Friday, October 30, 2009

Your love has brought me to my knees Oct 29 bfyj let by Heidi Jakoby

Below are the Reflections and prayers from last nights bread for your journey.

First Reflection: Taken from the Eulogy of Eunice Kennedy Shriver written by Maria Shriver (follow this link for the complete eulogy http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/08/maria_shivers_e.html )


Now if you had told me a few years ago that at the end of my mother's life she and I would sit in a room and just be, I would have said you were crazy. If you had told me that at the age of 52, I would finally get up the nerve to crawl into bed with my mother, hold her, and tell her that I love her, I would have said you were nuts. And if you had told me that Mummy and I would write poetry together, I would know for sure you that you'd lost your mind. But all those things really happened, as Mummy learned to let go. At the end of her life, she was strong and vulnerable, she was tired and tireless, determined and also ready to surrender to God. She did it all, she lived it all, and she loved us all.

To be honest, I think it's impossible for each of us to think about our life without Mummy. It's interesting, as we've talked amongst us the last couple of days, each of us felt like an only child. Each of us felt as though our mother was our best friend. Each of us talked to her every day, and sometimes more than once. And of course, I think if I said to my mother, which I often did, "I can't go on without you, I don't know how to live without you," she'd say, "You're fine, I've raised you well, now get out there, I don't want to hear one more yip, get going, your brothers will be nice to you."

And so I will, we all will, get up and get going.

But I wanted to leave you with this little poem that my mother and I wrote together in a hospital room in Boston. I read it to her several times, and she liked it, a lot. It has no name but I thought she would like me to share it with you. It goes like this:

Thank you Mummy, for giving me the breath of life.

Thank you for giving me a push over and over again.

Thank you for doing your best.

Here we are, you and me.

Now it’s you, needing the breath of life.

Now it’s you, needing the push.

You did it to me, let me do it for you.

Your love has brought me to my knees, I cannot breathe without you, I cannot think without you, I am lost without you.

Here we are, you and me, the clouds are gone, the sky is clear.

You are the star in my sky, you are the music in my heart.

Do you hear it? Listen. Listen. Mummy, you are the trumpet of my life.

Prayer: Loving God, as we mourn for all those who have taught us so much over the years, as we miss them , help us to remember their life, their smile and the lessons they taught us. Be with all those who are feeling lonely and let them know your love. Amen

Second Reflection:

Soul Cakes by Sting off his Winter’s Night CD Just released
http://www.onlylyrics.com/hits.php?grid=7&id=1038045

Prayer: God of the world thank you for the many souls who have come before us for their faithfulness and love. Thank you for your love and care in each of our relationships. Help us to honor those who came before us by teaching those who will come after us about your love. Amen

Third Reflection: John 11:32-44 (The Message)

29-32The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died."

33-34When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, "Where did you put him?"

34-35"Master, come and see," they said. Now Jesus wept.

36The Jews said, "Look how deeply he loved him."

37Others among them said, "Well, if he loved him so much, why didn't he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man."

38-39Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone."

The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, "Master, by this time there's a stench. He's been dead four days!"

40Jesus looked her in the eye. "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

41-42Then, to the others, "Go ahead, take away the stone."

They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me."

43-44Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.

Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose."

Prayer: Loving God we thank you for your son and the example he set for us. We thank you for his humanness and his deep feelings for others. Grant us wisdom and strength to follow you and to celebrate the gift of each day with joy. In the name of your son Jesus Christ we pray. Amen


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Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Does the Truth Set You Free? Reflections and Prayers form Oct 22 led by Heidi Jakoby

First Reflection: The perception of truth

By: Anita Atina

Fact exists, truth needs to be believed

My truth is important to me

I also understand that

Your truth is important, to you



My life is not just a single truth

But a village of many kinds of truth

The version you believe, may be different from mine

And both versions are true, to each of us



The duality of truth

Fights for resolution

And yet, coexists

Quietly, when it needs to



Funny concept this truth

Does fact indeed exist?

And do we really need,

To believe the truth?



