Jun
3
Written by:
host
6/3/2009 7:00 AM
The sign on the bulletin board caught my eye as I walked into one of my favorite cycling stores: Blessing of the Bicycles, May 26th, Faith Lutheran Church in Clive. I had to find out more, so I gave the pastor, Mark Saline, a call.
It turns out that the congregation does a number of blessing services throughout the year—a Blessing of the Backpacks at the start of the school year, a Blessing of the Keys for teens who are getting their license, and a Blessing of the Animals service on St. Francis of Assisi day. These blessing rituals are simple ways to acknowledge the things of life that are highly important at certain times in one's life, to celebrate the joys of living, and to connect theology with the real events of congregants' lives. Mark said this service was very simple—a litany, an anointing of bikes with oil, a gift of a sticker and water, and a prayer for the cyclists.
Mark was kind enough to share his litany, which you can download here (doc format, file will immediately download). Be sure to give him credit if you use it. Thanks, Mark!
Actually, the Blessing of the Bicycles idea was not entirely new to me. A similar service takes place at the start of RAGBRAI - the "Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa," which I'm training for again this August. A quick Internet search brought up other similar services. Some favorites:
- An interfaith event at St. John's the Divine in New York City (an awesome place you should definitely visit when you are in the Big Apple!) Be sure to check out this well-done and helpful website.
- The award for best poster design goes to House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado. Scroll down the page to May 5th, 2009 and May 20th, 2009 for the details. This is a congregation I simply have got to go and visit some day - wow!
- The award for best TV coverage of an event (and an interesting location choice, too) goes to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. Note all of the sponsors for this event!
Even though schools are starting to get out and Bike to Work Week has passed, it's not too late to do an event like this in your congregation or for an organized bike ride in your area. (Check with your local cycling store to find out what events are planned in your area. You'll find many of them listed here.) Or, use the ideas you glean from the examples above to plan other blessing services. It's a great way to educate your congregation and your community about everything from ecological responsibility to theological understandings of blessing.
And speaking of cycling, it's time for me to go get at least ten miles in for the day... ;-)
~ Tim Gossett