DEAR ABBY: I have been an Episcopal priest for 33 years, ministering to the "frozen chosen," as others call us. I began ministerial life as a cleric, believing in the rectitude of proper demeanor in worship. This meant that a show of joy or emotion was forbidden.
After years of looking out at the congregation and seeing frustration on the faces of those who wanted to join in an expression of appreciation for some moving sermon, reading, choir anthem or instrumental piece, I have been converted. In the Old Testament worshipers are taught: Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy (Psalms 47:1). In other passages, all of creation is to praise God with clapping and singing. Psalm 98:8 says: Let floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy. In Isaiah 55:12, we read: For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Lest this be biased in favor of the positive, clapping was also used to show negative feelings. One example, Lamentations 2:15 tells us: All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem.
Freedom to express joy and appreciation is especially important when the young join us. They need to know they are welcomed in worship. -- RONALD C. BAUER, RECTOR, SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CALIF.