By WALTER ALBRITTON
RELIGION —
Books have been a wondrous source of blessing in my life. None more than the Holy Bible. It tops my list of valuable books, for I have heard God speaking to me through the words of that book. As a lifelong Methodist, I have loved the way John Wesley described himself as homo unius libri, a man of one book, the Bible. Of course Wesley read other books but for him the greatest of all books was the Bible.
While God speaks through the Bible, He has also chosen to speak through other books as well. One such book in which I have heard His voice is a little known volume titled “Every Moment Holy,” by Douglas McKelvey, published by Rabbit Room Press in 2019.
It is a book of liturgies, a gift from my dear friend Mike McElroy, longtime pastor of East Tallassee Church of Christ. I laughed at God’s sense of humor when I realized it was a book of liturgies, for I have had a lover’s quarrel with liturgies during all my 72 years as a pastor. Though I recognize the repetitive value of using liturgies in worship, I have been aware that repeating the same words over and over can become monotonous for those who are simply mouthing the words. To do so allows worship to become boring, and worship should never be boring!
I remember the first time I saw in a worship bulletin a pastor’s name followed by the word, “Liturgist.” I immediately thought that I would never put that word after my name, and I have not. Call me anything you wish but not a liturgist! That was my attitude long ago, but once again I must laugh at God’s sense of humor; I have to admit I have created simple liturgies of my own. The marvelous word “Glory” is my primary liturgy, and close behind it is the liturgy I use a dozen times a day: “Thank you Jesus!” So the joke’s on me: I became a liturgist after all.
McKelvey’s book has given me a delightful new perspective about liturgies. We can create helpful liturgies for every moment in our lives. Moments like these can be made sacred with an appropriate liturgy: When our family dog died, when we watched a sunset together, for the anniversary of a loss, for the paying of the bills, for first waking, for a meal eaten alone, for the ritual of morning coffee and many others.
All McKelvey’s liturgies are offered to remind us that “there are no unsacred moments; there are only sacred moments and moments we have forgotten are sacred.” Here’s the beginning of one for “the finishing of a beloved book”:
I am stirred and saddened, O Lord,
in coming to this tale’s end,
to bid farewell and return now
from my sojourn in that storied place
where longings for something more
than the life I lead were wakened.
If you want to read a delightful book that can be a blessing all year long, I highly recommend “Every Moment Holy,” by Douglas McKelvey. For its holy inspiration, I must say, “Thank you Jesus!”