Featuring Aaron’s sermon from Sunday, a new recording from choral scholar Christina DeMaio, the second installment of our summer Vestry Member Spotlight series, celebratory news about the recent groundbreaking at Christ Church Portsmouth, plus links to several of our content clearinghouses for all your SJC content needs!
Featuring Rob’s sermon from Sunday, a new recording from the Parish Choir, the first installment of our summer Vestry Member Spotlight series, and our Summer Worship Schedule reminder, plus links to several of our content clearinghouses for all your SJC content needs!
Featuring Rob’s sermon from Sunday, a new recording from the Parish Choir, an invitation to participate in a Community Vigil around gun violence prevention on June 7, and our Summer Worship Schedule reminder, plus links to several of our content clearinghouses for all your SJC content needs!
Featuring Bishop Hirschfeld’s sermon from Sunday, a new recording from the Parish Choir, information on our Summer Schedule, beginning May 31, a note of Thanks to our ministry teams who have supported worship this program year, and an invitation to Boston-area choral ensemble VOICES 21C’s upcoming appearance at Concerts On The Hill, plus links to several of our content clearinghouses for all your SJC content needs!
Featuring Aaron’s sermon from Sunday, a new recording from the Cherub Choir, an invitation to Boston-area choral ensemble VOICES 21C’s upcoming appearance at Concerts On The Hill, an invitation to Baptism, plus links to several of our content clearinghouses for all your SJC content needs!
My point is: there is a heightened awareness of grace right now. And this week, I felt that grace because of the response that both I had and my peers had to my epic mom fail. That levity kept me going this week, I have to tell you. Life is pretty serious right now and it felt good to throw my hands up in the air and acknowledge the fact that I don't have it together right now. And, no one else does, either.
“Joy comes as a gift when you least expect it. At those fleeting moments you know why you were put here and what truth you serve. You may not feel giddy at those moments, you may not hear the orchestra’s delirious swell, or see flashes of crimson and gold, but you will feel a satisfaction, a silence, a peace—a hush. Those moments are the blessings and the signs of a beautiful life.”
It has been said that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Paul, formerly Saul, was accustomed to second chances. That’s a good thing because on Malta Paul was first thought to be a murderer. Why else would a viper have fastened on has arm? But things changed that morning. In a matter of a few hours, Paul went from deplorable to divine.
As Anne and Rob have quoted again and again (from a West African proverb), “When you pray, move your feet.” Jesus invites us to become beloved community, and to believe that our communities and nation can achieve that vision. The way we will achieve that vision is by practicing our faith, letting it form and shape our lives. We will have the opportunity on November 3rd.
I am more comfortable in my other “PRACTICE.” That is spreading good cheer and liveliness at my Mom’s Old Folks Home. My mom, whom some of you may remember from her many visits to Portsmouth is now 88 and has dementia. She lives in an assisted living home where I’d been able to visit her (nearly) daily.
This past week, I came across the following spiritual practice offered by Steven Crandell, the Director of Content and Communities for Spiritual Directors International. This practice is ‘inspired by the power of Held Evan’s intention to find and apply the balm of healing by standing firm for spiritual hospitality, by defending everyone’s right to dignity, respect and the freedom to find one’s own path to grace.’ I offer this practice to you. May you find it a blessing.
Finally, there is “practice” as used in the phrase “practice makes perfect.” Here, “practice” refers narrowly to conscious effort aimed at perfecting one’s execution of an action. Can we in this sense “practice” taking the steps on the way of Christ? Certainly we can and should work with purpose on those aspects of Christian practice that don’t come easily to us, that may never become habitual.
This year I find it necessary to break away from the news and the computer to remember how to laugh. Today was one of those days, a family hiking day up north. The day started as four individuals. During the ride up north we started to reconnect and had some laughs. By lunch we were a cohesive group. At the end, the kids were able to look up at the landmarks we had passed along the ridge and acknowledge their accomplishment. All I had to do was look around at the happy, (but tired), faces of my family to feel that I had accomplished my goal. We had all needed to laugh together.
I have been deeply moved by these stories, by them and the meaning each has found in their problems, by the unrecognized strengths, resilience, the depths of love and devotion, the rich and human tapestry of this journey. It is in listening to another’s lived experience I have had the opportunity to grow in connectedness in a time of distancing.
As my short-term memory improved, so did my long-term memory. A song, a smell, a sight would bring back an old memory. Sometimes I have an extremely clear memory from the past and I don't even know what triggered it. Almost like something brought me back to that moment, but I can't pinpoint what. The brain is mysterious and amazing. And God is also mysterious and amazing. (I love when science and religion share similarities!)
