: Kraler, Otto Frank, the Van Daans, and Mrs. Frank. Photo from The Walker School's Facebook page.]

The play would seem oppressive enough without the set design. Though I'd never read the book nor seen the play, Anne Frank's face and story are part of our culture, well known to me since grade school. What could it offer, besides drabness, darkness, and its characters' sad endings?

The playwrights find a rhythm in the story, cycles of dejection, anger, and accommodation to reduced circumstances. At first, the Frank family has to adjust to their tiny annex. Teenaged daughter Margot (Gillian Stoltz) is morose, and her mother (Ellie Collerton) is resentful, but Otto Frank (Carter Ezell) reassures them, and young Anne (Katrin Surkan) is ebullient, skipping around the perimeter. No sooner have they adjusted to their reduced circumstances, than the Van Daans enter the already - cramped space. Again, there's a period of adjustment, as we get to know the comically self-absorbed parents Mr. Van Daan (Jared Garvin), obsessed with food, and Mrs. Van Daan (Emmalissa Perkerson) clinging to her fur coat and her idea of elegance. They bring their shy teenaged son Peter (Caden Virant). Again, through give and take, the families reach equilibrium. Then, Otto Frank's loyal employees Kraler (Toby Allers) and Miep (Jordan Gomez) bring in another refugee, Mr. Dussel (Sean Lewis) who brings his finicky ways and, also, devastating news from "outside."

Each adjustment to worsening situation brings a breakthrough to greater understanding and compassion, mostly through the agency of Anne. She grows up before our eyes over the two years of the action. At first, Anne and her mother are estranged; Anne cannot get Peter to relate to her; she discloses her thoughts to us in the diary she keeps closed to others' prying. As Anne, Katrin Surkan was a generous actress, lavishing all her energy on others, drawing them out. In a memorable scene, she has found creative ways to make gifts for everyone at Hanukkah, each person astonished in turn. The last iteration of the cycle brings the characters to a pinnacle of love and understanding, and the inevitable end comes as a shock.

The sixth graders in my drama class appreciated so much of the play, having seen just one act. For them, that "fourth wall" was almost palpable, and those moments when Anne broke it were a relief. They learned from seeing how every actor stayed in character, engaged in some "stage business" that didn't distract us while our attention focused elsewhere. When I asked the younger actors to imitate the walks of the different characters, the sixth graders could identify each one instantly, a tribute to the actors' full - bodied characterizations.

The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman. Presented at The Walker School, Marietta GA, March 6 - 9, 2019. Director, Katie Arjona. Scenic and Lighting Design, Bill Schreiner. Original Sound Design, Dan Moises Shreier; Additional Sound Design, Hayes Zierden.

ANNE FRANK Katrin Surkan
MR. OTTO FRANK Carter Ezell
MRS. EDITH FRANK Ellie Collerton
MARGOT FRANK Gillian Stoltz
MRS. VAN DAAN Emmalissa Perkerson
MR. VAN DAAN Jared Garvin
PETER VAN DAAN Caden Virant
MR. DUSSELL Sean Lewis
MIEP Jordan Gomez
MR. KRALER Toby Allers
ENSEMBLE Dylan Alfi, Mason Duecker, and Ronan Ezell

Ravel Revealed: Pianist Von Oeyen

Pianist Andrew Von Oeyen's nacreous blue eyes focused intensely on wringing music from the grand Steinway on stage at cozy, acoustically - live Spivey Hall in Morrow GA, near Atlanta last month. Playing his own transcription of Massenet's "Meditation" from Thais, fragrant chords billowing under a probing melody, he sometimes bent down to the keyboard as if he searched for just the right note to end the phrase. So many phrases had ended in silence that we weren't sure which note was last in the piece before he launched us into the different world of  "Le Jeu des Contraires" by Henri Dutilleux, a piece as gnarly as the first was gentle. Von Oeyen chased patterns of notes up and down the keyboard, smacking some down, teasing out others. Spikey and spicy, the piece was fun for its texture and color.

But the center piece of the concert was Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin, written mid-way between Massenet's lush 19th century sound and the mid-20th-century atonality of Dutilleux.

Tombeau is a suite of six classical dances that I've known for decades only through the composer's orchestration of four movements.  When Von Oeyen played, I enjoyed hearing two of the movements for the first time.  The orchestral version dresses the music up in colors and textures; on the keyboard, Von Oeyen revealed the motifs that hooked movements together. and made visually clear the structure of the piece, how Ravel provided his pianist with islands of rest, where Von Oeyen could settle into an ostinato pattern, sitting up straight and looking comfortable, before he leaned into a new upwelling of notes, distinct as water droplets from a fountain.

The piece, begun as a tribute to the seventeenth - century composer, finished as a celebration of Ravel's close friends who died in the Great War.  While the notes often scintillate and skip up and down the keyboard, the composer layers some dissonance and deep hues in the harmony that hint that these aren't dances for now, but dances of memory.  The piece is non - stop pleasure, and may be my favorite of all music I know.  I'm grateful to Von Oeyen for helping me to hear it in a new way.

Von Oeyen followed up in the second half with Liszt's Sonata in B minor. For an encore, he played Robert Schuman and then a very Ravel - like version of Gershwin's "The Man I Love."