This week’s contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taize from St Andrew’s Episcopal Church Seattle.
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taize. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756 with additional notes below:
“The Kingdom of God” and “Atme in Uns” are songs from the ecumenical Taize community in France. Copyright and all rights reserved by GIA/Les Presses de Taizé.
“Kyrie” and “Even in Sorrow” are original compositions. Music and lyrics by Kester Limner and Andy Myers, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY).
“Tis a Gift to Be Simple” – Traditional words and music from the American Shaker tradition, as found in the public domain.
Thank you for praying with us! www.saintandrewsseattle.org
by Sue Duby,
Ankle biters. I don’t know where Chuck and I first crafted that phrase or where it came from. We just know they are… and that we get bitten more often than we would dare care to admit.
It’s like my morning rounds in the garden to pull off those pesky Japanese beetles that all too quickly devour my roses. As I tip toe among the plants, I feel nothing. Until… five minutes later, back in the cool air conditioning, my legs itch like crazy. Tiny mosquitoes (I never see them!) craftily camp in low clumps of garden greens. The record to date… 10 welts per leg… all in one short round!
I smiled pondering this and realized that the phrase itself explains a lot. My ankles are down so low… almost to the ground. I don’t spend much time thinking about them and am generally unaware of how they are doing… unless, of course, I twist one and feel pain. I don’t stand watching my ankles in the garden, waiting for a mosquito, else I can’t get on with my beetle-grabbing duties. I guess it makes ankles a prime target!
I wish my only ankle biters were mosquitoes. A bit of bug spray or anti-itch cream would quickly take care of it. Sadly, the real ankle biters that get me are emotional and spiritual. Those unexpected “bites”, that suddenly jolt me into varied measures of discouragement, self-doubt or fear. The ones that lead me down a trail of not-so-great thoughts, before I’m even aware how I got there.
In this season, I’ve purposed to try new things, explore new joys and be bolder. I gave myself a lecture in the process: ”Don’t worry about how things turn out or where they will lead. Don’t worry what anyone else may think. Don’t rate your efforts… just enjoy the journey”. No problem… in theory!
I love flowers and I love creating. That led me to a delightful batch of YouTube videos on water color flowers. I set up a table by a sunny window, found some paints and brushes on sale, played quiet music, and mixed some happy colors. One session and I was hooked. I felt peace and joy. My creations made me smile and I even shared them with family and friends (not to get a rating, just to share my fun discovery). A few weeks down the road, the ankle biters hit.
One day, I excitedly held a brand new brush, ready to follow a video on summer flowers. A young mom, who clearly loved painting, began demonstrating steps for tulips. Ankle biter #1 (out of nowhere): “All these videos are from young gals. I’m not that… and I’ll never be as good.” I followed along until my tulips were complete. Ankle biter #2: “My tulips look like watermelons! I’ll never get this right.” Then I dared to turn off the video and try to create my own version of a lily. Ankle biter #3: “That’s a big orange mess. Doesn’t look much like the photo I copied!”. Suddenly, I felt it – that old battle with perfectionism (thought that one had been put to rest!). Ready to quit. My joy totally sapped. A weight of “work” (trying to make it right) replaced freedom to create.
I’ve been down this trail before… many times. Always the choice looms… to give in to the ankle biters and wallow in misery or remember what I’ve learned before, what’s true and move on with a smile. Some days I choose well. Other days, not so much.
Just a few months before, I’d exclaimed to a friend, “I know it’s in me, how God made me, and it just needs to come out. I don’t really care what it’s for or if anyone sees it, I just need to create”. No performance. No scoring results. No wondering what others might think. Just doing something that brought me joy. How very quickly ankle biters can fog what we know to be true.
Each of us are fearfully and wonderfully made – hand-crafted with love, affection, and purpose. (Psalm 139:14) “Fearfully” means with honor, reverence, and respect. The very notion! That God honors and respects me and did so when He created me. Not just “OK”, but made “wonderfully” – distinct, separated, and distinguished. That’s for all of us! Each unique, true wonders, designed by the only One who can perfectly design and create.
And that’s not all. There’s a little nudge at the beginning of that verse I tend to forget… ”I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (NIV). I know in my head what’s true, but do I actually stop to truly thank Him for crafting me the way He did (agreeing with Him in my heart)? Acknowledging His amazing work is life-giving… especially when that work is me!
