Experiment #30: Reading and Reflecting on the Church Service's Scripture Passages Prior to the Service
This is me putting my thoughts on the M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S. by practicing "E" for "Engage with Spiritual Teachings"
If reading time is hard to come by or you’re interested in a more human experience, there is a “Read-to-You” version of this article.
If you’re new here, welcome! The “M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S.” part of Monkey Bars for the Monkey Mind is my acronym for the system I use to create and maintain a happy life, which I introduce in Experiment #1.
“E” is for "Engage with Spiritual Teachings," which I introduce in Experiment #6. You can see all of my “E” experiments so far by clicking here.
If you struggle with monkey mind or negative self-talk as I did (or know someone who does), consider subscribing. This stuff works and I am living proof. Though everyone’s “M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S.” will look a little different, I write this weekly newsletter to show how it CAN look and how this method continues to pour happiness into my life—especially when I need it most.
One of the things that blew my mind about the Episcopal Church once I started my new job as the Music Minister for St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church (which I describe in Experiment #28), is how meticulously planned out each service’s scripture readings are.
There is a thing called a lectionary, which is essentially a list or schedule of excerpts from the Bible. These excerpts are planned out in 3-year cycles—“A”, “B,” and “C.” And then it repeats. This year is a “B” cycle.
Every Sunday gets a pre-written prayer (called a collect), an old testament excerpt, a Psalm excerpt (which is also from the old testament), and two excerpts from the new testament—one from the first four books of the new testament, called the Gospel, and one from elsewhere in the new testament, called the Epistle. These are read out loud during church services either by the priest or another reader from the congregation.
This massive system of readings is organized in a book called The Book of Common Prayer. I have to say, it’s pretty impressive—even just from an organizational and design standpoint.
What’s really cool is that it’s been adapted into a website where you can just click on a date in a calendar and it takes you to the readings for that day—the website I’ve been using is called The Lectionary Page.
My only criticism is that it looks like a website from the 90s. But aside from that, it’s freakin’ awesome.
As I started planning out the music for the first few Sunday services, I realized that I was loving the process of reading these at my own (often slower) pace and sitting with them. I was also enjoying singing through potential hymns and anthems with these readings in mind.
I’m a believer in sharing things I love with others (see Experiment #12), so I invited the choir to join me in this practice. Turns out, many of them loved it too.
So, now, we have an emerging new tradition in the choir where I send out the readings by email on Monday or Tuesday. Then, we read them out loud on Thursday to start our rehearsal.
It’s my newest experiment and I’m kind of loving it.
Harnessing the “ear worm”
Something I’ve loved for a long time about being in the choir is that the music gets stuck in my head during the week. Sometimes even just a small part of a song loops in my mind throughout the day like a “ear worm.”
This “ear worm” quality has created sort of a bonus way that I’ve been able to put my thoughts on the M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S.. Because the song is linked to a spiritual teaching and because I’ve spent time with that teaching during the week, every time the song loops through my mind, I’m effectively practicing “E” for “Engage with Spiritual Teachings,” which, as I introduced in Experiment #6, is a key way I maintain happiness in my life.
On Friday mornings, I usually wake up with one of the songs in my head that we had rehearsed the night before. A couple of weeks ago when this happened, I was inspired to write out the lyrics like a poem. As I read through this lyric poem, I was informally practicing “O” for “Observe” on the M.O.N.K.E.Y. B.A.R.S. (which I introduce in Experiment #3) and I observed that this made the “ear worm” have more resonance. It was, sort of, melding the scripture readings together into a more memorable package.
For fun, I thought I’d email this lyric poem to the choir as well and share a little about why it was resonating. In the parlance of this Substack, I shared how the spiritual teachings were helping me point my thoughts—as my spiritual teacher, Swami Nityananda teaches—to the frequency of love (see Experiment #1).
I’ve done this, now, for the last three weeks. I don’t know if it will be a permanent part of the experiment, but it’s definitely made my Friday mornings this month very peaceful. And if it’s possible, it’s also deepened my love of the music we’re singing.
Sharing this week’s readings, lyric poem, and reflection
To further practice Experiment #12: Sharing Things That I Love with Others More Often, I thought I’d share this week’s readings with you and the lyric poem of the anthem we’re singing on Sunday, along with my reflections I sent to the choir this week.
These scripture readings use the language of Christianity, but as I’ve written about in other articles, we are invited to use words and pronouns for the Source—God—that resonate with us.
For more on that see:
Experiment #19: Trying to Answer the Question, "What is God?"
Experiment #28: Serving as the Music Minister at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church (where I describe how I started to see the “yoga” or nondualism or universality of Jesus’s teachings and really began to understand on a deeper level the yogic teaching, “Truth is one, we call it by various names).
