social distancing – Friedens UCC Music

For those of you who know me, it will not surprise you to hear that music most defines my worship experience. It is images of my grandparents singing in the choir and snippets of glorious music coming from our pipe organ that flood my memories associated with growing up at Friedens United Church of Christ. I have always had favorite hymns, even as a child, and singing in church has always been the way that I express my praise and thanksgiving. Like many of you, music has always anchored my church experience. We are now living in the time of a global pandemic though and congregational singing in church will not be an option for the foreseeable future, but friends, rest assured that the hymns of our faith have not left us.

One of the blessings of my new normal is that every week I sit down and type up the lyrics for the hymns that will be part of our virtual worship services so that those who wish to may sing along at home. This practice is both cathartic and enlightening, and as I type these words of our faith I have a new and deeper understanding of the text and their connection to ancient scripture. Beautiful music hasn’t left us either, and even though we are not able to lift our voices together there are other incredibly meaningful ways to experience the music that we love. One practice that I have found to be meaningful is to listen to instrumental recordings of hymns while meditating on the text. This time of reflection and prayer has helped calm and center me, and each time I seem to connect with a different phrase or verse of text.

This week was busy as I prepared to return to middle school teaching after being away from the building for more than 20 weeks, but I found some time to listen to the hymns that Dwight and I chose for today. In the midst of uncertainty, anxiety associated with constantly changing plans, and too many unknowns for me to possibly prepare for, I was drawn to these words from today’s hymns.

In our Hymn of Adoration Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing the phrase, “Bind my wandering heart to thee” provided me with a much needed anchor. The author wrote these words reflecting on a time that he strayed very far away from God. My faith isn’t wandering, but my thoughts and emotions are. I am thankful for the constancy of our creator.

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise to thee an alter. Hither by thy help I’m come,
And I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God.
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a feter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, how I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

The second verse of our Hymn of Reflection, Love Divine All Loves Excelling, begins with, “Breathe O breathe thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast”. Isn’t this the perfect prayer for parents, teachers, and students who are wrestling with the return to school in the midst of very unprecedented circumstances?

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art.
Visit us with thy salvation, enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast.
Let us all in thee inherit, let us find thy promised rest.
Take away our love of sinning.  Alpha and omega be.
End of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty.

Come, almighty to deliver, let us all thy life receive.
Suddenly return and never, never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above,
Pray and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee.
Changed from glory into glory, till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.

I have always loved the phrase, “And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won” from our Hymn of Parting, The Church’s One Foundation. Singing these words always reminds me that I am part of an incredible history of believers, and I am always surrounded by a strong church family always ready to support me.

The Church’s One Foundation
The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are his new creation by water and the Word.
From heaven he came and sought us to be his holy bride.
With his own blood he bought us, and for our life he died.

Called forth from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth.
Our charter of salvation; one Lord, one faith, one birth.
One holy name professing and at one table fed,
To one hope always pressing, by Christ’s own Spirit led.

Though with a scornful wonder the world see us oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.

Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of our war,
We wait the consummation of peace forever more;
Till with the vision glorious our longing eyes are blest,
And the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

We now on earth have union with God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.
Oh, happy one, and holy!  Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with thee.

I invite you to listen and reflect, and if you would like to share your takeaways from these three hymns or from this practice I would love to hear from you!

Today is Easter. The day that Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This Easter is unique because much of the world has shut down because of the Novel Coronavirus.

Easter Sunday marks the end of the season of Lent…the 40 days (excluding Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Easter. In many Christian traditions Lent serves as a period of penitential preparation for Easter, and many Christians choose to give up something of pleasure in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness before he began his public ministry. Each year it is common to hear the question, “What did you give up for Lent?” I often hear people say that they gave up chocolate (my dad’s go to), dessert all together (um, no way I could do that), alcohol, or social media. As a teenager I often tried to give up chocolate or candy, but my views on the “giving up” in Lent changed after a conversation I had in my early twenties.

The Strietelmeiers have a collective sweet tooth.  Dark chocolate gets Grandma Striet, Dad, Trish, and me like no other vice can!

When I was completing my student teaching, I had a conversation about giving something up for Lent with my cooperating teacher. (He would eventually leave the field of education to become a pastor.) I told him that during Lent I was planning to go without the daily soda that I picked up on my way to school. His simple response changed everything for me. He asked me what I would be adding in its place. Would I take the time that I would have spent in the drive thru to read the bible? Would I take the money that I would have spent on the Diet Coke and give it to a charity, and would I pray for that cause for the 40 days of Lent? What would I do to become closer to God, because simply giving up Diet Coke (or dessert, alcohol, or Facebook) can’t strengthen your connection to your Savior. Almost twenty years later I still remember those powerful words.

