Sometimes I hear a person say church is boring. And so, I pray that s/he will be opened to what the Spirit is doing during worship! Every Sunday morning I am brought to the point of tears, several times, as I notice how the Spirit is moving.

Yesterday, for instance, the first time was when I heard one woman's singing voice. I rejoiced! I hadn't noticed she was in the gathering before hearing her -- but she had missed weeks and weeks because her adult son has been in crisis, and she has been spending weekends with him, hundreds of miles away. Her presence in our worship is a sign that he is in a better place! Then there was the worshiper who offered a prayer of thanksgiving for my healing. (She must have read on my blog that my pulmonologist has released me!) Then there was the woman newly grieving over her husband, who had made it to worship alone for the first time. (She said, "It is much better to be here than to be sitting at home.") Then there was the astonished look on the face of one of the college students, when Theoogian in Residence John Hoffmeyer came to the climax of his story of the homeless beggar in Paris breaking the bread. Then there was the mother of a young daughter who, to keep her child engaged in the worship, began swaying back and forth with her, to the rhythm of the sending hymn. (What genius in parenting! Small children love movement! There's nothing to say that we must be the frozen chosen in worship!)

What amazing grace!