St. James E-Newsletter for October 12, 2005
Pax et Bonum

The weekly E-Newsletter and Online Worship Resource from St. James Parish

Gratitude is the memory of the heart; therefore forget not to say often, ‘I have all I have ever enjoyed.’
                                                                                        L.M. Child

Loving God,
May I take on the mind and heart of Christ,
That I may hear your call for my life
And embrace your world through
My prayer, my work, and my life with others,
In Jesus Christ,

AMEN    


Letting Go – again
    beginning – again.
            Yesterday at a retreat I attended with Debra, I was reminded of a small devotional on the Rule of St. Benedict which was given to the vestry by Leslie Heitz.  The name of the book is “Always we begin again.”  Truly, this spiritual journey, this quest that we are on is a series of moments of letting go, and beginning again.  The theme is echoed in our liturgical calendar, in our prayer practices of meditation and contemplation, and reflects our experiences with every day life in this world.  Sitting in a retreat house in Germantown, we were given the option of using a rock as an aid to silence and meditation, placing our prayers, our concerns, our worries “on the rock” with the intention of giving the rock back to the earth, and along with it, those things we need to let go of.  I was amazed at how much I wanted to hold on to this rock I chose!  I liked the way it felt in my hand.  I enjoyed looking at its unique shape, and somehow this little inanimate object was comforting.  When time came to let go of this rock, I wanted to hide it in my pocket and take it home!  Already, in a matter of hours, this little rock had taken on meaning, and I didn’t want to let it go.
    I did finally.  I don’t miss the rock.  It was a rock, after all.  But in that exercise I rediscovered how easily we can hold on to things.   
        As we experience autumn, as we look toward Advent, what is God asking us to let go of?  What is it that we hold on to so tightly that we fear losing our control?  Where, and how are we to begin again?  What is God saying in this change of season?  Are we listening?




Our real journey in life is interior;
It is a matter of growth, deepening,
and of an ever greater surrender
to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts.
Never was it more necessary to respond to that action.
                                                                            Thomas Merton





Debra’s Midweek Meditation

"...You turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God."

From 1Thes.1:1-10

These are Paul's words to a small, afflicted community in Thessalonica, about 100 miles west of Philippi.


 
This picture gives us a sense of the road that Paul took to travel from one city to another.  It is called the Via Egnatia.

As we read Paul's letters we get a sense of journeying.  Paul seems to be in constant motion, forging ahead even while remembering those with whom he has spent time.

The journey is, of course, an important symbol in the spiritual life.  

We are going somewhere.  Travelers have to get ready, to pack and to leave some
things behind.

What will we leave behind?
The Thessalonians left behind their pagan idols.
Leaving behind idols in their world was dangerous business.  Rome expected their citizens to have an allegiance to the deities which inhabited each city.  Thessalonica was home to Roma, the goddess which symbolized Rome itself.

It is no less frightening to leave behind our idols.  We worship them in song and dance and pay homage to them, sometimes with our very lives.

What are these idols?
Each of us will be able to identify our own, but in general our idols are those things which block our ability to love freely the True God.

The True God is the once that has created us and sustains us.
The True God is the one who wants the best for us.
The True God is the one who cries out for us to "come home" again.
The True God is the Living God.

What do you need to leave behind?

Blessings,
Debra



Daily Morning Prayer

http://www.missionstclare.com/english/index.html

If the link doesn’t open, highlight it, click copy, and then paste it into your web server address line.

A NEW site for Morning Prayer comes from within our Diocese.  Dr. Chip Lee, from Western Maryland, had developed online services of morning prayer, evening prayer, and compline, with music and Dr. Lee’s sonorous voice as guide.  Morning Prayer can be found at:


http://www.episcopalchurchingarrettcounty.org/morning_prayer.htm


Oh God, help me to see as far as I can and then
Trust you with all beyond my sight;
I ask to know your will and way,
And for your strength to do and to follow it,
Day by day.
                                            contributed by Alice Ober

This Week at St. James

Today:  Bishop Rabb visits the Academy

Friday:  Newsletter Deadline
Sunday:  Holy Eucharist in the Susan Tucker Moore Room
                  9:00 Men’s Bible Study, Parish Library
                 10:15  Adult Bible Study, Parish Library
Sunday – Tuesday: Charlie+ and Loree+ at Clergy Conference in Ocean City

Announcements/Questions -

   It was suggested at Vestry that we create a data base of our college students, so that we can find ways for St. James to stay in touch with them while they are away at school.  One way to do that is to send this newsletter.  Other ways will follow.  Can you send your son or daughter’s college email address to me, so that I can begin to create a data base?  Let me know also if your college student would like to receive our e-newsletter.



Prayers ETC.

Those in need of healing and their families:
Chloe           Sean N.             Nancy B.            David W.            Ellie           Charlie M.          Joan B.             Phil O.         Barbara         Debbie
Jack H.        Ginny C.            Sally C.              Charles               Heather, JB, Chase & Sandy

Prayers for our seminarian Laura, and her husband Lyle.
Prayers for all wounded soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in our military hospitals
Prayers for those who are soon to be deployed, and for those who return.

IN CLOSING:

Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me,

And that thou biddest me come to thee,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am: thou wilt receive; wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,
Because thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
                                                                 Hymn 693, Hymnal 1982

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to thee, so guide our minds,

So fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly thine,

Utterly dedicated unto thee; and then use us, we pray thee, as thou wilt,
And always to thy glory and the welfare of thy people;
Through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  AMEN


Pax et Bonum,

Loree+

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