Ryan is leaving us to continue on his journey. As I was up this morning looking for words of inspiration to send him on his way I realized that all the really good quotes I kept running across where Irish and Scottish. It got me to thinking, My ancestors came from Denmark, didn’t Danish people ever say anything clever? Did they just forget to write it down while they were busy helping settle South Africa? Tis something to ponder. And if anyone can find something inspirational from Denmark please email me…
But for now, Ryan
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
Call to Worship
In the midst of life's chaos
at the heart of our discontent
within the fragments of human brokenness,
lives the healing presence of God.
Beyond our fears and misgivings,
before the excuses and doubting,
at home within the honest and vulnerable,
lives the healing power of God.
Come, let us not pretend we do not know these places,
let us not avoid what is most real.
For in the facing and the accepting,
lives the healing embrace of God.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
In the Wake of the Tragic Lost of Our Beloved Pastor's Brother (June 21st 2009)
*I am standing on the sea shore,
A ship sails in the morning breeze and starts for the ocean.
She is an object of beauty and I stand watching her
Till at last she fades on the horizon and someone at my side says:
"She is gone."
Gone! Where?
Gone from my sight - that is all.
She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars as she was when I saw her
And just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination.
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me,
not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
"She is gone",
There are others who are watching her coming, and other voices take up a glad shout:
"There she comes"
- and that is dying. An horizon and just the limit of our sight.
Lift us up, Oh Lord, that we may see further.
Bishop Brent
1862 - 1926
Call to Worship
In a world that often causes us to be afraid…
We gather in the promise of god’s peace.
We come to be renewed by Christs love.
We open ourselves
To the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
During a time in history that often seems uncertain…
We gather in the promise of god’s peace.
We come to be renewed by Christs love.
We open ourselves
To the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
Living in the midst of great ecological change and challenge…
We gather in the promise of god’s peace.
We come to be renewed by Christs love.
We open ourselves
To the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
And trying to cope with the everyday stresses of modern life…
We gather in the promise of god’s peace.
We come to be renewed by Christs love.
We open ourselves
To the encouragement of the Holy Spirit
A ship sails in the morning breeze and starts for the ocean.
She is an object of beauty and I stand watching her
Till at last she fades on the horizon and someone at my side says:
"She is gone."
Gone! Where?
Gone from my sight - that is all.
She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars as she was when I saw her
And just as able to bear her load of living freight to its destination.
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me,
not in her.
And just at the moment when someone at my side says,
"She is gone",
There are others who are watching her coming, and other voices take up a glad shout:
"There she comes"
- and that is dying. An horizon and just the limit of our sight.
Lift us up, Oh Lord, that we may see further.
Bishop Brent
1862 - 1926
Call to Worship
In a world that often causes us to be afraid…
We gather in the promise of god’s peace.
We come to be renewed by Christs love.
We open ourselves
To the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
During a time in history that often seems uncertain…
We gather in the promise of god’s peace.
We come to be renewed by Christs love.
We open ourselves
To the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
Living in the midst of great ecological change and challenge…
We gather in the promise of god’s peace.
We come to be renewed by Christs love.
We open ourselves
To the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
And trying to cope with the everyday stresses of modern life…
We gather in the promise of god’s peace.
We come to be renewed by Christs love.
We open ourselves
To the encouragement of the Holy Spirit
It's June! (sunday 14th, 2009)
The season of PRIDE and appreciation
Where the light shines late into the hour
illuminating even the darkest corners
Of overgrown and untended gardens.
We have woken, lifting our voice above a whisper
Silence no longer our companion
We will walk barefoot and dance to
The music which plays inside us
Its beckons us to follow, to reach out
And hold our beloved in the sunshine.
Call to Worship
As seed is scattered generously
In the hope of new growth,
So are we gathered,
Then sent by the generous and hopeful love of God.
And as plants take root deep within nourishing soils,
So are we invited
To find our lives in the very heart of God
Friends, be strengthened and encouraged
Let us open ourselves to the God
Who delights in our growth
As people of wisdom, spirit, and compassion.
Amen
Where the light shines late into the hour
illuminating even the darkest corners
Of overgrown and untended gardens.
