… One word about symbols. A symbol is something that points beyond itself to a larger-than-itself reality. I like the way liturgical scholar Mary Collins describes it. She talks about symbols as “transformers” (like an electrical transformer). They take incredible, unfathomable, incomprehensible power and transform it into something we can grasp, understand, experience and utilize. So the difficult and sometimes unamable pain and grief of shattered lives because of sexual misconduct was made tangible in a piece of broken glass. And the phenomenal power of God to transform lives was translated and “made real” (another way to talk about symbols) in the beauty of this glass which ultimately adorned our communion chalices and was made into beautiful jewelry.

Symbols are also simply things we humans have at our disposal. Common things. In fact, the common stuff of our lives is all we have to use to point to the Holy. Ordinary bread and fruit of the vine, water, and acts of eating, washing, walking, lifting and holding hands… all of these can point to our faith narrative and embody the faith story as it continues to be lived out and revealed. As such, often ordinary objects are used across religious expression. For instance, water rituals (like baptism) are used in the rituals of many religions because water is so basic to our human existence and God shows up in all aspects of our lives. It is not surprising that objects we use as Christians to speak of our faith narrative would also show up in the rituals of other groups. Someone expressed concern that they had run across a reference on the internet of the use of beach glass by wiccan practitioners. They were not sure that we ought to be using “wiccan” symbols. Friends, herein lies my point. Any object is not, in and of itself, the property or purview of a particular group. If so, we would never use water, bread, candles, or many other things. A symbol only becomes a symbol – becomes meaningful – in the context of a particular faith narrative. The image of God as “Beachcomber” is akin to the image of our God who searches for the lost ones… a parable that reoccurs in the teachings of Jesus in many ways. We should never hesitate to claim a powerful way of symbolizing the presence of God and the love of Jesus simply because someone else used that same object in a very different context and manner. If it reveals more about God, it is viable as a worship resource. It is what we DO with our common objects (and our common lives!) that matters deeply. I hope the overview of this theme inspires you and that the notes about planning worship for healing are helpful. Dowload them here:

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Download planning_worship_for_healing.pdf