Osler's Razor

The air conditioner in the sanctuary at 7th and James has been broken this week. Since it is about 100 degrees here in Texas, we had services in the social hall instead of in our comfortable pews this morning. The smallish room was jammed with folding chairs, the choir was tucked into a corner, and an upright piano took the place of the organ. Nothing was in its normal place.

It was GREAT. There was not an empty seat, giving the service an intimacy and energy that I loved. Burt Burleson, our interim minister, gave a wonderful and funny sermon and everyone was engaged. On the last hymn, we sang loud and strong.

Why did this misfortune turn out to be a blessing?

Faith, especially Christianity, is unsettling-- it unsettles the values of the larger world, of our own selfish dreams, of the call of money and power. Perhaps the comfort of repetition is in tension with that basic nature of the faith, and a physical dislocation, a mess, brings us closer to that core of the faith. God, after all, is there nonetheless, and perhaps easier to see when the sightlines are fresh.