Your word is truth
Your word is truthIt’s the bells I always remember. Technically, the carillon: bells played by hand in the chapel tower by a guild of students and other musicians. They called us to pray every evening at the General Theological Seminary. Coming home through New York City streets, I could hear them blocks away, above the usual symphony of city sounds. I wondered if other New Yorkers noticed them, wondered what they were, took them for granted. To me, they felt personal - a gentle summons to put down my work and my errands and come worship. For three years I lived in this community - ‘the close’ it’s called, and for good reason. Not just because it literally means the grounds around a cathedral or chapel. It also meant that we lived, worked, studied, ate, socialized and prayed together on one city block: students, faculty, staff, and for the most part, all our families and pets. My own dog, the amazing Larry Bob (she was a Southern girl, so she had two boys’ names), would lean out the open window of my third floor dorm and yelp her greeting as I raced by to make it to Evensong in time. I’m sure not all of my neighbors were fond of this routine, as I know that living with the needs, rhythms, and quirks of a couple hundred other people was challenging for me. Sometimes I didn’t make it into Evensong, the most beautiful worship service in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, chanted expertly by all. Music was one of our core subjects, studied and practiced by each student, regardless of talent or even interest. To be a priest is to know what music means to worship. And though I mostly got to the chapel in time to slip into my pew, sometimes I stopped and sat outside instead, just listening to the hymns drift through the high windows, slanted open, highlighted by golden candlelight. It filled me with joy. 'Formation' is the term we use for preparation for priestly ministry.That's what most of us were doing there at General. Church written in stone.These Latin words are written in gold lettering, carved into the walls of the chapel: They are said by the bishop when consecrating a priest. Translation (from the English 1662 Book of Common Prayer): Everyone had their own seat at chapel. Not that they are assigned - except the faculty sat on the uppermost rows - but that, like in churches everywhere, we each tended to gravitate towards a particular spot during worship. As I spent my years being formed for the priesthood, one thing I never remotely questioned was the certainty of the institution.Even though I served a church in New York City for three years after I was ordained, I've only been back to my alma mater a handful of times since I graduated in 1999. Sermo tuus veritas est.'Your word is truth.'It's the General Seminary motto. Get a monthly boost of ministry re-imagination inspiration, action-oriented support, and glimpses into the lives of Creative Ministers for just $5 a month. |
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