The Hymn Olympics

My thoughts on comparing the recent Olympic games with hymn singing and my experiences at "The Meeting Place" conference in July can be read by clicking here.

But what will it look like?

I have always loved making puzzles.  One of my early memories is just that:  making puzzles on the living room floor in Meaford, Ontario.  I indulge this 'obsession' about 2 or 3 times a year.  I'm calling it an obsession because once I start a puzzle, I have a hard time doing anything else until it's finished.  There have been a few puzzles over the years that were really tough.  I remember, in college, working on one that was all yellow with a small Dole banana sticker image in one area.  Even though it was a group endeavour, it took quite awhile, as I recall.

One day last week I stopped in at the Salvation Army thrift store.  I think I went in to look for a lamp, but I came out with a puzzle!  You may have guessed from the photo that this is a Clue puzzle which means there is a brief story included giving the facts of a murder.  All the characters from the board game play a part, and the puzzle, once completed, is supposed to give me the clue I need to solve the mystery.  There's a catch though.  There is no picture to follow to make the puzzle - just the challenge this girl needs!

By now you may be wondering how this has any connection to the conference I recently attended. In my previous post I made reference to some of the resources I acquired.  What I didn't mention is that I sang 54 hymns and songs I had never seen or heard before.  I sang 15-20 that I either knew, thought I had sung before or just the text was new (used with a familiar tune).  In trying to think through what might be appropriate and/or practical to use, I feel a little (actually a lot) as if I'm trying to create a new picture without knowing what that picture will actually look like.  It's not impossible, but it will take awhile.  As one song or idea gains credibility, another seems less useful and is set aside. 

Will a clear, complete picture ever emerge?  I hope not - because that would mean that worship, at least musically, is stagnant - not moving forward, just sitting there, finished and in the past.  And that, my reader friends, would be sad.

What are you going to try in worship in order to create a new picture?