If you go back in history, the sheer beauty and majesty of Churches were for those who had nothing an example of heaven on earth. Making the transition through the Church doors was to step into the touching point of heaven and earth, a glimpse of the awesomeness of the Kingdom.
Now when we see glory and excess everywhere we look, maybe this touch of the fantastic seems irrelevant. It is not. It is important that our worship should still bring to us the beauty of the miraculous, the hint of the mysterious and a chance to glimpse the divine.
Traditional worship is multi sensory and if children are shown it from an early age it captivates and holds their attention. You have the music, beautiful choral music. Harmony can bring the choirs of heaven into our lives.You have the candles bringing Christ's light into our hearts (used to great effect at Christmas, Candle mass and Easter). You have the incense to ward off evil and show our prayers rising heavenward. You have the vestments, that are beautiful but provide anonymity. The Priest is stripped of himself and his tastes and dressed in something that points us towards God. If you celebrate Eastwards this culminates the picture as during the consecration the host is held up and all of us Priest included are drawn to look towards Christ present and Christ coming.
When the majesty is stripped, it focuses your mind for the period of Lent on the emptiness of the desert. Reminds you of the temptation to prove the existence of the Father, so easily obtainable in the cupboards. However the only way to show his existence is to hold fast from temptation like Christ, in time all will be revealed. It's beauty all the greater for the denial and the wait.
Following Christ's footsteps is a discipline. It is not an exercise in doing what makes us comfortable or gives us pleasure. It is a duty to focus ourselves on Christ's example, not to give into the many temptations that knock on our door. That our time with God should be focused on him and not what seems most affable or accessible. It is not to dilute or make palatable that which we should obey. Children and young people today do not want wish washy half truths, they want knowledge and certainty. They want to see that Christianity has relevance that can be experienced in their lives, not the flashy and emptiness that a smoothie bar entails. With all our examples of fresh expression Church attendance is still falling. Is it not time to contemplate bringing the old back, in some ways this is now a new fresh expression. We introduced serving to our children and it has been popular, as has the training and pizza days that come with it! Is it maybe time we considered not patronizing our children and young people and allowing them to live and see the beauty of worship. Show that they can be welcomed into the family from the beginning. Held as part of our community and shown through the liturgy and worship the awesome kingdom of God at the point where divine touches earth at every altar. That they can chose to turn towards Christ and carry him out in their hearts and minds to live each and every day.