Again, I pulled all of this from The Lectionary Page website from September 22. If you visit the site, you’ll see two tracks available. St. Thomas’ uses track 1.
The Collect
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Old Testament
Proverbs 31:10-31
A capable wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant,
she brings her food from far away.
She rises while it is still night
and provides food for her household
and tasks for her servant-girls.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor,
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid for her household when it snows,
for all her household are clothed in crimson.
She makes herself coverings;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the city gates,
taking his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she supplies the merchant with sashes.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household,
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her happy;
her husband too, and he praises her:
“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the city gates.
The Psalm
Psalm 1
1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
2 Their delight is in the law of the Lord,
and they meditate on his law day and night.
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;
everything they do shall prosper.
4 It is not so with the wicked;
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.
The Epistle
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
The Gospel
Mark 9:30-37
Jesus and his disciples passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
Friday Lyric Poem
The piece we rehearsed on Thursday with the choir is a beautiful arrangement of a spiritual called “Like a River in My Soul” by Tim Osiek. It was edited by one of my favorite composers and arrangers Dan Forrest. It’s gorgeous.
Have a listen. I totally recommend getting it stuck in your head.
Here are the lyrics as a poem:
I've got peace like a river,
like a river in my soul.
I've got peace like a river,
soothing river, calmly flow.
When the world closes in,
feel the stillness within
I've got peace like a river,
like a river in my soul.I've got love like an ocean,
like an ocean in my soul.
I've got love like an ocean,
endless ocean, deep and full.
When you're lost and alone,
let the waves bring you home.
I've got love like an ocean,
like an ocean in my soul.I've got joy like a fountain,
like a fountain in my soul.
I've got joy like a fountain,
like a fountain in my soul.
When your hope nearly dies,
just remember, once again, you shall rise.
I've got joy like a fountain,
love like an ocean,
peace like a river,
in my soul.
Friday Lyric Poem Reflection
Here’s the brief reflection I shared with the choir about how I felt these lyrics were helping the scripture readings resonate for me.
Side note: When I’m engaging with people in the Episcopal Church, I’m trying to use the language of Christianity. Again, as the yogis teach, Truth is one, we call it by various names.
Here’s what I wrote:
What's landing for me this morning is the reminder that peace and love and joy are within us always and we can always choose to turn our attention towards these qualities—towards locating them.
When we do, we draw nearer to God (love), which then allows us to share that into the world through our conversations, our meetings, and our projects. These qualities pour out of us like a fountain or a river or an ocean. We just can't help it.
As James describes in our epistle this week, "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." Said another way: Draw near to love, and love will draw near to you. Or draw near to peace, and peace will draw near to you.
This, to me, is the point of that challenging passage from Proverbs we all chuckled at last night about the "capable wife" who can be hard to find. Other Bibles translate the word "capable" as "virtuous" or "worthy" or "truly good."
In other words, a person who chooses to draw near to God (love) with every breath is "far more precious than jewels" (Proverbs 31:10), whether that person is a wife, which in a certain culture and time had the responsibilities described in Proverbs 31, or whether that person is working in an office today with clients or patients or customers. Any person like this—man or woman—is "far more precious than jewels."
What's clear from the scriptures is that choosing to "fear the Lord" (Proverbs 31:30) brings immense benefits. If "Fear the Lord" resonates for you, great. I found some other translations for "fear" resonated more with me. Other Bibles translate "fear" in this verse as "honors" or "respects" or "reveres." So, honor the Lord, respect the Lord, and revere the Lord. The Lord is God, which is love. So honor love, respect love, revere love.
When we practice what Psalm 1:2 says and "meditate on his law day and night"—or meditate on love day and night—it allows us to feel "not afraid" (Proverbs 31:21), "strength and dignity" (Proverbs 31:25), "wisdom" (Proverbs 31:26), "happy" (Psalm 1:1), "peaceable" and "gentle" (James 3:17). Or in other words, it allows us to feel peace like a river, love like an ocean, and joy like a fountain.
Grateful
I am grateful that it is part of my job to practice “E” for “Engage with Spiritual Teachings” and to listen to, sing, and create music throughout the week. I am grateful to be part of a group of people in this choir that enjoys these things too.
From time to time, I might share some of these scripture passages, lyric poems, and reflections with you, but you are always welcome to read along on your own with us on Monday or Tuesday via The Lectionary Page and then tune into the live broadcast on Sundays to hear the music.
Or, if you’re local to Owings Mills, Maryland and like to sing, you’re hereby invited to join the choir! Just email me.
Have you ever heard of The Lectionary Page? Have you ever read the scripture readings before the Sunday church service? How has that gone for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a very happy day.
With love,
Jonathan