525,600 Minutes

Well, it's definitely the Christmas season. You can hear the hum of the engine of busy-ness cranking into full roar. And...ironically, we're in a series at Otter Creek about time and how our time belongs to God. It's hard not to feel the irony.

The series is called "12 Million Minutes". We have a creative planning team for worship now--approximately 15 people serve on it. The team is made up of artists, music people, children's ministers, those with a contemplative bent, some drama folks, videographers, writers, idea people, etc. It's such a blessing!

As we've been putting creative elements together for this series on "Time" it's been fun to have a balanced group who surfaces incredible ideas. This Sunday we will have a special dramatic reading of Eccl 3 put together by one of our members. Last week, Scott Owings and my mom wrote a contemplative prayer exercise and led the congregation through it on Sunday.

When I heard the title, "12 Million Minutes", and the description of measuring our time by God's design and purpose, my mind immediately went to the lyrics from "Seasons of Love" (the hit song from the Broadway musical RENT). It goes like this...

525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. In 525,600 minutes -
how do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love?
Measure in love. Seasons of love.

525,600 minutes! 525,000 journeys to plan.
525,600 minutes - how can you measure the life of a woman or man?
In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried.
In bridges he burned, or the way that she died.
It’s time now to sing out, tho the story never ends
let's celebrate, remember a year in the life of friends.
Remember the love! Remember the love! Remember the love!
Measure in love. Seasons of love!
Seasons of love.

So, this Sunday we're doing something I never dreamed of doing on a Sunday morning...a song from RENT. It will be presentational and will set up the sermon. We rehearsed last Sunday and got the arrangement down. It should be fun...and I figure if the apostle Paul can quote the poets of his day...so can we! All to God's glory.