This past weekend we had 460 candles on stage. Lit. I was amazed by how many people said things like, "What are you gonna do if the fire alarm goes off? Did you talk to the fire marshal, the fire marshal is going to arrest you and shut this place down. What if we all die?" People worry. They jump to the worst possible scenarios and give those fictional musings legit consideration. Which causes them to not try things. Maybe I'm naive or too wet behind the ears, but I don't relate to this kind of thinking. I can't tell you how many times I had to answer this week, "If the fire alarms go off we'll figure it out. If the fire marshal shows up I'll talk to him. It'll be fine, trust me." And it was. Nobody died. Except Mr. Worrywort. But he'll be back tomorrow. He's an invisible, invincible cockroach sneaking around whispering in people's ears. I hate him. Bad.(in other news check out the 110words blog. new stories. fun times.)
7 comments:
Applause for creating a space to try something new. Surely half the people hated it (the guided meditation) and perhaps less than that even gave it a real shot, but those are the kinds of risks (IMHO) that we need to routinely take to challenge ourselves not to fall into the dangerous trap of religiosity, which is a close cousin of Mr. Worrywort.
Just for the record I thought the candles were AMAZING. I did wonder how many were up there. It was a great touch.
In fairness, the VCC fire alarm goes off if you breathe heavily on it. I'd bet that most of the people who asked that remembered it going off during a service previously.
Kudos, though. Great weekend.
Loved the candlelight, loved the stained glass, loved the Our Father. Of course I was raised Catholic and MAY be a little biased. What other church can go from Flobots to the Lord's Prayer in seven days?? I'm starting to think that Creative Director is purdy darn creative!
Amen to that ! Our creative director IS purdy darn creative - and quite awesome himself. (Our Lord does marvelous work through this man of God, doesn't he.) The candle display -- absolutely gorgeous ! It was the first thing that caught my eye -- could hardly take my eyes off of it is was SO cool! I was raised Lutheran, so, like Christopher, I may be a little biased too. And hopefully the worryworts' anxiety over the perceived fire danger melted (along with the candlewax) once the Holy Spirit went to work on them to quieten their worried, harried, nervous hearts and wooed them to appreciate the beauty and grandeur and to CHILL OUT !
TO ALL YOU WORRYWORTS OUT THERE:
Please understand that under NO circumstance would you ever be carelessly placed in danger's way in the Vineyard ! Brad and others in charge ARE INDEED VERY RESPONSIBLE, CAREFUL SERVANTS OF GOD AND KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING !
Just rest, relax, and enjoy the Lord's presence.
that worrywort looks a lot like maverick in top gun. and in complete defiance of the last comment, i will say that all those worryworts had plenty to be concerned with if brad was at the helm of hundreds of burning candles. their only mistake was asking if it was alright. they should've camped out by the door with fire retardant suits on.
Jason, so you're saying I'm giving Brad too much credit ? You know something the rest of us don't know ?? lol
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