Are both just empty shadows

We chase, to play our role

In a divine comedy

For an audience of one



Addition to this poem by: Don Tanner

But if the truth exists

And I a lie believe

I'd rather know the truth and hurt

Than live a lie and seithe



For if I think of four as truth

And two plus two is three

Then the truth is not within me

And I can never be set free.....



Prayer: Eternal God, you have been the hope and joy of many generations, and who in all ages has given men the power to seek you and in seeking you to find you, grant me, I pray you, a clearer vision of your truth, a greater faith in your power, and a more confident assurance of your love. Amen (John Baillie)

Second Reflection:Tell The Truth by Eric Clapton and Bobby Whitlock

Tell the truth. tell me who’s been fooling you?

Tell the truth. who’s been fooling who?


There you sit there, looking so cool

While the whole show is passing you by.

You better come to terms with your fellow men soon, cause...



The whole world is shaking now. can’t you feel it?

A new dawn is breaking now. can’t you see it?



Tell the truth. tell me who’s been fooling you

Tell the truth. who’s been fooling who?



It doesn’t matter just who you are,

Or where you’re going or been.

Open your eyes and look into your heart.



The whole world is shaking now. can’t you feel it?

A new dawn is breaking now. can’t you see it?

I said see it, yeah, can’t you see it?

Can’t you see it, yeah, can’t you see it?

I can see it, yeah.


Tell the truth. tell me who’s been fooling you

Tell the truth. who’s been fooling who?

Hear what I say, ’cause every word is true.

You know I wouldn’t tell you no lies.

Your time’s coming, gonna be soon, boy.

Chorus

Prayer: Forgive us, O Christ, for all our wanderings. Forgive us for not listening to your voice calling us into right ways. Forgive us for our complaining and our worrying that have made us lose trust in you. Forgive us for anger and selfishness and for greed. For all these we are sorry and pray that they may be taken from us. Amen (A. Murray Smith)

Third Reflection: John8:31-36 NRSV
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ 33They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, “You will be made free”?’

34 Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there for ever. 36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Prayer: Almighty God, gracious Lord, we than you that your Holy Spirit renews the church in every age. Pour out your Holy Spirit on your faithful people. Keep them steadfast in your word, protect and comfort them in times of trial, defend them against all enemies of the gospel, and bestow on the church your saving peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen (Bread for the Day 2008)


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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Readings and Prayers for Oct. 15, 2009

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first readingAwareness  by Joyce Rupp

Every day I am offered the tremendous gift of sipping from the mystery of life, tasting the exquisite beauty in what the universe offers me from the vast cup of the cosmos. And in the midst of this beauty, I am also invited to hear the groan of suffering that arises from our bleeding and wounded planet…

…Daily I must set out, again and again, to have an open mind and a compassionate heart. Daily I must perk up my external senses and commune with my internal ones, as well. The cosmos holds out her cut of life to me, filled with invisible packets of energy. I need only respond with a desire and an intention to receive. It is then that I enter into the cosmic dance with awareness and gratitude, and hear again the inner voice urging me toward oneness.

from The Cosmic Dance: An Invitation to Experience Our Oneness by Joyce Rupp, pp. 12 and 33.

 Amazing Creator, you invite us to open our eyes and really SEE, to perk up our ears and really LISTEN… not just when we’re standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon or listening to the ocean’s ebbing symphony. You invite us also to pay attention in the normal everyday moment, with the sights and sounds we take for granted… the wonders of technology, the sweetness of the oxygen we breathe, the awesomeness of life lived in communion with you… Speak to us now of your wonders.  Refresh in us the sense of awe that  we so easily lose... not because we deserve it, not because of who we are, but because of who you are.  In your name we pray... amen.



second reading: Mark 10:35-45

35James and John, Zebedee's sons, came up to him. "Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us."

36"What is it? I'll see what I can do."

37"Arrange it," they said, "so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left."

38Jesus said, "You have no idea what you're asking. Are you capable of drinking the cup I drink, of being baptized in the baptism I'm about to be plunged into?"

