The most lost day of all is the day on which we do not
laugh.
Nicolas Chamfort
Our cares we can cast on thee,
Then Thou carest for
us.
How can we be troubled about the future road,
Since it belongs to
Thee?
How can we be troubled where it leads,
Since it finally but leads
to
Thee!
John
Henry Newman
Today is the commemoration of the Faithful Departed, known as All Soul’s Day
in the Catholic Church. In the Catholic tradition, those who have led
exemplary lives are remembered on All Saints’ Day, a holy day of obligation.
On All Soul’s, they remember those who have died who are in Purgatory.
As Episcopalians, we remember the Faithful Departed today – with no
distinction between those destined for “purgatory” and those destined for
heaven.
Somewhere along the line, in her later
years, someone introduced her to CS Lewis, and to his Narnia books in
particular. Around that time, she began to speak of her faith as being a
relationship with a very real God. She smiled. Sometimes she even
laughed. Her art began to express what was going on inside – a change from
an outward religious observance, to an inward knowledge that she was loved.
We talked about faith, about books, about God’s love. She taught me
to paint. She seemed gentler, somehow, and I was no longer frightened of
her.
As I write this today, I remember one faithful person in
my family, my paternal grandmother, Gladys C. Kinney. The other day I
found two small booklets that were hers, one called “springs of humor” and one
called “springs of joy.” These tiny books hold a number of quotes and
prayers that are inspirational, and are so much of what my grandmother stood
for.
She was a difficult person to live with, from
what I hear from my father; exacting, puritanical in her religious
observance.
Yet, she was an artist, who studied at
the Chicago Institute of Art. She painted amazing things from California
seascapes to crazy abstracts, and then named them the most unimaginable names
possible. It was as though her ability to create was only in what was
visual. She was a strange amalgam of creativity and rigidity. I
found her terrifying as a young child. But as I grew older, I watched as
she took her own spiritual journey, and in the process, helped to form mine.
Today, I share some of the quotes from these little books
from my Grandmother, and you will see them more over the coming weeks.
Take some time to remember the ones in your life who have influenced
you in your faith formation. It is one more thing to be thankful for.
O lead my spirit,
O raise it from
These heavy depths,
Transported by Thy Art
That
fearlessly and
Joyfully it soar up to Thee.
For Thou, Thou knowest
all
Things, Thou alone
Canst
inspire.
Ludwig
van Beethoven
Debra’s Midweek Meditation
"And he said to
them, How many loaves have you? Go and see. When they had found out, they said,
Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in
groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of
fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and
blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the
people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled.
"
From Mark 6: 35-44
photo from
Kevinking.zetnet.co.uk
We move away from Thessalonians this week to ponder the miracle of the
loaves and fish.
At Ashland, November 6th is Stewardship Sunday
and our
Sunday school will be thinking about the Gulf coast and its needs for
rebuilding.
All of us, however, will be thinking about and praying about what it
means to give back to God's people what God has so generously given
us.
In other words, we will be wondering about
sharing.
There is a certain amount of controversy over this story of feeding five
thousand people.
Could it really have happened?
Or is the miracle that
once people were in circles facing each other they wanted to share whatever they
had brought?
Either way, it is miraculous to be fed when we find ourselves in a lonely
place with no visible means of nourishment, and it is always a miracle when the
community gathers and shares and becomes something bigger than it is when
comprised simply of individuals.
Jesus seems to be reinforcing the spiritual truth that we are not
alone--we are connected to each other.
And-
when we share there is enough for all to be
filled.
Blessings,
Debra
Teach us, good Lord,
To serve Thee as Thou deservest;
To give and not to count the cost,
To labour and not
to ask for any reward,
To fight and not to heed the wounds,
To toil and not to seek for rest,
Save that of knowing
That we do Thy
will.
Ignatius
Loyola
Daily Morning Prayer:
http://www.episcopalchurchingarrettcounty.org/morning_prayer.htm
This Week at St. James:
Chloe
Sean N.
Lelia G.
David W.
Lee U.
Ellie
Charlie M.
Joan B.
Phil O.
Friday:
6:30 Confirmation Shabbat celebration at Immanuel
Saturday:
11:00 Baptismal Preparation
Sunday: Baptisms at 8:00 and 10:15
liturgies
Men’s
Organization Pancake
Breakfast
Sunday
School visits the 10:15 Service/banner
procession
4:45
Newcomer’s dinner
Tuesday: 7:30 Vestry meeting
Wednesday:
8:30 Healing Eucharist, Meditation Chapel
Upcoming:
Friday/Saturday Nov. 11-12, Academy Christmas Shoppe
Thursday Nov.
24: 10:00 Thanksgiving liturgy and Blessing of the
Hunt
Sunday Nov. 27: Family Advent
Soup and Wreath making
Prayers, Etc.
Maryann S.
Barbara Debbie
Jack H.
Ginny
C. Maria R. Charles
Joel
B. Nancy G.
Sarah J.
Matty
Susan B.
Anna B.
Belinda
Toni G.
Pat B.
Charlotte
M.
Heather, JB, Chase & Sandy Paul
Shelton Family
Our seminarian Laura and her husband Lyle
All wounded
soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in our military hospitals.
For those
recently deployed and their
families.
In Closing:
Pax et Bonum, (Peace and all
goodness)
May you work like you don’t need the money,
Love like you’ve never been hurt,
And dance like no one is watching.
May God give you to drink of his cup;
May the sun be bright upon you,
May the night call down peace.
And when you come to his household
May
the door be open wide for you to go in to your
joy.
AMEN
Loree+
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