I know ankle biters will always be lurking. However, I’ve tasted the gift of discovering how He made me and rediscovering truths to guide me back to a place of rest and joy. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty”(Psalm 91:1). I may feel those nips (and sometimes pay too much attention to them)… but I trust He’ll continue to strengthen the muscle that allows me to choose to dwell, rest, and continue tasting His joy in the unfolding journey of this life He’s given me.
Join us on September 29th at 9am PST for the Facebook Live session with Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin. The recording will be available on YouTube later today if you cannot join live.
I take a lot of photographs. I will see something that inspires me and take several shots. That’s the beauty of the phone! You don’t have to worry about using up film or making a mistake. You can keep what you like and leave the rest.
I use art and photography to inspire me to pray. It’s become a prayer practice. Art is a part of our thinplaceNASHVILLE gathering too. We use slides shows of art to pray with and we go to art museums and art exhibits and let the Holy Spirit speak to us through the different art pieces on display. This past week, I discovered a great resource for both individual and corporate use in worship. The Vanderbilt Divinity School already put together slide shows of art and scripture to go with the Sunday lectionary readings. I’ve used the art from their website before, but this past week was the first time we did a prayer meditation with the pre-made slide show. It was a fantastic addition to our gathering! The process of using art and/or looking at an object or photograph is called visio divina. You look at a photo, painting, or other visual item and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. This link will take you to a PDF with more details on the practice if you want them. For our time today, I’ve selected some of my own photos and one from the Vanderbilt Slide Show to inspire you to try out Visio Divina. You can also pray with the lectionary slide show for this week, Begin HERE
Look through the series of photos below and the one above. Which one do you notice first? Which one speaks to you?
Look at each photograph and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through it… LOOK FIRST.
What do you see? What do you notice? What is God’s invitation to you through this photograph?
AFTER YOU PICK YOUR PHOTO…
Then use the questions to help you pray or take time to answer the questions in your journal.
Are you feeling parked these days, like the truck in the photo above? Or, are you back on the road feeling overly busy?
What road is Jesus inviting you to try out? Or, do you need to stay parked and enjoy the view?
What if God is giving you the gift of the sunset every day, just for you? How does that make you feel?
michigan sunset
LOCK
How are you feeling locked out? What needs to be opened in your life? Talk to Jesus about this.
barbed wire
What pain are you feeling today? What pain or suffering in our world can you give to Jesus to carry for you? Pray for suffering places or people.
Often we focus on the barbed wire and not on the open field behind it… why is that?
Iona doorway
What is the new doorway you are being invited to walk through today? Are you willing to walk into new territory with Jesus?
Brazilian street artist, Eduardo Kobra, paints beautiful murals. This one is called “Looking for Peace”. How are you looking for peace these days? Who helps you find it? How can you be a peacemaker in your community?
Looking for Peace
Fall is in the air. What excites you about this new season? What inspires you? Ask Jesus for new inspiration.
fall gourds
The water refreshes, calms, or crashes against the beach. For many, the beach or being near water is a chance to be with God. Take time to remember a favorite time near water. What were the feelings and emotions? Take time to thank Jesus for the beauty of the place. Maybe you are feeling alone today, like this seagull, talk to Jesus about this. What can you learn from the beach or from the bird, the seagull?
seagull at the beach
Now your turn to take photos. Take time this week to get outside and take some photos. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you through what you notice along your walk. Take several photos throughout the week and then sit down and look through them. What do you notice? What is the invitation from Jesus? What colors or symbols stand out? Take time to be still and be grateful for the simple beauty that is all around you!
If it’s too wet or it’s just nasty weather, find an online art museum or go to a gallery and look at the art. Walk through and find one that speaks to you and stand or sit in front of it and allow God to speak to you.
Share what you notice and what you learn with a friend!
Art is a reflection of God’s creativity, and evidence that we are made in the image of God.
Francis Shaeffer
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
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by Rev Sheila Hamil,
I received the obituary of a former colleague via an email post the other day from the Diocesan office, which filled me with amazement and opened up a whole gamut of emotions in me.
