Blacksburg Presbyterian Church: Recent Episodes
BPC
We are an inclusive, progressive community. This is a place where you are welcome, where you belong. No matter what.
“It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.”
― Mary Oliver, "Praying" from Thirst, 2006
This is the story we tell of how the church started:
Fifty days after Easter, everyone was together.
Suddenly:
a deafening roar of wind
Suddenly:
flames of inspiration
Suddenly:
every language under the sky
speaking, shouting, rejoicing!
Filled with the Spirit
Our old ones will dream dreams!
Our young ones will see visions!
All God’s children will prophesy!
Come, friends, let us breathe deeply the breath of life
as we worship this morning.
We gather to be reminded,
reminded that the heart of the cosmos is love.
We gather to be rooted,
rooted and grounded in love.
We gather to proclaim,
that nothing—
nothing living or dead,
angelic or demonic,
today or tomorrow,
high or low,
thinkable or unthinkable
—absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Alleluia! Amen.
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day that life springs up.
This is the day that love wins.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Alleluia! Amen.
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day that life springs up.
This is the day that love wins.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Alleluia! Amen.
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day that life springs up.
This is the day that love wins.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Alleluia! Amen.
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day that life springs up.
This is the day that love wins.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Alleluia! Amen.
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Grace and peace be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
In the beginning there was the Word;
the Word was in God’s presence, and the Word was God.
The Word was present to God from the beginning.
Through the Word all things came into being,
and apart from the Word nothing came into being.
In the Word was life, and that life was humanity’s light—
a Light that shines in the darkness,
a Light that the darkness has never overtaken.
And the Word became flesh
and stayed for a little while among us;
we saw the Word’s glory—
the favor and position a parent gives an only child—
filled with grace,
filled with truth.
For the Spirit of Wisdom in scripture, among us, within us,
thanks be to God.
- John 1:5, 14 (The Inclusive Bible)
“To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen
You know us, God:
you understand who we are.
Sometimes we hurt others;
sometimes we hurt ourselves.
So, we bring our own hurt
asking for your healing;
and we bring the hurt we have caused others
asking for forgiveness.
- from Iona Abbey Worship Book
28 After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone;
your children will prophesy,
your elders will dream dreams,
and your youth will see visions.
29 In those days, I will also pour out my
spirit on all your servants.
- Joel 2:26-29
Neither this world nor your life is so broken
that God cannot restore it to wholeness.
In the name of Jesus, our sins are forgiven.
Thanks be to God!
` from Touch Holiness
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Come, and be knit back together,
Come, and remember your place in the web of being,
Come and trust the words of Jesus:
I have come so that you may have life,
and have it abundantly!
Come, let us worship together!
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
This is a space and time where we can
celebrate beauty,
lose ourselves in awe,
grow in gratitude,
lift up lament,
and be re-rooted in the Source of Life
who makes all things new.
Come, let us worship!
See how good, how pleasant it is
for kinfolk to live together as one!
It is like precious oil on Aaron’s head
running down on his beard,
running down to the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Mount Hermon,
falling on the hills of Zion.
For that is where God bestows the blessing—
life that never ends.
_ Psalm of the Day from The Inclusive Bible
My soul is troubled within me
therefore I will remember you.
Deep calls to deep in confusion
and all your waters sweep over me.
Yet by day God’s love assures me;
come night, a song leaves my lips,
a prayer to the God of my life.
I ask God, ‘Why have you forgotten me?’
Why should I walk like a mourner,
being taunted, ‘Where is your God?’
Why am I sunk in deep misery?
Why am I lost and distressed?
I shall put my hope in God,
in the One who is my deliverer.
_ Psalm of the Day from Iona Abbey Worship Book, revised edition.
Praise God! Praise God, O my soul!
As long as I live I’ll sing praise to my Maker.
Do not put your trust in human leaders,
in mortals who cannot save you.
When they stop breathing, they return to the earth;
on that day their plans perish.
Those whose joy knows no bounds
find their help and their hope in God.
God made the heavens and the earth,
the seas and all they contain.
God keeps faith, deals out justice,
and gives food to the hungry.
God sets the prisoners free
and opens the eyes that are blind.
- Psalm adaptation from Iona Abbey Worship Book, revised edition.
