worship trick 100!

when i started the blog i never knew what i was letting myself in for. i started the worship tricks as it seemed a good idea at the time and now there are 100 of them... hope you've enjoyed them, not sure whether i should call it a day there or carry on... thanks to everyone who has contributed to the list knowingly or unknowingly. i do have a link to a list of all the tricks on the left hand side of the blog

anyway worship trick 100 comes from the slow service. steve collins wrote a reflection, and we didn't have time (ironically) to hear it or see it before greenbelt. adam had sent a link to a video which i decided to play during steve's reading as i was putting together the visuals. it was one of those moments - breathtaking live how they went together - a divine 'coincidence'?

the video is here (approx 26mb) and the reading is:

reality is a static image, rolling past at 24 frames per second
if we slow the movie down, what will we see?

slow the projector in your head and lose the fluidity
embrace the flicker, the jerkiness
allow the frames of your life to disconnect and stop

now your life lies still in front of your eyes, what do you see?
play 'spot the difference' with each frozen moment
now you have time to examine carefully each corner and shadow
what details are revealed, that you always move too fast to see?

fleeting expressions and imperceptible gestures
betraying a truth not discerned
a turning you didn't take
another universe of futures, vanishing from sight

to us the stars stand still
but ancient eyes could not navigate by our skies
the north point of the sky moves in a circle 28000 years around
the north star we know is not the north star of our ancestors or descendants
they will see other constellations

does god see our lives the way we see the stars?
innumerable slow movements plotted and understood on charts long before the event
constellations drawn that serve for a while and break up
how slow is reality for god?
what do fast and slow mean in eternity
where every tiny moment and endless age are available for detailed inspection
a day like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day

if we slow down do we see more like god sees?
see all the details
creation's crazy minutiae
who would have time to see all that stuff except god?
is that why there's so much of it?

how quickly does salvation come?
if we slowed our lives down would we see every step and progression?
or would its detail still evade us
a blur of motion in the shadows of a static frame
a frozen block in the centre of the movie?

if we slow down will we see what god sees?
will we see what god is doing?

have you ever tried?

Comments

[richard]

please carry on - they are such an inspiration.

[Pernell]

I ask because I'm a technological idiot: How would I download that video to show at a worship gathering?

[jonny]

on a mac using the browser safari choose save as from the file menu and save it. whether it is possible in that way on a pc i don't know?....

where a video is embedded it is slightly trickier. you need to get the address to do that - that is usually possible by viewing the source code (view drop down menu and select source) though you need to have a bit of html knowledge. but in this case you don't need to go that route.

[Bob C]

Congrats on turning 100 - you do not look a day over 60.

Loved the SLOW service at GB - connected with the difficulty I have in Advent - my sould yearns to wait while my brain & body actually have to amp up to catch up with xams.

As the prophet James Taylor says:

The secret of love is in opening up your heart
It's okay to feel afraid
But don't let that stand in your way
'Cause anyone knows that love is the only road
And since we're only here for a while
Might as well show some style
Give us a smile

[darren]

I downloaded the mov file and hit play.

As it started a MUSE track started blaring through my computer speakers and I thought "Hmm, wonder how they got copyright to do this?"

The muse track kept on going and fit in really well with the annimation.

Until of course, I realised that quicktime had triggered the MUSE cd in my cd/dvd drive to start playing... doh

Heh, love the clip, love the music ehind it, however it also seemed to go really well with MUSE's "Hysteria"

Lyrics:
and I want you now
I want you now
I feel my heart implode
and I'm breaking out
escaping now
feeling my faith grow old

[Beef]

Hi Jonny,
Just to say your worship ideas are inspirational for me and many. I would miss them but also know the need for a break from things that have been running along time.
I guess your blog would always have an element of this anyway. I'll look forward to seeing what you decide.

[cheryl]

why don't you just stop when the ideas stop...

[darren]

there's a song in that cheryl

stop when the ideas stop....

[Ryan]

I've been enjoying them from Cali.

[andrew jones]

wow - that video rocks.

thanks jonny and congrats on making 100!