She and I had both served in a church together for a few years, well over twenty years ago; she, as a reader and I as a curate. She was a very private person and fiercely independent, and I, being a schoolteacher, as well as a NSM part-time priest, was always too busy. We didn’t always see eye to eye on certain matters, but we were both hard workers, and content and eager to serve the congregation in our own separate ways.
But as I read this obituary, I discovered someone I wish I had known better; for here was a real gem of a person, a pure diamond. I could have learnt so much from her, and gained a much better perspective of the world around me, had we both chosen to chat in-depth.
I read in her obituary that she had had a distinguished professional career as a Consultant Anaesthetist at a top local hospital, for the Royal Army Medical Corps and the International Red Cross, including in Nepal, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Among her achievements, she was appointed the first female commander of a RAMC Unit. Her various activities were recognised through her appointment as Queen’s Honorary Surgeon and as Deputy Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear. In 1993 she was awarded the OBE for her humanitarian work with the Red Cross.
What a career! Such splendid service to humanity! I was ignorant of all this!
I had also missed out on remarkable stories of her faith and her courage, stories that I was only hearing for the first time when I attended her funeral the other day. A shell had once exploded 20 yards away from her as she worked in an operating theatre, and one of the walls nearest the blast had begun to collapse. The staff could barely see each other due to falling debris, and after a brief pause to allow the dust to settle, they all got on with the operation.
I so much needed to be there at her funeral, because I wanted to take that last chance to get as close as I could possibly get to her, to say sorry for not being there for her as a friend, and I wanted to pay her my respects, long overdue.
How I wish I could have got to know her in her living years.
Kathleen (Kate) Clarke: (11/11/1938 – 29/07/21) Rest in peace
I am more and more convinced in life that God places certain individuals alongside us, with totally opposite gifts, personalities, and spiritualities, so we can complement one another over time, and bring insight and depth to lives other than our own, in our time here on earth. But we don’t always see these fine qualities in each other, do we? We can be so blind.
Let’s hope, by that same token, we don’t come before God at our time of departure, hearing the words, “I never knew you!” (Matt 7.23) because we have never taken the time to really get to know him.
Photo by Mayron Oliveira on Unsplash
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Who but God would conceive an equinox?
September 22nd marks a Northern Hemisphere celebration. As if astronomically centered on “going halves,” we enter a sacred equipoise: ancient as time, vital as rain.
On this day our planet’s axis, normally tilted, shifts to 0° in relation to the sun.
Daytime and darkness balance.
________________________
Each will last roughly 12 hours.
Change beckons—both practical and spiritual. Whereas spring’s burgeoning energies urge us to seed and weed, autumn’s harvest and falling leaves invite us to reap and release.
Perhaps we prepare our gardens for winter, enacting a kind of closure.
It’s healing to embrace the annual exhale.
Yielding, we cede and shed.
Our tempo alters.
Rest ensues.
As seasonal pressures abate, some aspects of personal drive lessen. Overshadowed desires may emerge.
- Shelved dreams
- That postponed trip
- An orphaned brainchild
- A longing for contemplative solitude
Autumn’s bittersweet natural rhythms coincide with a lesser-known Christian feast day. On September 23rd the Orthodox Church honors the conception date of John the Baptist.
My all-too-visceral, first thoughts of John careen between camel hair tunics reeking of sweat and silt, Honey ‘n Bugs for breakfast, seven veils, and a bloodied sword.
But there’s also the Jordan, and the Voice, and the dove, descending.
John the vagabond Baptist, speaking of Jesus, said, “I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.”
Shoes are gifts I too often take for granted. They support us in our activities. They communicate something of who we are and what we choose. When I imagine the dusty sandals of Jesus, I want to emulate John’s example, align myself with his mindset, humbly walk out my faith, day after day.
“He must increase,” John also said of Jesus, “but I must decrease.” (John 3:30, ESV)
The equinoxes, whether spring or fall, send us to our closets. We switch up our footwear. We unearth or stow our sandals and flip flops. We slip into heels for a date or clogs for work in the garden; we double-knot work boots or cinch the laces of dress shoes. We adhere or peel back Velcro on sneakers. We buckle galoshes and rain boots.
