Next Saturday, April 27th at 7:00 p.m. in the sanctuary is the Spring Choir Concert, Echoes of Creation: A Choral Celebration of the Earth in which the choir will share music about the natural world, and our human interaction with the Sacred and Holy, expressed in nature. Photography will accompany this concert to enrich the listening experience. In the second half of this concert, the choir will share the choral song cycle I composed, Pilgrimage Through Sacred Lands, choral settings of some of my poetry and writings from my sabbatical trip to the national and state parks of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and South Dakota. One writing that is not part of the song cycle is “Arches National Park: Sand Dune Arch.” I share it with you here:

What joy! What giddy childhood delight!

I am five again!

Look! Look! A balance beam.

Don’t fall in the mud!

What’s this, this new surprise?...

A slot canyon!

I’m not scared! I’m brave! I’m five!

I beam with joy. What is next?

Yipee! A big burnt sienna sand box.

I squish and squoosh.

The raven laughs in tenor tones anticipating the next surprise…

Sand dune arch — you silly dinosaurs kissing.

Giggle, giggle, glee.

We share our stories; we laugh; we smile.

Faces beaming. We are five.

In approaching my sabbatical experience with childlike eyes, with openness and wonder, I was able to interact with the Holy in new and unexpected ways. I hope that you plan on attending this concert and that you are filled through images and music with a childlike wonder. I hope that this concert will call forth your own memories of experiences of the Sacred in the natural world — especially those in our national parks.

Prayer: Creator God, help us to stop, look, and listen with childlike wonder to all that you have made and give thanks, for it is good. Amen.