A while back someone gifted me with The New Yorker Book of Art Cartoons. I am looking at the one where a husband and wife are breathlessly rushing through the door of an art museum. They look at the guard and the husband says: “Which way to the Mona Lisa? We’re doubled-parked!”
While it is humorous it also contains an element of truth about our consumptive society. I am thinking about summer when we don’t have to double-park, when we don’t have to try to do in two minutes what takes two hours or two days, when we don’t have to do anything to prove our OK-ness, when we don’t have to prove our capability by trying to fit in one more thing. It is a time to be. OK, well what does that mean?
The word rejuvenation comes from the latin ‘juvenis’ meaning child or youth. One of the meanings which the dictionary offers is “to reinvigorate.” Children characteristically love to play. They seem to have no problem engaging the imagination. They play from their heart and not so much from their mind and this produces lots of energy.
So the question becomes: how do we rejuvenate? Sometimes this can be accomplished by a change in environment, sometimes by a change in activities, sometimes through one of the arts, sometimes by splashing in the ocean, climbing a mountain, or floating down a river in a canoe. It is different for everyone, but we know it when we feel it.
A way to start the rejuvenation process is to come to hear the choir as they sing their annual Summer Solstice Service/Concert, this Sunday. There are some very interesting pieces that remind us that Nature is our hope, and can be one of our most inspiring sources of rejuvenation.The service will conclude with Paul Halley’s “Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand,” a piece that includes percussion, bass, piano, choir, and soloist JENNA MCPARTLAND. It rocks!!! Be prepared to clap, sway and stamp!! We will be singing from the heart, and we will be producing lots of energy!
We are living in challenging times. Nature has not gone away. My wish for you is that you have some time to reinvigorate. Perhaps you will hear a concert without double-parking. Perhaps make a picnic that lasts for more than 20 minutes. Keep the imagination active! September will be here before you know it and we all need to bring our imagination to carry forth our mission in this beautiful community of pilgrim souls.
Stay well, see you Sunday and then, enjoy the summer –
Rev. Ed