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Final Curtain

And now, the end is nearAnd so I face the final curtain...
I won't go any further, because, I'm not a big Sinatra fan at the best of times, and I particularly loathe, hate and detest that song, which is the perfect anthem to contemporary individualism...
But having got that rant out of my system, this is just a short placeholder-post, given I am moving today and I'm not too sure whether the phone/internet will be up and running in my new gaff... So I may be offline for another day or two... I've been too preoccupied with boxes this week to post anything...
The image of "final curtain" is an appropriate one however given my theatre background and the fact that when I started in Dundonald 9 years ago, I began by warning them that I was a "hypocrite", the Greek word for mask-wearer or actor... But I promised that I wouldn't be "playing a part" as their minister... that what they saw would be the real me, and for the most part I've kept to that... And I hope that will be true in my new position in Belfast South... 
But it reminds me again of Kierkegaard and his picture of an act of worship as a drama, not with the preacher, choir and praise leader as performers and the congregation as audience, but with the preacher and others "up front" acting as prompters, while the whole congregation "perform" for an audience of one... God... And that applies not just to worship on a Sunday, but the whole of life as a sacrifice of praise... those called to positions of leadership in the church are actually there to equip all the saints to serve...
So as we face the final curtain, or at least the one at the end of this act, its not me who should be taking a bow on Sunday at my final services, but the congregation who have worked with me over the past nine years...

Shalom


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