Psalm 130 & 131
For you, my God, I wait
with hope born of the Word.
Like sleepless ones who long to dream
I wait and call my Lord.
Lord, hear my pleading voice,
and let me know you hear!
As sleepless ones feel rest approach,
I know my God is near.
If you should list my faults,
the sins of heart and hand,
like sleepless ones who groan at dawn
I know I could not stand!
For even from the deep
I know you hear my cries.
Like sleepless ones who dream at last,
I ease my weary eyes.
And once my soul is still,
in you I find my rest,
at peace as though a child upon
a gentle mother’s breast.
O God, you are my hope;
I know that you forgive.
Your love redeems me from the depths
so I may rise and live.
- Psalm adaptation from Glory to God, 791
“God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong. And God chose what the world considers low-class and low-life—what is considered to be nothing—to reduce what is considered to be something to nothing.” —1 Corinthians 1:27-28
Psalm 118
This is the day that God has made,
let us rejoice and be glad in it!
It is good to give thanks to God;
God’s goodness will last forever.
Open the gates of righteousness
that I may praise my Maker.
I thank you, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation.
This is the work of God;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
-
- Psalm 118 selection adaptation from Iona Abbey Worship Book.
Psalm 103, selected text
(Adapted from The Iona Abbey Worship Book)
God brings justice to those who are oppressed,
as shown to Moses and his people.
God is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, constant in love.
God will not always be the accuser
or keep anger hot forever.
God does not deal with us as we deserve,
nor punish according to our sins.
God’s love for all faithful people
is as high and vast as the heavens.
As far as the east lies from the west,
God removes the wrong we have done.
Bless the Lord, my soul,
and all that is within me bless God’s holy name.
Psalm 116
(adaptation from the Iona Abbey Worship Book)
I love the Lord who listens to me;
my prayers are heard in heaven.
Death and hell laid hold of me;
I was desperate, distressed, and in anguish.
Then I called on the name of God:
Save me! Save my life!
God is gracious and merciful;
I was rescued from all that oppressed me.
My life was delivered from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.
What shall I offer to God in return
for all the grace I received?
I will lift the cup of salvation
and call on God by name.
I will offer my gift of gratitude
in the place beloved by God.
I will make my vows to my Maker
in the presence of all God’s people.
Holy Spirit,
You’re present all the time.
Awaken us to that reality,
so that we may
see you,
feel you,
know you,
follow you.
Amen.
You lift up the soul, O God, and make the eyes sparkle. You give health and life and blessing.
-- Ecclesiasticus 34:20
“We seem to think that God speaks by seconding the ideas we've already adopted, but God nearly always catches us by surprise. If it's God's Spirit blowing, someone ends up having feathers ruffled in an unforeseen way. God tends to confound, astonish, and flabbergast.”
– Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits
“I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and the presence of God.” ― Meister Eckhart
God of our journeying,
inviting us to travel with you,
forgive us when we cling to outworn security,
afraid to let go of what is safe and familiar.
Give us courage
to take the risk
of answering your call
into joyous adventure.
- from Bare Feet and Buttercups, Ruth Burgess, Wild Goose Publications
God of all creation, you loved us into being,
yet we often flee our rightful place in your creation.
We confess that we exploit the gifts you place around us
and dominate the richness of the natural order.
Forgive our greedy grasping.
We confess our part in the devastation of our planet home,
mirrored in the violence of cities, and the brokenness of hearts.
Forgive and restore us, O God.
Nurturing God, remind us of other ways to live
and of a place called home, where creation reflects your goodness
and each thing lives in balance with all others.
Come and find us, set us right again,
and take us home.
Amen.
- from Bare Feet and Buttercups: Resources for Ordinary Time
When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your children will prophesy.
Your young will see visions.
Your elders will dream dreams.
Even upon my servants, men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
-- Acts 2:1-4, 17-18, Common English Bible
Glory be to you, O God,
whom we worship in awe and wonder.
You are the author of all beginnings
and all that is pronounced “good.”
In you both day and night have purpose,
both calm and storm have meaning.
Open the eyes of our imagination,
that we may be ready to receive your gifts
and discern your activity in our midst.
In the name of Jesus,
in whose baptism we too are baptized.
Amen.
