Worship - Nazareth Style

There is something about worship that stirs the soul. Music touches a part of our soul that needs the healing balm of praise and petition: the shift in perspective that we are not in charge and our hope is found in God. 

Here in the holy land, the liturgical calendar doesn't always square with the church holidays we celebrate in the West. With far more Christians from the Eastern tradition, many churches celebrated Easter a week later than we did in the USA.  

This meant we celebrated Easter with our Arab brothers and sisters in Christ in Nazareth. As we entered the church, we were greeted by the hospitality of a small Baptist group of believers. They had arranged headsets for us to follow the Arabic service in English.  

The moment the music began, we were transported by the exuberant joy of the congregation singing about the resurrected Christ. Some of us tried to sing the English transliteration of the Arabic script. But even as we stumbled with the language, it became clear that it didn't matter whether we knew the spoken language. The heart language shone through our fellow Christians. Overflowing with joy, together lifted our praises to God.


The rest of the day was notable with a visit to the Church of Annunciation, where we saw the traditional location for Jesus' early home. Surrounded by dozens of global mosaics of Mary and Jesus, we were reminded yet again that God's grace is not limited by nationality, language, or politics. 









The doors to the Church of the Annunciation
Mural in St. Joseph's Church


Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 2, 2022 at 9:25 AM

    Praying for all of you daily. Blessing

    ReplyDelete

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