We have woken, lifting our voice above a whisper
Silence no longer our companion
We will walk barefoot and dance to
The music which plays inside us
Its beckons us to follow, to reach out
And hold our beloved in the sunshine.
Call to Worship
As seed is scattered generously
In the hope of new growth,
So are we gathered,
Then sent by the generous and hopeful love of God.
And as plants take root deep within nourishing soils,
So are we invited
To find our lives in the very heart of God
Friends, be strengthened and encouraged
Let us open ourselves to the God
Who delights in our growth
As people of wisdom, spirit, and compassion.
Amen
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Tears
*lost my emotional hold today and began sobbing through the words i tried to say.
I usually try to come here each week and say something that i hope may touch your heart in some way. i am greatly honor to have the opportunity to do so. i am afraid however, that this week as i stand here... i have nothing.
I have walked with a heavy heart all week. Which is a bit ironic because i have been pondering on happiness this week. what it is, what it isn't and why wa all seem to be seeking it but never quite find it.
There is a quote from a character from The Hours. The Hours, if some of you haven't seen is a story about Virginia Woolf and several generations of interpretations of Virginia's work, Mrs. Dalloway. The character I quote is Clarrisa Vaugh.
Clarrisa says. "I remember one morning getting up at dawn, there was such a sense of possibility. You know, that feeling? And I remember thinking to myself, so THIS is the beginning of happiness. This is where it starts. And course, there will always be more" she stops for a moment and then said, "It never occurred to me it wasn't the beginning. It WAS happiness, it was THAT moment, RIGHT THEN." (end of quote)
I relate to this very much. Sometimes we look in the wrong place for happiness. sometimes we think happiness should look differently than what it actually does. And we don't stop, RIGHT THEN, IN THE MOMENT to understand that this feeling no matter howo fleeting , IS happiness. It is a small gift which is complete with love and contentment and joy. And we should hold on to those times and keep them close to our hearts until the next unexpect moment arrives, filling us again with that sense of possibility of having everything just within our grasp...
Call to Worship
Before the mystery that is God,
and in the sacred presence of one another;
we gather in faith and celebrate
the embrace of God's love.
Known and called as Christ's friends,
and drawn to the vision of a new way for the world;
we gather in faith and celebrate
the embrace of God's love.
Filled with the Spirit of peace,
and reborn to share the joy of life;
we gather in faith and celebrate
the embrace of God's love.
I usually try to come here each week and say something that i hope may touch your heart in some way. i am greatly honor to have the opportunity to do so. i am afraid however, that this week as i stand here... i have nothing.
I have walked with a heavy heart all week. Which is a bit ironic because i have been pondering on happiness this week. what it is, what it isn't and why wa all seem to be seeking it but never quite find it.
There is a quote from a character from The Hours. The Hours, if some of you haven't seen is a story about Virginia Woolf and several generations of interpretations of Virginia's work, Mrs. Dalloway. The character I quote is Clarrisa Vaugh.
Clarrisa says. "I remember one morning getting up at dawn, there was such a sense of possibility. You know, that feeling? And I remember thinking to myself, so THIS is the beginning of happiness. This is where it starts. And course, there will always be more" she stops for a moment and then said, "It never occurred to me it wasn't the beginning. It WAS happiness, it was THAT moment, RIGHT THEN." (end of quote)
I relate to this very much. Sometimes we look in the wrong place for happiness. sometimes we think happiness should look differently than what it actually does. And we don't stop, RIGHT THEN, IN THE MOMENT to understand that this feeling no matter howo fleeting , IS happiness. It is a small gift which is complete with love and contentment and joy. And we should hold on to those times and keep them close to our hearts until the next unexpect moment arrives, filling us again with that sense of possibility of having everything just within our grasp...
Call to Worship
Before the mystery that is God,
and in the sacred presence of one another;
we gather in faith and celebrate
the embrace of God's love.
Known and called as Christ's friends,
and drawn to the vision of a new way for the world;
we gather in faith and celebrate
the embrace of God's love.
Filled with the Spirit of peace,
and reborn to share the joy of life;
we gather in faith and celebrate
the embrace of God's love.
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