Pause

My trip of learning and listening is coming closer to its end.

The conferences on church in a post-Christian society, a secular age in North America, are completed. Much to digest, many stories to remember, insights to ponder, new signs to observe, and the same Spirit of God fueling it all. As you may have noted in past posts, there is much to discern going forward for the church in North America, living with the reality of what we call post-Christendom. It was good to chew on this topic with others, and have enough left on the plate to have seconds for the weeks to come.

Do we respond by doing everything the same? Assuming that people still have the church as a centre point in their thinking and living? The short answer is no. Many churches are not asking the question, and continue to hope that society will somehow once again recognize them the way they want to be recognized.

As one speaker put it, regarding church in his home country in Europe, most people thought of it kind of like a living history or pioneer museum. A reenactment space of a society from long, long ago.

The reality from both conferences? Coming back to a movement of people who are loving God, and loving their neighbour. Admittedly, this involves plenty of mystery in the ‘how’. But that is not far off how it all began with the original disciples… Faith in Christ, living out the hope with others, being a people of peace to those near us, intentionally loving the world around us.

“For God so loved the world…”

Part of my ‘learning tour’ includes visiting different churches, some who have been excluded from their associations because of their views on who is welcome, all serving and witnessing to their faith as they feel convicted. My main intent is to hear their stories. Learning what church means to them, what it means to the world around them, and how they are going forward. The responses can be sorted for many churches, in how they view their place in the world, into 2 columns: Guarding what is inside and welcoming to the centre.

What does it look like to be faithful and welcoming at the same time? Good question.

I’ll talk more about that in the weeks to come. Considering my conversations with churches that are struggling, see the statistics on church life in Canada, and knowing that there are plenty of twists and turns to come, I will take a moment to do exactly what I tell others to do. I welcome churches to do the same.

Pause. Selah.

As I was driving closer to Yakima, WA, going east into the arid mountains that are markedly different than the nearby Cascades, I realized that I was entering the ‘golden hour’. That magical time at the end of the day where it seems like the sun angles perfectly on the earth’s horizon, making all kinds of amazing colours in the sky, impressive shadows on the ground, and what seems like a perfect moment of peace. I needed to find a vantage point to capture these mountains at their best. Even better, the sky was open, and just the right clouds to bring out the colour!

I put on Kacey Musgrave’s album, Golden Hour, for obvious reasons.

The first song comes on, “Slow Down”.

As I am preparing to turn off the highway at the rest area I see the sign for the valley/creek: Selah.

It all felt like it came together perfectly. ‘Golden hour’, a time to take in what is before you; slow down, because it is the only way you can capture it; selah, the pause between the stanzas. The moment spoke like a poem.

We don’t really know what the word ‘selah’ means. It is just used in the Psalms as what seems to be musical breaks within the poetry. Some thing it is a form of musical signature. Others believe it is actually intended to be a ‘pause’. It all seems to fit with the way the word appears in each psalm, breaking between sections, allowing the reader or listener a moment to take it in. Maybe even forcing us to ponder the word itself as we encounter what has been said, preparing us to consider what is to come. Many have embraced the word as a means of reminder: Pause.

Some might say that this whole road trip is a ‘selah’. I’m good with that, feels like it is applicable. As I seek to help churches, leaders, those wondering where they land in living a life in Christ in the real world, and many who are not sure where they fit, this trip has been a perfect time of listening and learning for that work. But it is also a pause for myself, my prior understanding of things, my own challenges to the work of walking with others in the mystery of what is ahead.

There is definitely more to come. For now, pause. Consider what has been up to this point. Prepare for what is next.

Selah.