If you would have asked me anytime in the last few years what I gave up for Lent you would have received the tongue and cheek reply of, “I’m a church musician, so I gave up my free time for Lent!” For the last five years I have served as the Choir Director and Director of Music Ministries at Friedens UCC. In my role at the church Lent is literally a time of preparation for Holy Week and Easter. As soon as the Ash Wednesday service is over we begin rehearsing music for Holy Week. ~~I’m being serious, I march the choir right from the sanctuary to our rehearsal space once the service ends!~~ Our weekly choir rehearsals get longer during Lent. Instead of practicing for about an hour each Wednesday, we stay for almost two hours and I get home well past nine. During Holy Week (Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday) I’m usually at the church building for 6 services, 2 meetings, a service walk through, and a 3 hour choir rehearsal in the span of 8 days. It is intense, but I love every minute of it! It is during Lent that I feel closest to Christ, and I know that it is because of the things that I add during those 40 days. I read more scripture. I study more hymn text. I spend more time serving along side multiple teams at the church. I spend more time in prayer. Yes, all of these things are requirements of my job, but they allow me to focus on my faith for 40 days in a way that is very different from every other part of the year.

This year, Lent began on Wednesday, February 26. On Friday, March 13 the first Social Distancing mandate was announced in Indiana. To me it seems that everyone in Indiana, everyone in the United States, heck everyone around the world has given something up for Lent this year. Children cannot go to school. Travel is banned. All public places, including churches, are closed. Visitors are not allowed in hospitals or nursing homes. It is strongly advised that you not share Easter dinner with your family if they do not live in your home. Small business have been forced to close their doors, and for some they will be closed permanently. So many people have lost their jobs. You can’t go to bars, restaurants, or movie theaters. It is difficult to get groceries. Eating at a restaurant means navigating new curbside pickup policies or having it delivered via a third party vendor. Because of Social Distancing measures, almost everyone has given up something that brings them pleasure.

At the same time, people have added so, so much. Because of the fear, sadness, and the overwhelming changes to every aspect of life, people are praying. I mean really, really praying. Praying for an end to the pandemic. Praying for the safety of those on the front lines of this mess. Praying for those who have contracted the virus and are ill. Praying for comfort for families who have lost loved ones. The feelings of worry, fear, and stress are bringing people back to the church. Granted they are “going to church” via the internet, but they are going! Because you aren’t supposed to be around anyone who doesn’t live in your home, almost overnight society found new ways (thank you Facebook and Zoom) to stay connected. People are checking on each other and loving on each other in a way that I haven’t seen since 9-11. Random acts of kindness are happening everywhere. Some people are grocery shopping for those they know who are at higher risk. Many people are sewing masks. Others are doing everything in their power to keep their favorite local restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, and wineries afloat during the shut down. Meals and baked good are being left on porches, just because. The list goes on and on.

I’m not going to lie, I have struggled with not being able to be in worship at my church. We haven’t been able to meet on our campus since March 8, and I miss it terribly. Making music centers me and is my stress relief. The people that I work with and serve beside at the church are some of the most important people in my life, and I miss them very much! I want very much to be back in worship on our church campus!

I have made a promise to God that I will never, ever complain about being too busy and tired during Holy Week ever again!

But, I haven’t completely hated this very different Lent. I have enjoyed slowing down. We are eating dinner together as a family every night. I am much more intentional about my ministry since we have to execute worship services in a very new way. I have had the opportunity to participate in worship as a congregant, not as a staff member (and believe me there is a big difference). I’ve had a lot more time at home with my husband and boys. My ten year old and I have watched countless movies, and together we have walked the dog for miles. Quarantine life has provided the chance to examine what is truly important to me. There are definitely things that I will never take for granted again, and I have an equally long list of things that I won’t be in a hurry to add back into my schedule once Social Distancing measures are lifted.

My prayer is that next year Lent and Holy Week aren’t like they are this year, but that they don’t go back to “normal” either. I pray that next year we can worship in our sanctuary, but that we are also able to keep the connection to one another that the sacrifices of Social Distancing have forced us to create. I pray that next year we don’t have to give up as much, but instead we all choose to add a few things for at least 40 days that help us connect with our Savior!