Jo Bower's Blog

So, here I am in a place of opportunity
I would have never had if it weren’t for my husband’s ministry.
One of many opportunities through the years.
And once again I realize how narrow my perspective of God gets.

Here I am, in the presence of God
In a completely different cultural setting than my own.
Words are familiar, but in a new setting,
And I can join into familiar lyrics and tunes with different tempos and rhythms.

And I remember God is not tied to form
Or ritual,
Or order of service,
Or anything else that calms me and sets my atmosphere for worship.

There are people who worship without music
(Which I cannot imagine.).
There are people whose entire worship is a written script
(How dry, where’s the joy?).
There are people who have no script at all… not even bulletins
(It’s okay – they sing all the songs without written words – by heart).
There are people who cannot be quiet in service,
(Whose joy spills into robust singing and vocal approval.)
There are people who touch God through languages I will never understand,
(But God’s spirit still touches my heart.)
And God works in and through us all.

I am reminded that while God isn’t confined to my box,
He fully inhabits my life, and my culture, and my method of worship,
Allowing me to express who I am and need to most effectively worship.
While all the time encouraging me to grow, change and be more than I am.

And that is what we all have in common: God isn’t confined to anyone’s box.
Yet he fully inhabits the lives of those who ask, any culture, and any method of worship,
Allowing all his children to express who we are, and what enables us to enter into worship.
While all the time he encourages us to grow, change and be more than we are.

One of life’s greatest blessings for me is to have what I believe and think about God
Spoken to me in words and phrases that are completely unlike my own.
When another person expresses the call of God on their life.
And it looks so very different in action, yet is the same in principle.

Spirits soar and boxes expand just a little
As we begin to understand and grasp the tension between
Our inability to understand the complete scope and totality of God’s work,
While, at the same time, experiencing the extreme, personal, nature of My relationship with God.