- from The Worship Sourcebook
O God who holds me close,
my heart has no lofty ambitions,
my eyes don’t look too high.
I am not concerned with great affairs
or marvels beyond my scope.
It’s enough for me to keep my soul tranquil
and quiet like a child in its mother’s arms;
my soul is as content as a nursing child.
May it be so.
Amen.
(Psalm 131:1-2)
God beyond all names,
God beyond all knowing,
we confess that we are more comfortable with things we can understand,
so we’re not always very comfortable with you.
We try to fit you into our categories,
our sense of right and wrong, in and out.
Forgive us
and break us open
with your wild mercy for all.
"I've never herded sheep, met a shepherd, or fought a wild predator in my life. But I did grow up visiting my grandparents' farms in India, and I can tell you this:I never saw my grandfather drape an immaculate baby sheep over his clean, robed shoulders. Most of the time, the animals on his farm stank. Often, at the end of a long day in their midst, so did he. How the church went from the mud-stained hardships of animal husbandry to a manicured Jesus cuddling a lily-white lamb, is beyond me."
-- Debie Thomas, "A Shepherd Who Is Good,” Journey with Jesus
Ever-present God,
We come to worship today to recognize you in one another.
We hear your kindness in thoughtful voices.
We see your compassion in the eyes of caring friends.
We taste your sweet and savory nourishment through shared meals and conversations.
We smell the renewal of your life in spring flowers.
We feel your strength in the actions of people standing up to injustice.
Let us share your love with one another as we journey together.
"May our wounds and the wounds of this world become wombs of new creation, bearing seeds of new life.”
—Kris Rocke
i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
-- e. e. cummings
Jesus, your ways seem strange to us.
You march in like a king going to war,
but you proclaim peace.
You say that to save our lives,
we have to give them up.
You keep on loving,
even when it costs you everything.
We confess that we’re scared—
scared to love that much,
scared that we might not get our way,
scared that we might lose everything.
Forgive us.
Cast out our fear, and enter in.
Make us more like you.
Amen.
God of boundless compassion,
we stand in awe of the breadth and depth of your love.
Draw us near to you in this hour,
that we might absorb a portion of your compassion.
Amen.
Come, all who are weary;
come, all who yearn for forgiveness.
The Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ has washed over us,
and our gracious and holy God beckons and blesses us.
Drink deeply of these living waters.
Come and worship.
There is room for all.
-- adapted from Worshipping Ecumenically
“What is hell? I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love.” —Fyodor Dostoevsky
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
God of the ordinary,
we praise you.
You take the drabness of our thoughts,
and brighten them into vivid imagination.
You take our everyday lives,
and transform them into holy, precious moments.
You take our limited offerings,
and multiply them into an abundance of delight.
Extraordinary God,
you light up our thoughts, our lives, our selves
with the wonder of your light. We praise you. Amen.
- prayer adapted from Bare Feet and Buttercups
God with us,
we confess that sometimes we feel like
we have to have some other kind of life to really serve you—
that we have to somehow be paragons of holiness,
that we have to pray for hours a day,
that we have to abandon all our other obligations
if we’re going to really follow Jesus.
Forgive us.
Reassure us.
Remind us it’s not all up to us,
that you’re at work within us,
and that the lives you’ve given us
are sufficient for the work you call us to.
Amen.
Thought for Meditation:
“Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I’ll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods and I'd look up into the sky—up—up—up—into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd just feel a prayer.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors!
That the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors!
That the King of glory may come in.
That we may see the light of God’s love shining before us.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
--Psalm 27:1
Listen up, everyone!
God has given us work to do.
God has called each of us
before we were even born.
It was God who named us.
It is God who claims us.
The light of God’s love shines in us.
Let us shine God’s love into all the world!
“We have what we seek. We don't have to rush after it. It was there all the time, and if we give it time it will make itself known to us.” ―Thomas Merton
“For last year's words belong to last year's language
And next year's words await another voice.
And to make an end is to make a beginning." —T. S. Eliot
“If she had said, No,
The world would not have stopped:
Birds would have flown high still into sky,
The heavens would have proclaimed his glory
And the firmament the work of his hands.
