Taking on the Creed...

PLAY ME!

Ah, Mozart.  Musical settings of the mass, the credo in particular, don't get much better than his Great Mass in C Minor.  Enjoy the first portion of the Credo in the recording above as you read.  It's not the best recording ever, but the best I could find on YouTube.   If want a real treat, check out Neville Marriner's rendition with St. Martin in the Fields - it's choral gold.  Click here for a text and translation and try not to be too offended by the use of "old" language.  Gotta look beyond those things sometimes, people, and understand it in its historical context.  I only used this version because its clarity of comparison between the Latin and English.  This particular musical setting will take you though the text, "came down from heaven".

I have wanted to do this for YEARS. And it's probably not what you are expecting...

I love the Nicene Creed. I remember as a kid growing up in the AME Church where my father was a minister perusing through the hymnal, reading all the liturgies in the back of the book, wondering what all that stuff was really about. We only had communion once a month, and it was taken with GREAT seriousness and reverence. The altar guild and all the other "women's" ministries dressed in white and wore white gloves when handling the communion wares. The altar table and other furniture were draped in white. And if you were EVER caught walking inside the altar area or, God forbid, running through the church in any fashion whatsoever you were taken outside and reminded of just how sore your behind could become. And this could be done by someone other than your own parents in our church...old style discipline, indeed. That may seem over-the-top for some but in hind sight (pun sort of intended) I am grateful for being taught what it meant for a place to be holy and filled with the presence of God. This doesn't mean our services were staid, quiet or boring. On the contrary. You were in the minority if you were not on your feet swaying back and forth during the hymns (which were ALWAYS sung with spirit), or shouting encouragements at the preacher during the sermon. Worship was a participatory event, not a spectator sport.

Back to the creed - I remember saying these words as a child, tasting them in my mouth without the ability to fathom their flavor. As I grew, my understanding of what was trying to be expressed grew from vagueness to clarity. Not definitive clarity, but more like a general direction to a final destination. That's what I believe the creed is - a gateway to understanding something that is beyond our human capability to understand.  And once I began to explore larger choral works, I was even more in awe of the words and their implied meaning.  The incredible, musical genius of composers such as Bach and Mozart added to the unending possibilities of meaning that could be attached to these simple words.     

A creed or any kind of statement of faith is USELESS to the greater Church if it is so intractable that it cannot be interpreted or understood by future generations. That being said, it cannot be so flimsy that it has no core to its meaning. And that, my friends, is the genius of the Nicene Creed in my opinion. It is specific enough so that we know we are talking about the God of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures without denying the possibility that God can and will, in fact, continue to act, create, and manifest himself past the time of its inception. Is it perfect?  No - but we should never expect or require perfection in anything that we do to describe God and his relationship to his creation.

Just to specify a few points for future reference: I use "he" in reference to God because 1 - that is what I grew up with and it still works for me, 2 - referring to God without some personal pronoun is too impersonal in my opinion, and 3 - it gives deference to the familial relationship of the Holy Trinity, which can serve as a mirror of our familial relationships here on earth. Sometimes I even use "He", because, in my feeble opinion, God is just enormous of an idea - of a reality - to be encompassed inside "he". Our language is unbelievably inadequate when it comes to expressing these ideas, hence the complexity of the creeds in general. Do I think God is male? No. Do I think God is female? No. Do I get I little bit annoyed when I hear others refer to God as "she"? Yes, but only because many have admitted to doing it to make a point and annoy the "he" people. In the end, do I think that really matters? No. I think the whole debate is a bit childish and completely misses the point. Call him/her/it what you wish - you will not offend me. And I ask you in the same token not to take offense at the terms I use for my Creator. Our relationship with God is a very personal one, and I think we need to give each other a little leeway when we dare to name someone who is such an intimate part of our souls. 

Also, when I refer to "The Church" or "the greater Church" I am not referring to any specific denomination or faith. I am referring to the Church as it is proclaimed in the Christian Scriptures. The whole body of Christ, in all its manifestations and expressions. And I do believe that there are many, including ones which we do not have the wisdom or spiritual maturity to recognize. That doesn't mean they don't exist, and that God is not using them to his own purpose.

For those of you who don't know me well: I am not a biblical scholar. I have no "formal" training in theology, dogma, etc. I do not have a seminary degree. I have worked in the church for 18+ years, and have always made it a point to know and understand the faith and denomination of the congregations and parish in which I have worked. In many cases, I discovered that I knew and understood more about the Lutheran and Episcopal traditions, for example, than many of the congregants and parishioners, and sadly, sometimes more than the clergy I've worked with - but that's for another post. I do not believe we should leave the interpretation and understanding of the scriptures and principles of our faith to the "hierarchy". There are many reasons, but one of the main ones is that we, as lay people, in many instances have a broader understanding of how faith works in the world because we are out in it every day, encountering what the world has to offer at any given time. That's not to say that some clergy do not make it a point to be present amongst the masses. But I think many of us would agree that there is an alarming number whose understanding of the Body of Christ seems to disappear once they leave the doors of the church building. This is not what the Scriptures teach but, again, that is for another post.

Why am I doing this?  Because there is so much talk these days about how irrelevant and out of date the creed is, and that is does not reflect what we believe as a modern, forward looking society.  I completely disagree, and think people take the creed far too literally.  And perhaps that's what the church fathers wanted, but I think something beyond their own wisdom was at play when the Nicene Creed was created.


So, I hope you will read the upcoming posts and let me know what you think. I will spread my thoughts over several posts so we can dig into some things.  I'll also try to include some of my favorite musical examples.  I know, I am a big geek, but I love this stuff.  Maybe you do too.  Perhaps you will agree with some things, or think I am completely full of it. That's ok. As I grow in my faith and maturity I may look at what I've written years from now and think the same thing. But the importance of going through the struggle cannot be overlooked.

Hope you will ponder with me!