giving thanks for knees

Good wishes for Advent joy and expectation!

Growing up a Methodist, and having spent many adult years unchurched and then in New Thought in the form of Unity and Religious Science, kneeling was not part of my religious experience. Even in my Lutheran days, during my exile from the Episcopal Church, the worship book did not incorporate kneeling into the liturgy.

I first encountered kneeling at All Saints’ Palo Alto, and I took to it quickly as I did to the liturgical tradition in general. I was happy to come back to it when the prodigal returned to the Episcopal Church at St. John the Divine in Morgan Hill.

In the Episcopal Rite II liturgy we kneel for the confession, and in the Eucharist we after we sing (or say) the Sanctus, the rubric says “The people stand or kneel.” I prefer to kneel. I kneel when I return to my seat from Communion, and many people kneel, as do I, for the post-Communion prayer.

Still, there are many people who don’t kneel. Many people can’t kneel. I can relate. Terry had knee surgery five years ago and currently has been undergoing a series of injections to provide lubrication where most of the cartilage is gone.

I am grateful for my healthy knees that allow me to go out walking whenever the weather permits, and which allow me to kneel comfortably in worship.