Let Us Go into the House of the Lord - June 29
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm [120], 121, 122, 123; PM Psalm 124, 125, 126, [127]; 1 Samuel 11:1-15; Acts 8:1-13; Luke 22:63-71
Today’s Reflection
Certain lines of scripture—or poetry or lines of music—can with just a few words bring me back to a particular place or time that I associate with those words. It can be like that with tastes or smells or sounds, too. Maybe it is like that for you, too. The first verse of Psalm 122 is like that for me: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”
Whenever I hear or see this verse now, it takes me back to the children’s chapel service we would do each Tuesday and Wednesday morning with the preschoolers from the St. Thomas Early Learning Center at my church back in College Station. On the weeks that I was the priest to lead preschool chapel, I would go outside to the courtyard between the church and the school and ring the very large, very loud bell that would let all the teachers and students scheduled for chapel on that day know it was time to stop what they were doing, line up, and make their way over to the historic chapel for our weekly time of songs and Bible story and prayers. If a class got over to the chapel before I had the chance to ring the bell, they would stand there and watch me or the school director, Beth, ring the bell—though some would very sweetly cover their ears because it was so loud. The ringing of the bell, which we also did about five minutes before each of our Sunday worship services, let everyone know it was time for “us to go to the house of the Lord.”
Once we were inside, classes would start to file into their class pews in our smaller, wood paneled historic chapel. I would go to the front and begin to light the candles, which I waited to do until they started to come in to as some of them especially loved to be there for that moment when the candles would be lit. After everyone was there, the teachers and I would raise a hand in the air to let everyone know it was time to be quiet so that we could begin. And then we would sing our morning song together, the same song every time, which no doubt becomes embedded in each one’s memory and carried with them through life long after they graduate from St. Thomas ELC:
Good morning, Lord! It’s a beautiful day!
Good morning, Lord! I’m going your way.
Open my eyes, and let me see
Someone who needs a friend like me.
I know that I can surely be
Loving, caring, always sharing.
Good morning, Lord! It’s a beautiful day!
Good morning, Lord! I’m going your way.
I can still picture and feel all of the movements we would make with our hands and arms to enact the different lines of the song, and can picture the little ones doing all the motions as they would sing this morning song in their sweet preschool voices.
As soon as we would finish the last line of that song, we would pause just a second and then I would begin our opening sentences, kind of like the opening acclamation or other parts of our liturgy, which we would say together responsively—always these same lines:
Leader: I was glad when they said to me,
Children: We will go into the house of the Lord.
Leader: What does the Cross say?
Children: God loves us.
Leader: What does our being in Chapel say?
Children: We love God.
Leader: What do the candles say?
Children: God is the light of the world. God gives His light to shine upon our way. He hears the songs we sing, and listens when we pray.
So much simple truth is embedded in these opening lines, beginning with when we hear Psalm 121: 1, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘We will go into the house of the Lord.’” And the other parts of the responsive reading, too, really focused on why we were gathering there at chapel that day: Because God loves us. And we love God. God lights our way, hears our songs, and listens to our prayers. From their earliest memories, these children will have these simple truths embedded deep within their minds—and hopefully, too, within their hearts. They will carry these simple truths about God’s love with them as they grow older, and hopefully, no matter where in the world they may go, or what they grow up to do, they will always know, deep down, what it means to go into the house of the Lord—a place where they will be reminded of how much God loves and cares for each one of them.
The chapel liturgy continued to unfold with preschool versions of the Gloria, a Creed song, Prayers of the People, the Lord’s Prayer, and most importantly for some, a Birthday Blessing, when I would get to say a prayer over each little one having a birthday that week. In all its beautiful simplicity and repetition—using the exact same responses, songs, and prayers each and every time, this short, 20-minute chapel service reinforced not only the shape of the Episcopal liturgy (at a level the children didn’t even realize), but more importantly through repetition it reinforced how much each child is loved and cared for by God. I’m grateful that I had these simple truths about who God is and how much God loves us reinforced in my heart and mind through that year of sharing chapel with the children of St. Thomas.
—Becky+
Questions for Self-Reflection
What does it mean to you to go into the house of the Lord? What did you miss most about sharing corporate, in-person worship together in the many months we had to worship remotely from home? What parts of the Morning Prayer service or the Holy Eucharist liturgy stick in your head and remind you simple truths about God and our faith?
Daily Challenge
You can see the full children’s chapel liturgy from St. Thomas Early Learning Center here.