america

How blessed are we to live in America? In other countries, people are persecuted for their beliefs, but here I'm able to walk into a church I've never visited and worship freely--that is, openly and without cost. Last Friday, I was unable to make the Good Friday service at my regular church, so i went to one on my way home. There were no spoken words used (i.e., no sermon). Instead, there were words projected on two screens, a choir, a ballet dancer, traditional worship songs, a movie clip ("Jesus of Nazareth"?), communion stations; and a guy who, in the span of 2 songs, painted a giant portrait of Jesus on a canvas using his hand as a brush. Under each seat was a pencil and piece of paper on which we wrote a sin we wanted to confess to nail upon a wooden cross. It was contemplative and powerful, a great way to prepare for Easter.