Pax et Bonum

The Online worship resource for St. James Parish

August 5, 2009

Meditation is the soul’s perspective glass,
Whereby, in her long removes,
She discerneth God,
As if he were nearer at hand.
---Feltham---
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his
disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith,
that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives
and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever. Amen.

Evermore Give us This Bread

Recently, I acquired some sourdough starter, and have just begun experimenting with making sourdough bread. I made some not-so-good pancakes, and some better bread, but I am a long way from perfecting this complicated art.

Using sourdough requires a long, cold rise. It requires time and patience, two things that seem in short supply these days. But the end result is worth the wait. Eating sourdough bread is a sensory experience, complete with delicious smell, taste, and crusty feel.

This week’s gospel comes from Jesus’ discourse in John in which he describes himself as the bread of life. Bread has come into disfavor over the years, as many of us have tried to live a lifestyle that includes less carbohydrates. We forget that bread is a nutritious food; indeed, for the majority of the world, bread is still the staple of the diet.

Jesus likened himself to living bread. Living, like the sourdough starter in my refrigerator, as it ferments and changes; as it needs to be fed, and watered, in order to thrive. A living entity that, though small, becomes the catalyst to create bread that feeds many.

We all need this living bread – we need a steady diet of Jesus, the living bread – in communion, in fellowship with one another, and in our own personal walk with God. We need the Holy Spirit’s ministrations working in us as much as that loaf of bread needs the leaven within it; it feeds us, just as bread feeds the world.

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down
from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world:
Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in
him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever. Amen.

Greetings from New Mexico!

Red Rocks, Blue skies, the sound of hummingbirds, and still quiet of star studded skies.

These are some of the things that have made my time in New Mexico feel like a deep plunge in a healing pool of water.

I wrote a lot about healing in the mid-week meditation before I came to New Mexico little realizing how very deep my own need to breath and rest was. I spent last week at Ghost Ranch stimulated and inspired by the teaching of Philip Newell and the wonderful liturgical and pastoral presence of his dear wife Alli.

We sang morning songs as the sun came over the Mesa, and we sang evening songs as the sun lowered and the moon rose. We sang songs of praise and grief and love for God's creation and his Son Jesus.

Now I am at a Casita along the river Chama. I have a dog and cat companion for walks and morning prayers. There is a cool breeze which blows from the river at night and I am rocked to sleep by the sounds of crickets and the ringing of the cottonwood leaves.

You are in my thoughts as I write this and I pray that whatever your summer is bringing you, you are finding some time for silence and praise, some time for seeing beauty and knowing your self to be a reflection of all that God has created.

Blessings,
Debra

This Week at St. James

Prayers Etc.

For those on our prayer list:

For Matt Rogers, our postulant
For those who are deployed and their families.

Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to your never-failing care and love, for this life and the life to come, knowing that you are doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN (BCP, p.831)

In Closing:

Lord Jesus Christ,
You said that you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Help us not to stray from you,
For you are the Way;
Nor to distrust you,
For you are the Truth;
Nor to rest on any other than you,
As you are the Life.
You have taught us what to believe,
What to do, what to hope,
And where to take our rest.
Give us grace to follow you, the Way,
To learn from you, the Truth,
And to live in you, the Life.
---Desiderius Erasmus---

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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