Categories: uncategorized
Date: 25 May 2009 17:11:52
Yesterday I discovered smells, but no bells, (apart from those welcoming us in), when I went to listen to a friend of mine preach at one of the college chapels. Not being aware of what I was walking into I felt v. disorientated when it kicked off. My immeadiate reaction was to sit there praying "WTF God?". However, as the service got going a bit more that feeling subsided slightly, although it never quite disappeared. It was replaced by the wonder one gets when gets at seeing an interesting bit of art or theatre for the first time. I became wrapped up in the performance, mesmorised by the costumes, (vestments), and props, (bits and bobs getting carried about and swung about), which were truly beautiful objects. Whether I worshipped in the conventional sense I'm not entirely sure, but I believe through my wonder at the spectacle God was being praised. For me the whole thing was not so much "church" as a wonderfiul piece of theatre.
This made me stop and think about the complaints I voice at what Sherry Turkle and others have called the "Disneyfication of religion". I sit there saying that church should not be entertainment, it should be worship. Yet....as I say I was worshipping through the performance yesterday. I guess the difference is between that type of performance and some of the worship that is set up as performance is that the smells and bells stuff is basically only theatre as long as you are unfamiliar. Once you become familiar with the signs and symbols you are no longer distracted by them and can focus upon the one being venerated. However, with the "Disneyfied" stuff it's designed for the MTV generation and so there is constantly a search for new and innovative ways of doing stuff with no space for it to become familiar and allow the audience to move on beyond the spectacle.
Whatever it was all an interesting adventure.