Donning shoes requires a change in posture, a bowed head. We stoop or squat. Even if we sit or stand, we lower our heads to align each foot with the opening. This small gesture of surrender moves us between relative stillness and ensuing activity, perhaps several times a day. Done attentively, might this prime the spirit for devotion?
Lately, this prayer is helping me to more fully enter the pause . . .
S Slow me down; show me Your way.
H Hold my hand and help me obey.
O Oversee all I do and say,
E Ever my Savior, come what may.
Having done this, I can “Stand… feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6: 15).
And therein grace aligns with human intention—not by halves, fleetingly balanced—but wholly given each day of the year.
***
For further reflection: Why not lace on your favorite walking shoes, then meander and muse?
In this moment, what is essential?
What season am I in, personally?
What currently tabled expression, unique to me, awaits my engagement?
What needs to be scaled back or pared away to release it?
How else might I more fully inhabit this season?
joan mm EHuyA oUCok unsplash
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post and photos by June Friesen,
A day has been set aside for all of us in the world to celebrate gratitude. It is interesting that in a world of beauty and bounty in so many ways for so many, we struggle with what I call an ‘attitude of gratitude.’ Over the past twenty years of my life, I have been repeatedly challenged at how often I quickly become ungrateful in my own life. Psalm 42 is one of my ‘go to Psalms’ and in the King James version it begins, ‘As the hart/deer pants for water so my soul thirsteth after Thee O God….’ A discipline that I was encouraged to develop through a book I was reading years ago was the key to my own development of gratitude along with Psalm 42.
A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek;
I want to drink God, deep drafts of God.
I’m thirsty for God-alive.
I wonder, “Will I ever make it— arrive and drink in God’s presence?”
I’m on a diet of tears— tears for breakfast, tears for supper.
All day long people knock at my door,
Pestering, “Where is this God of yours?”4 These are the things I go over and over,
emptying out the pockets of my life.
I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd, right out in front,
Leading them all, eager to arrive and worship,
Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—
celebrating, all of us, God’s feast!5 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God— soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God.6-8 When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you,
From Jordan depths to Hermon heights, including Mount Mizar.
Chaos calls to chaos, to the tune of whitewater rapids.
Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers crash and crush me.
Then God promises to love me all day, sing songs all through the night!
My life is God’s prayer.9-10 Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God, “Why did you let me down?
Why am I walking around in tears, harassed by enemies?”
They’re out for the kill, these tormentors with their obscenities,
Taunting day after day, “Where is this God of yours?”11 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God— soon I’ll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He is my God.
When I think of gratitude my heart is overwhelmed with so many thoughts, so much bounty, so many gifts God has given. However, along with that, I am also reminded of many who may not enjoy the bounty I have around me whether in nature, in a secure home, in daily provisions being met and they are often thankful for just waking up alive each morning. There are those whose bodies are handicapped sometimes from birth and sometimes from situations that arise along their life pathway. Yet I am amazed as well as blessed at their attitudes of gratefulness. A mother who is blind enjoys the touch and sound of her infant and child as they grow; a father who is handicapped, in a wheelchair, is able to have his child sit in his lap and they go for a ride, for families who have been separated for months because of travel restrictions caused by Covid who have been able to connect through zoom, face time, and maybe like I did – preparing fun parcel gifts to send in the mail. Life really is so much about attitude and it is an attitude of ungratefulness that leads one quickly into despair, anger, and bitterness which blocks one from embracing the beauty that is present, as little or small as it may be from time to time. I have shared with you here several photos of natural beauty that I have had the privilege of enjoying over the past weeks/years. Below is a varied bounty of food (limited as it is) that we enjoy not only because it is available to eat but because God has created us with a sense of smell and a sense of taste.
LIVING WITH A GRATEFUL SPIRIT
Life is a gift from the beginning –
That first breath, that first cry, as the heart beats and breath fills the lungs –
Life begins with a pulsating heart that courses blood throughout the body
Nourishing the cells;
Life continues on as nourishment fills the body with energy and growth;
Life grows into fulfillment day by day, year by year
As one learns to live and embrace the moment at hand, one by one.
