Leaving the comfortable beauty of hiking every day, being with friends, spending time on the Potomac river, and being at camp was more difficult this year than it had ever been before. Perhaps it is because this year I had far more confidence at camp. I owned it this year, and leaving that scared me. Perhaps the daunting reality of ac6 class schedule was too much to think about when floating down a river while a bunch of high-schoolers splashed each other without a care in the world. Perhaps it is because leaving behind the people I love was especially difficult this year.
Regardless of why leaving home this year was the hardest it had ever been, I was quickly reminded of the people I love so dearly her in Boston. I was thrilled to death to see that The Crossing (one of the many congregations I love so dearly) would be hosting an even entitled “Hymns in a Bar.” You see, my first encounter with this idea was from Nadia Bolz-Weber’s book Pastorix where she discusses her church’s practice of singing hymns in a bar. They called their event “Beer and Hymns.” I have been fixated on this idea ever since. I could not wait until Saturday.
Jaimie and I have a tendency to sing hymns loudly for no reason at all when we are together, so I thought she would enjoy it.
“Do you want to come sing hymns in a bar with me?”
“Duh! That sounds fantastic!”
I am certain she did.
We arrived, and I was immediately greeted by hugs from old friends I hadn’t seen in a few months. I introduced them to Jaimie. She knew people and friends from her own communities of faith as well, and I considered for a moment the beauty of the interconnectedness of us all.
After a time of socializing, we began to sing. At first some people were hesitant to sing, but we quickly got comfortable with each other. Mind you there were easily over 100 people crowded into this bar, singing as loudly and as joyfully as possible.
What a thing to behold. In a bar, a large group gathered to praise the Lord. It was beautiful. My heart swelled in love with the communities of faith I have been blessed to find, but also in love with a God who truly is present everywhere. Who says that bars and church are mutually exclusive? I think the idea that there are places for God and places where God should not be is silly. Jesus would most certainly have hung out in places the Pharisees would not have, like…a bar. Some of my more conservative church friends, particularly back home, got really uncomfortable when I shared my weekend plans with them. “Oh you know, I’m going to go sing hymns all night at a bar in Cambridge.” So often we think of appropriating where God and where worship can and can not be. I must say, when we break those molds, meet people where they are, and experience new ways to worship, it is truly a beautiful experience.
I can’t wait for the next one.
Amen.