39-40"Sure," they said. "Why not?" Jesus said, "Come to think of it, you will drink the cup I drink, and be baptized in my baptism. But as to awarding places of honor, that's not my business. There are other arrangements for that."

41-45When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. "You've observed how godless rulers throw their weight around," he said, "and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It's not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage."

from Eugene Peterson’s The Message


 Gotta love these guys, God, these friends of yours named James and John! They totally miss the boat, but through Jesus, they end up showing us the way. God, help us see how we take Jesus for granted, how we keep on asking for more when we already have so much. Help us to see how we search for recognition… power… greatness… and lead us to find our greatness in you. In your name we pray… amen.



third reading: The Call to Downward Mobility  by Kenneth Carder

The cup from which Jesus drank is self-emptying love, the giving of one’s own life for others. The baptism with which he was baptized is a burial of the old world with its power games and the rising of God’s reign of justice, generosity and joy. This is downward mobility.

The world’s image of greatness is hierarchical, with the greatest at the pinnacle of the pyramid and God hovering over the top. The closer one gets to the pinnacle, the closer one is to greatness and to the image of God. Success, upward mobility and being served are signs of faithfulness to a hierarchical god.

The way of Jesus leads in another direction. (Henri) Nouwen writes: "The way of the Christian leader is not the way of upward mobility in which the world has invested so much, but the way of downward mobility ending on the cross. . . . It is not a leadership of power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest."

from “The Call to Downward Mobility” by Kenneth L. Carder, http://www.christiancentury.org/.

 Dear Teacher Jesus, it is so tempting to buy into our world’s notions of what “the good life” is… and what it means to have power…  and what it means to be close to you. Teach us how to be downwardly mobile, Jesus, because without you we can’t do it. Teach us how to empty ourselves of all of our dead-end values, so we can embrace the value of true servanthood, of serving out of the deep well of gratitude to you. In your name we pray… amen.


Wednesday, October 14, 2009

We Are One

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For a taste of Joyce Rupp's poetry, here's an exerpt from "We Are One":

with an eye as fresh and delicate as birth,
sneak a peek as each pulsing part of life
comes dancing, whirling, weaving,
secret neurons, veiled photons, hidden electrons,
whirling, skipping, pirouetting,
forming a cirlce of oneness with each other.

if your ear is keen enough, you will hear
their insistent, silent symphony,
moving freely in chasubles of beauty.

receive the music of their secret unity
as they glide within each other's life,
unaware of barriers built by static minds.

slip off the glaucoma of your heart
and revel in this signal beauty
dancing passionately
in the universe, and trembling in each atom.

from The Cosmic Dance:  An Invitation to Experience Our Oneness, by Joyce Rupp and Mary Southard



Friday, October 9, 2009

...with each gift that you share, you may heal and repair...

Here are the readings and prayers used by Dustin Wright for Bread for your journey, this week.

1st Reading: Mark 10: 17-31 (New Living Translation)


17As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good. 19But to answer your question, you know the commandments: You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. You must not cheat anyone. Honor your father and mother.”

20“Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”

21Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!” 24This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children, it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. 25In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

26The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.

27Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

28Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.

29“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, 30will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life. 31But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.”



Prayer: contemplation over - Stephen Delopoulos - Another Day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qivWv0Ij7Yw

2nd Reading: excerpt from A Generous Orthodoxy, by Brian D. McLaren (pgs. 238 – 239)

God sent Jesus into the world with a saving love, and Jesus sends us with a similar saving love- love for the fatherless and widows, the poor and forgotten to be sure, but also for all God’s little creatures who suffer from the same selfish greed and arrogance that oppress vulnerable humans. The same forces that hurt widows and orphans, minorities and women, children and the elderly, also hurt the songbirds and trout, the ferns and old-growth forests: greed, impatience, selfishness, arrogance, hurry, anger, competition, irreverence- plus a theology that cares for souls but neglects bodies, that focuses on eternity in heaven but abandons history on earth.



Prayer: “A Prayer for Vision,” author unknown

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves; when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little; when we arrived safely because we have sailed to close to shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life. Stir us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen.