Gratitude is a gift that one learns when embracing a thankful spirit –
A ‘thank you’ for a meal or a treat;
A ‘thank you’ for a flower or a gift;
A ‘thank you’ for a walk in the rain,
A ‘thank you’ for the fall of a snowflake on one’s tongue,
A ‘thank you’ for the crunch of a cracker or chip,
A ‘thank you’ for a warm fire on a chilly day,
A ‘thank you’ for the breeze on a warm, warm day,
A ‘ thank you’ for a hug as one heaves a heavy sigh,
A ‘thank you’ __________________…..
So, in a world where we take all good things for granted
Until they are gone or nearly gone –
How does one carry a spirit of gratefulness within – and without?
It comes with a change of heart or what I call an attitude adjustment,
When it is extremely hot outside, I am grateful for a home with air conditioning/fans;
When it is raining outside, I am grateful for the new and continued growth it will bring;
When I sit down to eat I am thankful for my sense of smell and of taste;
When I miss my family who is far away, I am thankful for the telephone, letters, and parcels;
When I have to say that forever goodbye to someone dear,
I may weep but I also choose to embrace the friendship and memories we shared;
Today I choose to be grateful for each of you who also chooses to be grateful;
Together we can not only celebrate, but we can invite others on this wonderful journey;
You, I and they will all become more grateful, especially grateful for each other.
June Friesen 2021
(The book where I learned of a gratitude journal is Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach)
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by Christine Sine,
Can you imagine if the whole world took a day to say thank you? Tomorrow, September 21st is World Gratitude Day. This celebration began in Hawaii in 1965 and was adopted by the United Nations but unfortunately, it is not as yet a day that has become universally celebrated.
What do we all have to be thankful for, you may wonder? In a world that is still suffering terribly from the effects of COVID and the economic impact on our lives, the aftermath of hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires, our fears about climate change, and our uncertain future; how do we come together as a global community and say thank you?
My new mantra “I thank you God for the gift of life, a wondrous gift so freely given” and which I will share more about at our Gearing Up for a Season of Gratitude online retreat on Saturday, revolutionized my life. Each morning as I sit in my sacred space with my cup of tea in my hand, I recite these words and relish the thoughts that come to me. I am amazed at what has welled up from the centre of my being. God has placed so many gratitudes within me that need to be expressed.
One day I found myself focusing on the new opportunities that each day brings – opportunities to appreciate the beauty and incredible diversity of our world, and to share the love and compassion of God, and to enjoy the creativity that God placed within me. The following day I gave thanks for the organizations Tom and I support that help us fulfill our desire for justice and equality and sustainability in this world. I am so grateful that our concerns for this world and its inhabitants are shared by so many others who are much better able than we are to respond.
On another day, after reading @blackliturgies on Instagram, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the rich and varied gifts that God has placed within each person in this world. Then there was the day that I sat and basked in gratitude for the memories of my childhood adventures, all evoked by watching the movie Swallows and Amazons on Amazon Prime. I grew up with this series of 12 books but Swallows and Amazons, the first in the series, was always my favourite. I entered vicariously into the adventures of others and it stirred into being a life lived in the open spaces of my imagination, a gift that even now spurs my creativity.
Can you see the trend here? This focus on the wondrous gift of life took my gratitudes from “me” to “we” and convinced me that gratitude needed to embrace the whole world with words of thanks and with actions of support and provision.
Evidently, there are 17 nations in the world that hold thanksgiving celebrations. It is not confined to the U.S. and Canada, though many of these were influenced by the American celebrations, as this article documents. Sadly, what began in many places as national celebrations tended to become more family-oriented private events. So today I encourage you to think about one small thing you could do to help make September 21st into a day of worldwide gratitude. Perhaps this Thanksgiving dinner blessing written by Adam Lee, an atheist will help:
As we come together to share this meal, let us first remember how it came to us and be thankful to the people who made it possible.
This food was born from the bounty of the earth, in warm sunlight, rich earth, and cool rain.
May it nourish us, in body and mind, and provide us with the things that are good for living.
We are grateful to those who cultivated it, those who harvested it, those who brought it to us, and those who prepared it.
May its consumption bring about the pleasures of friendship, love and good company.
Join us on September 29th at 9am PST for the Facebook Live session with Christine Sine and Lilly Lewin. The recording will be available on YouTube later today if you cannot join live.