Project Worship - Radical

[Attended a worship retreat blessed by Amina last Sat at her church]

I chickened out when I read the programme but when the teams were formed, everyone felt I should just go ahead and have a blast. I agreed, but was perspiring inside.
Somebody should notice I was a mess. Team dynamics & song writing was the title of the workshop. There were about 7 persons in each team. It looked like a conspiracy when everyone played some kind of instruments except keyboard. And when we were finally through with our introductions, we discovered a young & talented keyboard teacher amongst us. He decided graciously give up his seat to me. I thought God had forsaken me! Even so I had repeated umpteen times that I have never played in the band nor know how to, my pleas turned to deaf ears.

God has his way of turning things upside down, so that Sat afternoon, I decided to just jump in and lap it all up. As crazy as it might sounds, I thought to myself, what the heck, let my hair down and learn to have fun! (I was making having fun so serious.)

To say the least, I was unfamiliar with the entire team, the setting, the works! I was totally unqualified to play in the band. I could not even begin to imagine what the rest of the workshop will be like! It's like having a right-hander brush his teeth with the left hand or like walking along the streets of Russia , not understanding what all the conversations were about. It was the unfamiliar that reveals our insecurity and fear. It was the familiar that masquerade our source of trust. Humbled with reckless abandonment, I took God's hand. Like a little kid trying to cross a bridge suspended on ropes, I started with cautious tiny steps and then break into a run. I felt the wind against my face, it spelled F-R-E-E-D-O-M.

Why God in all these? Jesus put something permanent in place of what familiarity cannot give.
Familiarity cannot access wisdom. Familiarity breeds complacency. He replaced self-dependency with humility. He replaced years of self-achievement with Grace - a gift no one can earn. Talk to familiarity and you get the same old story over and over. Familiarity shuts out the holy spirit as he moves like wind. The world needs something Familiarity cannot give.

I had tremendous fun playing two songs. The synergy was awesome. A 1-yr old christian man in his fifities led the worship. It was probably his first time. I was so proud of him. He led with such gusto! I am quite sure he felt the wind against his face too.

Everyone deserves a miracle. This, familiarity cannot give.