3rd Reading: lyrics from Messages, by Xavier Rudd

Xavier Rudd - Messages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3heVPCv3AU


So now come sit down

Will you talk with me now

Let me see through your eyes

Where there is so much light

We are biding our time

For these myths to unwind

For these changes we will confront



So please beware

With every place that you had

Look to your soul

For the things that you know

For the trees that we see

Can not forever breathe

With the changes they will confront



CHORUS:

You know some people they just won't understand

no I just won't understand

These things

Thank you for your message but I don't understand

no I just won't understand

These things



For this sacred land

It has seen many hands

It has wealth and gold

Yet it is fragile and old

And all the greedy souls

Just don't care to know

Of the changes it will confront



So speak out loud

Of the things you are proud

And if you love this coast

Then keep it clean as it hopes

'Cause the way that it shines

May just dwindle with time

With the changes it will confront



CHORUS



So hold nice and close

I want to get to your soul

So that when it is cold

You won't feel so alone

'Cause the roads that you take

May just crack and break

With the changes you will confront



With each gift that you share

You may heal and repair

With each choice you make

You may help someone's day

Well I know you are strong

May your journey be long

And now I wish you the best of luck

Well I know you are strong

May your journey be long

And now I wish you the best of luck.



CHORUS


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Saturday, October 3, 2009

Re-respecting teh Dissed Readings and Prayers

Readings and prayers selected by Kari Keyl

First Reading: Grounded and Moving by Richard Rohr


Jesus truly was dangerous. He was creating a following with a kind of thinking that was much more on the side of inclusiveness than exclusiveness.... Jesus is always moving the boundaries out while still respecting the center. That's the key to wisdom: being grounded in the center and still, from that deep foundation, knowing how to move out.

Source: Jesus' Plan for a New World

Prayer: Gathering God, as we now get into your words and the creative words of others, help us to reach deep into our center… and find you there. Grounded in your all-inclusive love, we look to Jesus as the one to lead us forward and outward… into dangerous territory, exciting territory… where old walls come down and new challenges enflame our passions. In your name we pray… amen.

Second Reading: Mark 10:2-16

1-2 From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, "Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?"

3Jesus said, "What did Moses command?" 4They answered, "Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her."

5-9Jesus said, "Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart."

10-12When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: "A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery."

13-16The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them.

from Eugene Peterson’s The Message

Prayer: O God, these words of Jesus about divorce sound harsh and unyielding. Help us dig beneath the surface to find the gems, the chunks of wisdom that speak not only to our concerns about marriage and divorce, but also to our desire that all your people would be respected and beloved. In your name we pray… amen.

Third Reading: Let love be real by Michael Forster

Let love be real, in giving and receiving,

without the need to manage and to own;

a haven free from posing and pretending,

where every weakness may be safely known.

Give me your hand, along the desert pathway,

give me your love wherever we may go:

as God loves us, so let us love each other,

with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.



Let love be real, not grasping or confining,

that strange embrace that holds yet sets us free;

that helps us face the risk of truly living,

and makes us brave to be what we might be.

Give me your strength when all my words are weakness,

give me your love in spite of all you know:

as God loves us, so let us love each other,

with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.



Let love be real, with no manipulation,

no secret wish to harness or control;

let us accept each other's incompleteness,

and share the joy of learning to be whole.

Give me your hope through dreams and disappointments,

give me your trust when all my failings show:

as God loves us, so let us love each other,

with no demands, just open hands and space to grow.

In memoriam: Reverend Eric Forster, 1911-2000

Prayer: Listening One among us, the words of this poet beckon us to dwell in your kind of love, admitting our weakness and drawing from your strength. As we think about all your people who are difficult to love, people we give labels to, those we don’t take seriously… break down our walls, piece by piece, as we confess our prejudices. And God, as we think about how we ourselves are pre-judged and marginalized, bring healing to our aching souls. Plant in us the ability to forgive and truly love those who hurt us. In your name we pray… amen.


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