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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri">Good on ya, Bill!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri">John Cock<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:black">From: </span>
</b><span style="font-family:Calibri;color:black">OE <oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net> on behalf of Bill Schlesinger via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net><br>
<b>Reply-To: </b>Bill Schlesinger <w.schlesinger@pvida.net>, Order Ecumenical Community <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net><br>
<b>Date: </b>Tuesday, June 27, 2017 at 7:33 PM<br>
<b>To: </b>'John Epps' <jlepps39@gmail.com>, 'Order Ecumenical Community' <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net><br>
<b>Subject: </b>Re: [Oe List ...] Earthrise Reflection<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D">Ah, those cerebral Presbyterians!</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Calibri;color:#1F497D"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma"> OE [mailto:oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>John Epps via OE<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, June 27, 2017 4:49 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Tracy Longacre via OE<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Oe List ...] Earthrise Reflection</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">To continue our Earthrise contributions around one's birthday, I offer the following:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">I’ve never heard anything like it.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">The ordinary mode of beginning the Sunday worship service at Montview Presbyterian Church is the sound of chimes after which the congregation is invited
to quietly make the transition from getting there to being there. This Sunday, being Easter, the sanctuary was overflowing with people enthusiastically greeting each other with churchy cordiality and requests from the front to move closer together in the pews
to accommodate more people.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt"> I was sitting quietly waiting for the chimes, hoping to be able to hear them over the din, and looking forward to a few moments of silence to absorb
the beauty of the surroundings.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Suddenly from the choir loft came a deafening crash of cymbals followed by a brass and organ fanfare that filled the gothic architecture with ear-splitting
wonder that lasted a full 5 minutes. After the final grand chord, the congregation was speechless. The impact was powerful and profound, setting the tone for something grand about to happen. For me, if nothing else occurred during the service, the Easter wonder
had happened.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">The piece was Grand Choeur Dialogue by Eugene Gigout; you can find it at: </span><span style="font-size:10.5pt"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rufxt80iVA0" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rufxt80iVA0</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">But that was only the first musical treat. The brass and organ and choir continued their gift of awe-producing sounds during the hymns, anthem, and
offertory anthem. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZtIRp3Vglw" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10.5pt">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZtIRp3Vglw</span></a></span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:#006621"> </span><span style="font-size:9.5pt">was
the anthem.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">By the time we left, I was done in, having experienced something of a resurrection myself..</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Since then,</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt"> </span><span style="font-size:9.5pt">I’ve been wrestling with the thought that such grandeur was
not at all like the lifestyle portrayed in the New Testament. Though it clearly portrays the significance of the Easter event for Christians, the music and setting seemed more appropriate to royalty than to us. Recent Public TV shows featuring Henry VIII depict
a setting in which this type of music would have been right at home.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span style="font-size:9.5pt">Maybe the point is that awe happens when you least expect it, when surprises break through that are not of our doing. If, as I have contended elsewhere,
surprises are where we are confronted by Mystery, that certainly happened at the Denver Montview Presbyterian Church on Easter Sunday, 2017.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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