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December 29, Concert: Broken Walls
Broken Walls ConcertChristian Vettrus
Broken Walls Worship C. Vettrus
Ray Aldred set the stage for us. His message had prepared us to meet Broken Walls, a Native North American worship team. "This extended worship is an example of the worship that flows from the heart of aboriginal people," he said. From their heart to ours, Broken Walls punctuated this evening. They incarnated the messages heard and seen earlier by captivating my senses. Greg Jao was right again. Their performance was a gift to us.
As I held this gift in my hands, I inspected it as a child who had been given something precious and new. Sounds, sights, and feelings were heightened. They enveloped me. I heard bells and shakers and the rhythmic pounding of their drums. The metered phrasing of the music was in time with their cadence. Words were spoken that affirmed that "God wants us to be who he created us to be!" Bare feet were making music as the first-peoples danced. Rustling of costumes whispered to us.
Around a circle of drummers, I saw the worshipers moving in native regalia. The leather tassels and feathers exaggerated their organic movements. Crimson hues mingled with earthen tones and glistening beadwork. These were not evil things. As one leader said, "This drum came from a good buffalo and a good cedar tree." These were the symbols of the redemption of their heritage.
Resonance filled my chest. I noticed that I felt the same chills in my spine and the tingling in my fingers and toes that I have felt in Caucasian church liturgy; in African-American charisma, in Mass in Northern Ireland, and in the warmth of the celebration of a Latino church in the inner-city of Milwaukee. The same chills. Tears began to well in my eyes, as I watched the dancers. Their abandonment, was my liberation.
I had felt and seen and heard the heart of the people who first lived here. Cultural and personal history had happened here tonight. The Spirit of Unity had given us back the gift of dance. Like the goal set by Ray Aldred, I had become a learner again. I saw the beauty in the experience of a unique cultural tradition. They did complete what had been begun tonight in me, and that was an answer to the prayers of Jen Huerta Bell.
Indeed, walls had been broken in me. Lord, I pray that we all might experience heart-renovation, and the liberation of love for who God made each of us to be.
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