Soon to be on Hiatus

I'll be removing this blog from my visible profile in the near future.

I'm putting it on hiatus in favor of a new project in which you are invited to join me.

It's in the form of a blog:
30 Seconds: An Exercise in Meaningful and Efficient Communication.

The explanation is here.

Creation Stories

I just made one of those posts that I find relevant to the way I think of my Children in Church & Grown Up in Church blogs.

I pulled together some children's books of creation stories because of my work with kids. But as with so many things like this, why should we leave the adults out? Some of us adults are fortunate to be involved with kids in a way that provides the impetus for doing this kind of thing. The rest of you might have to make more of a point of it. But if you do, you might get hooked.

You can read more on Children at Church.

Symbols, Stories & Tears

Some of the strongest symbols are ones that tell more than one story at a time.

One symbol might carry stories of

• something that happened a long time ago
• ways that first story has been passed on and on to us
• our own lives and relationships
  

As I fought tears while attended the Memorial Day service at my home town's cemetery I realized that this characteristic of symbols probably has a lot to do with why I find myself moved by this kind of event. It probably has a lot to do with other interests and emotions I have too.

I often tend to see things from multiple perspectives. This inclines me to sense multiple stories and levels of meaning in symbols and rituals. The sense of richness, depth or profundity this brings can become overwhelming. The overflow sometimes comes out in tears.

I'm sure this has a lot do with why I love ritual (both religious and secular) and liturgy so much. Their ability to communicate is uniquely powerful. It's hard to find words to effectively, efficiently sum up what a symbol or symbolic action can communicate or evoke in an instant.