Whatever our faith we need times to repent and rejoice. Repent for what we have done or left undone. And rejoice for the forgiveness we receive from those we have harmed, our friends or our family. . . . Forgiveness also from God. Forgiveness that is open to all humanity without condition. What could be more freeing than repenting and forgiving? We all find that receiving a sincere apology for a hurt brings an almost immediate calm. When someone recognizes that they have wounded us, our soul can breath again. Repentance, forgiveness, rejoicing. Three blessings that allow us to thrive. This is most certainly true.
Today is the 4th Sunday in Lent, a day when Christians traditionally take respite from the penitence of early Lent as encouragement to the coming action of taking up the Cross and carrying it through the Crucifixion of Good Friday until the Resurrection and rejoicing of Easter Sunday.
So today in church was a rejoicing Sunday. This morning's guest choir was the Duke Amandla Chorus, an African music group that performs traditional music from African countries in their native languages. Like many, my husband and I love the traditional music of Africa. We have visited when our daughter taught in Lebowa, at that time a nonindependent homeland for the northern Sotho people.
The first offertory anthem today was an invitation in the Swati language from the landlocked Kingdom of Eswatini (also known as Swaziland). Here are the words of "Ngena Nawe" in English.
Here is the door
The door to life
It has been opened for you
It's wide open for you
Enter, you are welcome
For your freedom and upliftment
Do not hesitate
It is also open for you
Here are the gates
The door to life
It's wide open for you
Wake up; listen to his Glory
Do not forget
The door to happiness
Is wide open for you
Do not be afraid
The living waters
Have come abundantly and with strength
Come in, you are welcome
This is the source of life
Drink, drink
This is all for you
You are invited to eat; eat, be merry, be filled
What welcoming words. "Here is the door, It has been opened for you, It's wide open for you." This could be a meditative refrain. So affirming no matter what our beliefs are. A place to enter for "freedom and upliftment." "The door to happiness is wide open" for us. For me I think of the door to eternal life as well as the day-to-day happiness that is available to us all. I hear compassion for self and others. You may hear something else. I wish everyone could have heard the drumming, the call and response. And felt the rhythms. So Lent can be as energetic and joyous as Spring. It was today.
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