When my 17 year old daughter was a toddler, we had a nightly routine. I would sing You Are My Sunshine to her as I tucked her and all her favorite stuffed animals down into her bed.
As I would leave the room I would say, “Good night” and she would answer back, “good night”. I would say, “See you in the morning” and she would answer back, “See you in the morning”. “Sweet dreams”, “sweet dreams” she would say. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” and finally “God bless” as I would turn off the light.
We did this every night.
One night as we started our routine. She stopped me and asked what did it all mean? Why do we say this every night? I thought about it a minute and said, “well we have been doing it every night for so long that I haven’t thought about it”.
I sat down on her bed and said, “I say, “Good Night” because I really want you to have a peaceful, comfortable night’s sleep” I say “see you in the morning” because I will really be happy to see you in the morning so we can start our day. I say “Sweet Dreams” because good dreams are always the best and I want you to have them. I say “don’t let the bed bugs bite because… well because that’s what my mother used to tell me.” She panicked at this point and made me prove that there weren’t really bugs in her bed. Once convinced she asked “when you were little, did you have bugs in your bed?” I said, “No, I didn’t either.” “Well,” she said, “Maybe when you say “God Bless” it scares them away!” Toddlers are always so insightful.
Please join me in the call to worship.
Call to Worship
Here is an ordinary table,
Familiar and worn with use,
Come, look beyond the grains of wood
And sense the power it holds
To feed, unite, and create a holy communing.
May we glimpse godly wisdom that is beyond ordinary sight.
(light a candle)
Here is a pulpit, holding stories of faith,
Perhaps grown ordinary with repetition.
Come, hear anew the sacred words
And listen between the lines.
For the calling and sending, teaching and healing.
(light a candle)
May we glimpse godly wisdom that is beyond ordinary sight.
Here is our ordinary community
Made of eccentrisities and imperfections.
Come, draw near to one another in spirit
And recognize the holy presence that makes
Us an extraordinary people
People of justice and love and good work.
(light a candle
May we glimpse godly wisdom that is beyond ordinary sight.