We would have gone on reproving him,
Unaware of how deeply down
His love might plunge into our affliction,
Unaware of how he might have taken upon himself
The consequences of our nos.” —Pádraig J. Daly
“This is the irrational season
when love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason
there’d have been no room for the child.” —Madeline L’Engle
“Draw the circle wide, draw it wider still.
Let this be our song: no one stands alone.
Standing side by side, draw the circle, draw the circle wide.” —Gordon Light
"What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it." — Gabriel García Márquez
"Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good."
— Maya Angelou
From our houses and our homes, you call us.
From our work and our worry, you call us.
From our planning and striving, you call us.
You call us and promise to feed us with the bread of heaven and the cup of hope.
Come, let us turn our hearts and worship.
"A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their own homes. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so." — Chinua Achebe
O God, “By your giving, break our cycles of imagined scarcity, override our presumed deficits, quiet our anxieties of lack. Transform our perceptual field to see the abundance . . . mercy upon mercy, blessing upon blessing.” —adapted from Walter Brueggemann
"I feel as if I could at any time resign my life and the responsibility into God's hands, and become as innocent and free from care as a plant or stone." --Henry David Thoreau
"Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God." --George Washington Carver
"We shall awake from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper we will respond to its endangerment with passion." --Hildegard of Bingen
We meet in the name of God,
Creator of the universe,
source of true humanity,
mother and father of all.
Amen.
We meet in the name of Jesus,
Word made flesh,
savior of fallen humanity,
lover of all.
Amen.
We meet in the name of the Holy Spirit,
Lord and giver of life,
midwife of new humanity,
inspirer of all.
Amen.
Come then, eternal God
be present here,
befriend us here,
renew us here.
(from Wee Worship Book 4)
“You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” —Malcolm X
The world belongs to God,
the earth and all its people.
How good and how lovely it is
to live together in unity.
Love and faith come together,
justice and peace join hands.
If the Lord’s disciples keep silent,
these stones would shout aloud.
Lord, open our lips
and our mouths
shall proclaim your praise.
**In divine mystery and human care you sustain us, O God, though often we fail to recognize such wonderful gifts.
We confess that worries command our attention.
All too frequently, pursuing material things and personal pleasures top our list of priorities.
We are often numb to our spiritual hunger.
Forgive us, we pray. Set us free!**
Sacred wind, come blow on us
Let us feel your presence
Holy Earth anchor us
Nourish our frames
Illuminating fire burn ever brighter
Reflect your truth
Life-giving water
Restore and baptize us
Amen.
"Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known?
Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?"
-- John Bell, "The Summons"
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” ― Audre Lorde
“Speak up, speak out, get in the way. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” —John Lewis
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF EVE
by Ansel Elkins
Wearing nothing but snakeskin
boots, I blazed a footpath, the first
radical road out of that old kingdom
toward a new unknown.
When I came to those great flaming gates
of burning gold,
I stood alone in terror at the threshold
between Paradise and Earth.
There I heard a mysterious echo:
my own voice
singing to me from across the forbidden
side. I shook awake—
at once alive in a blaze of green fire.
Let it be known: I did not fall from grace.
I leapt
to freedom.
Lord God, open unto us.
Open unto us—
**light for our darkness,
courage for our fear,
hope for our despair.**
Open unto us—
**peace for our turmoil,
joy for our sorrow,
strength for our weakness.**
Open unto us—
**wisdom for our confusion,
forgiveness for our sins,
love for our hates.**
Open unto us—
**your Self for our selves.
Lord, our God, open unto us.
--** adapted from Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman
Come, let us worship in mystery and in truth the One in Three, Three in One,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer,
Speaker, Word, and Breath of Life, Lover, Beloved, and Love itself,
God who was, God who is, God who is to come.
Our minds strain to comprehend, but our hearts hear your call.
We are here to worship You.
“…as the dancing tongues of fire,
as the soul’s most deep desire,
so it is with the Spirit of God.” —Shirley Erena Murray
"Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone's task is unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it." — Viktor E. Frankl
Fill our worship with grace, Lord Jesus Christ,
that every thought, word, and deed may be acceptable to you,
our Rock and our Redeemer.
Amen.
“When you have been truly loved, it nourishes you even from beyond the grave.” ― Marty Rubin
Holy Spirit,
we approach this moment with hope
that you might move in our lives,
bringing what is long dead to life,
and bringing what is dormant to bloom.
We pray this, trusting you.
Amen.
“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” ― René Descartes
*In our end is our beginning;
in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing;
in our life, eternity.* —Natalie Sleeth
It is holy to gather.
It is holy to sing.
It is holy to be generous, to throw our coats on the road.
It is holy to celebrate justice when we see it.
It is holy to shout, “Hosanna!”
and in response we say,
we are here.
It is holy to remember.
It is holy to gather.
It is holy to sing.
Here and now, let us do all of these things.
"Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it."
— Mary Oliver
"As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness."
— Henry David Thoreau
"As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness." — Henry David Thoreau
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice… to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? —Isaiah 58:6
“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love. . . . For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.” -- Psalm 107:8-9 ESV
Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” --Toni Morrison
“The easy road would have been to stay on the same path, the one that led only to death and decay. Instead, I took the road less travelled; I journeyed towards new life; towards transformation.” —Alex Clare-Young
Exciting God
Glorious God
Baptize us with wonder
Wise God
Righteous God
Baptize us with justice
Holy God
Covenant God
Baptize us with love
“I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.” — Albert Einstein
"For Christ to become one of us
He had to be born like us . . .
The bread of life had to learn how to eat
The one who holds us, first had to be held
The Lover was loved
The Way had to learn to walk
The Word had to learn to speak
The Teacher had to be taught.
This is the miracle of God with us.
This is Emmanuel."
-- James Hawes, Sunday Papers
“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me...
Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” ― Shel Silverstein
Third Sunday of Advent
“Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.” ― Langston Hughes
Stewardship Focus 2021
“Our ancestors have a lot to teach us. This is not because they were wiser or more devout than we are or “better” Christians, though we can’t rule out such possibilities. It is because they can point us toward what is essential.” ― Margaret Bendroth
All Saints; Sunday
“We're all ghosts. We all carry, inside us, people who came before us.” ― Liam Callanan
Stewardship Focus 2021
“Optimism is a passive virtue, hope is an active one. It takes no courage to be an optimist, but it does need courage to hope.”—Jonathan Sacks
How very good and pleasant it is
when we live in unity.
We gather here together with our hearts and voices raised to God,
who is the center of our unity and praise!
Peace & Global Missions Focus 2021
“What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.” —Meister Eckhart
Peace & Global Missions Focus 2021
“This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world: seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus, especially in the lowly appearance of bread, and in the distressing disguise of the poor.” -- Mother Theresa
Season of Creation 2021:
We breathe in what the trees breathe out, and they breathe in what we breathe out. Forever overwhelmed by the beauty of God's design . . .
Season of Creation 2021: “Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That's the problem.”― A.A. Milne
“There's always a story. It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in it.”—Terry Pratchett
“The raven is a creature of need, of want, of desire. It is voracious. And God feeds it, takes care of its needs, so Jesus would have us believe.”—Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds
“There's always a story. It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in it.”—Terry Pratchett
“God’s work in the world doesn’t work like a business—like commerce or trade: give up this and you’ll get that—blood for love, the death of one thing so that something else can live. It’s a lot more creative than that. It’s not tit for tat. It’s grace upon mind-blowing grace.”—Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds
“To be alive involves a lot: suffering and taste buds and sweetness and muck. The spirit of God is not apart from this.” — Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds
"To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the breaking of bread." — James Baldwin
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." — Albert Einstein
“Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.” -- Unknown
Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God!
Be still, and know that I am...
Be still, and know...
Be still...
Be...
If peace means this, I don’t want peace:
If peace means accepting second class citizenship I don’t want it
If peace means keeping my mouth shut in the midst of injustice and evil, I don’t want it
If peace means being complacently adjusted to a deadening status quo, I don’t want peace.
*If peace means a willingness to be exploited economically, dominated politically, humiliated and segregated, I don’t want peace.
In a passive non-violent manner, we must revolt against this peace.*
Jesus says in substance, I will not be content until justice, goodwill, brotherhood, love, yes, the kingdom of God are established upon the earth. This is real peace. Peace is the presence of positive good. —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“We’ve turned faith into a right to certitude when, in fact, this Trinitarian mystery is whispering quite the opposite: we have to live in exquisite, terrible humility before reality.” —Richard Rohr