Last Sunday, Ben and I hosted 30+ people at Framingham Friends Meeting to shoot a video parody of the music video What does the Fox Say? This music video being What does George Fox Say? We had a great time. While Ben and Rocky filmed upstairs in the meeting room, I coordinated the food downstairs, feeding snacks and dinner to those who participated. I had volunteered for the role as cook/food planner, thankful for a specific role in this filming process. I wanted to support Ben in his movie making vision, but I am not always the most patient of people in processes like long film shoots where I only have a fill in role as an extra. A few times I did contribute to the shoots by dressing up participants in crazy costumes and at one point filling in as an extra body to a worship scene.

It was in that scene, where “pretending” to be in worship, actually felt like worship. There are 20 or so of us, not all Quaker, sitting together and praying. The silence felt deep almost immediately during each take. That silence was deeper and more gathered than many Sunday worship services I’ve attended. I wondered what would happen if one of us was called to minister during these film takes. What would happen? Was it really worship?

The next day in Sunday worship, I found myself reflecting on this experience.  I had felt the presence of Christ in our midst during a film shoot. Acutely present, available to all of us. I wondered again what would have happened if Christ had chosen to speak through one of us in that moment of filming. Would we have been faithful? Would I have been faithful?

The message I received though that next Sunday was for myself.  Pictures of the day-before’s film experience started flashing through my mind. Jesus dancing with us. Jesus eating with us. Jesus talking with us to the fire department when we set off  the fire alarm. Jesus lipsyncing. Jesus cleaning up the meeting house. Jesus locking up.  The absurdity and pure joy of these images made me smile from ear to ear. I must have looked like a grand fool in worship, filled with the Holy Spirit, almost bursting into laughing and crying at the truth of it all simultaneously.

A week later, I sit in an airport after a long day of committee meetings, thinking about all this again. Watching the people around me and imaging Jesus walking with each one. Jesus talking on his cell phone. Jesus watching the football game. Jesus drinking a beer. Jesus dancing with the toddler. Jesus running to catch the plane.