The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
May 29, 2011
Vol. 14 no. 22
Along with Peter Gilmer and Bonnie Morton, members of Knox-Metropolitan and ministers of Regina Anti-Poverty Ministry, we will be ‘laying on hands’ at the right moment to accompany the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Heather Rogers as she embarks in the ministry of the United Church of Canada. Peter and Bonnie will also be commissioned as Designated Lay Ministers during the same worship service. Today in Tisdale will be a hands-on service for which we encourage your prayers.
What is ordination? Or better, what happens during ordination? Well, the heavens and earth may open up, but most of us do not know how to recognize the authentic moment. I keep going back to the poem of Arnold Kenseth, minister of South Congregational United Church of Christ, Amherst, Massachusetts, for 39 years, as the best description of what is a poetical moment at its best. What happens? – “A Rare Thump.”
A fire. Yes, I tell you, And a dazzle.
His rare thump numbed me,
awed Me down to size and up to Him.
Prayed, pawed by the laying on of hands,
myself anew. And aloft;
I became lion to roar Him, Eagle to lift Him, donkey to bear Him.
I, in that sunburst, languaged with seraphim,
Promised myself to be (Ha!) His emissary.
I did not, friends, manage much. True, I found Fluency but not roar.
I have been sparrow;
And though jackass as most, I could not be least Even for Him.
He was scarlet and vast
And radiant and restful.
He sang such sound I heard
the earth unloose itself from sorrow.
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan