Hello –
An ancient Christian practice is to read the entire Psalter, all 150 psalms, at one time. I first heard about the practice in an account of Little Gidding, which was a small community of devoted Christian families in England in the 17th century. They would start reading the psalms after Compline, at night, and then stay up all night.
We aren’t going to be nearly so rigorous as all of that! The Rev. Daniel London, the Vicar of Redeemer Episcopal Church and the head of our Marin Episcopal Youth Group, and I will be saying the whole Psalter starting at 2pm this Saturday, March 25th. This Psalm-athon will be at Redeemer Church, which is at 123 Knight Drive in San Rafael. We expect to be done well before 9pm.
You are free to drop by at any time and stay as long or as little as you like. Daniel and I, and I suspect a few others, are committed to be there for the whole thing. There is a very powerful cumulative effect where, after a while, time takes on an eerie quality. It passes by neither quickly or slowly. It is like a taste of Kairos, or God time. I have done this eight of nine times, and every time, by the end, I feel as though I have been on a multi-day retreat.
There will be a single sheet there that will explain our simple way of proceeding. In essence, we each take turns declaring how the next psalm will be done. Examples include unison, responsively, said antiphonally, song antiphonally and one person simply speaking alone. We will take a few brief breaks to stretch our legs and one longer break for a light supper.
This ancient experience is an excellent way to mark this Holy Christian season of Lent. We hope to see you and say a few psalms with you.
Blessings,
Christopher
p: (415) 456-4842