Worship....a word cloud and some reflection

In anticipation and preparation for my upcoming worship (WO 510) class that starts this Friday, I started thinking about different words that I associate with worship.  I decided to create a wordle with my words to use as my notebook cover. The list isn't exhaustive.  My list may differ from yours.  Yet, as I started thinking about worship, these are some of the words that came to mind.  In case the words aren't easily legible in the word cloud, here is the list:

WO510 worship prayer Scripture Eucharist communion cup bread sermon preaching symbols sacraments traditions liturgical silence space word visual singing creeds choir covenant drama healing liturgy music hymnal organ psalter pulpit anoint baptism praise Catechism confirmation clergy laity Spirit confession rituals theology Doxology peace offering lectionary benediction drums guitar piano handbells chimes vocalists orchestra video broadcast interactive creative blended traditional modern contemporary taizé Advent Lent Kingdomtide Ordinary Pentecost Easter Christmas Epiphany devotion discipline formation colors rites community

Now as I write, other words come to mind.  Words such as multicultural, multilingual, intergenerational.  Worship is varied, depending on the community in which it takes place.  Yet, one thing remains in common for all communities that worship (in theory) and that is that each community gathers to worship the One created all things into being. 

I enjoy traditional worship, contemporary/modern worship, and taizé worship.  I enjoy bells and smells and what I call aerobic exercise from kneeling on the kneeling pads in the Episcopal Church in which I grew up.  Hearing liturgy and responding, sharing in the creeds and other traditional forms of the faith are comforting to me.  I enjoy sharing in Holy Communion/Eucharist/the Lord's Supper any way it is served and have been challenged and blessed to receive it in ways that cause me to pause and reflect on its meaning and my response.  I enjoy the old hymns and choruses from the 70s up to today.  I even enjoy Christian rock, some of it.  Not to mention secular rock and some country too.  I have found that I can worship the Creator through songs that aren't specifically "Christian" yet they still point to the Creator, if I have ears to hear.

When I show up to worship ready to participate, with my ears and eyes open (physically and spiritually), I am more likely to be part of the worship experience, to enter into it and not simply be part of the "audience". 

I haven't had lots of training on worship.  I did take a Lay Speaker course several years back from Dan Benedict (Rev. Daniel Benedict) through BeADisciple.com.  That was a tremendous course and he a tremendous instructor and resource!  Most of what I have learned has been through experience and maybe some from attending conferences and from some books I've read.

I am looking forward to some formal education through WO510 over the next three months, meeting for 3 weekends of intensive class time together. 

We'll see how my worship word list changes, if it does.  More importantly, we'll see how my outlook and practice of worship changes.

Blessings on your worship,

Debra 

Word clouds.... creating one for Advent

I first learned about word clouds a few months ago when at our District Charge Conference the District Administrative Assistant had used one via Wordle for the cover of the charge conference handbook (it contained all the names of the churches in the District).  Then, as I thought back to our Academy's closing week, I realized that the program cover from our 2 Year Academy was also a word cloud with all the "words of the day" from each session in both Spanish and English.  I don't know which format she used, but I am going to guess Wordle because that seems to be the first of the word cloud applications.

Today I wanted to make an Advent word cloud.

I first tried Wordle because I have used it once before.  But Wordle wasn't working for me today.  It seemed I was having some Java issues and after trying to resolve those issues to no avail, I moved on and tried a different word cloud site, Word It Out.

My Advent word cloud looks like this:

 

http://worditout.com/word-cloud/313644/private/3ae50166ca214dc31893633572ed144f

 



If you look closely, you will find "quiet" and "stillness" in the middle of it all.  I had to keep playing with it until the words came up (more or less) like I wanted them too. 

The colors didn't come up in their true color (that would have been cool).  And there isn't much control over which words are big and which words are little. 

However, with some patience and many keystrokes, I decided to go with the above image. 

It goes along with an editorial piece for an upcoming newsletter that will go out on the 15th.  

What words come to mind for you at this time of year?

Are you able to find some quiet and stillness in the middle of it all?

Blessings on your journey,

Debra