Arise, my love, my fair one,
And come away with me.
Arise my love, my fair one,
And come away with me.

For lo, the winter is passed
And the rain is gone away.
Come away with me,
Come away with me.

The flowers appear on the earth,
The time for singing has come,
And the voice of the turtle-dove
Is heard in our land.

Come away with me.

The fig-tree puts forth its fruit,
The vines are in blossom,
They put for their fragrance,
O come away with me.

Arise, my love, my fair one,
Come away with me.
Arise my love, my fair one,
Come away with me.

O come away with me,
Come away
With me.
(John & Ross Harding, from Song of Solomon)

He is Risen!

On Sunday we had the joy of singing as a community, Jesus Christ is Risen Today. Some of the words in the hymnal are different from the Presbyterian version I learned as a child, but the message is the same. Jesus Christ overcame death by destroying the power of sin and death on the cross. We remembered his suffering on Palm Sunday, and Good Friday. And we remembered his resurrection at the Vigil, and on Easter Sunday. He is Risen! He is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, and we as his people have the privilege of calling upon his name, of trusting him as our eternal Immanuel, God with us. Such joy! That he would be willing to suffer, die, and rise again on behalf of us and the rest of this sadly fallen world. We have so much to be thankful for as we live and rejoice this Easter Week.

Jesus, Son of the living God, splendor of the Father, eternal light.
Lord, we praise you!
Jesus, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Lord, Prince of Peace

Lord, we praise you!
Jesus, God of peace, friend of all, source of life and of holiness.
Lord, we praise you!
Jesus, brother of the poor, goodness without measure,
Inexhaustible wisdom.
Lord, we praise you!
Jesus, good shepherd, true light, our way and our life.
Lord, we praise you!
- Taize Prayer

Debra’s Midweek Meditation

"...these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name."
John 20:31

This passage comes at the end of the familiar story of the disciples in the Upper Room, Jesus' appearance to them and Thomas' challenge about believing.
After giving the disciples the gift of peace, Jesus breathes on them and says, "receive the Holy Spirit."
Imagine the scene-
the disciples are huddled together and afraid--
they cannot move and they have no idea what to do.
There is no life in them.

Then,
Jesus appears and calms their fears and gives them life-new life-resurrected life.
This is the way it is with us, as well.
How often have we escaped into our Upper Room-the place where we feel safe even though it is deadly?
How often have we needed the Savior's peace to fill our souls and staunch our fears?
How often has that breath of life, the Holy Spirit, come upon us unexpectedly and given us new resolve, new hope, new life?

The breath that Jesus breathed so long ago is still being poured out across the landscape of the world and across the geography of the soul. Be still and "receive the Holy Spirit."
Amen.

Blessings,
Debra

Daily Morning Prayer
http://www.episcopalchurchingarrettcounty.org/morning_prayer.htm

This day, Lord, may I dream your dreams,
This day, Lord, may I reflect your love.
This day, Lord, may I do your work,
This day, may I taste your peace.
- Angela Ashwin

This Week at St. James:
Tonight: 7:30 Vestry Administrative team meeting
Thursday: Newsletter folding
Friday: SJA Middle School Spring Fling
Saturday: 6:30 St. James Youth and Men’s Community FIESTA!
Sunday: Acolyte Sunday at all three services
Monday: 10:00 Narnia Book Study
Tuesday: 1/2 day for the Academy

Prayers, Etc.

For the Mission of the Church
For those deployed and their families
For Laura and Lyle Brecht
For those who are on our prayer list:

Philip; Haley; Anna; Nancy; Tony; Joel
Arabella; Brian E.; Tamara; Jeffrey; Brittany; Owen Kent
Jason; David; Bill; Debbie; Lovisah; Jewell
Lieb & Carlyn; Keith; Sue; Ron; Cathy
Jack; Alice; Bart; Justin; Bernie; Jan
Nancy; Betsey; Hannah; Bill Gavin; Brian
Lilly; Adam Loos; Patricia Dayton; Anna B.
Belinda; Sally; Donovan; Paul R.; The Clayton Family

In Closing:

The Women

The women rise before dawn.
It was a restless, sleepless night,
Their hearts heavy with sadness,
Their bodies wearied from the
Tensions and stresses of yesterday
. Sounds of the angry crowd at the trial
Still ring in their ears,
Their eyes red-rimmed and puffy.

Slowly, they make their way toward the tomb,
There is no spring in their steps.
The first glimmer of morning light dances
Across the horizon,
The grass is still wet with dew,
The early mist begins to lift,
They arrive at the tomb,
They rub their eyes to be sure they are seeing clearly.

The stone has been rolled away.
The tomb is empty.
Their tears flow again,
As they wonder what happened to the body.
Angels appear and ask,
"Why are you weeping?"
Then Jesus appears and speaks to them.
Filled with wonder and joy,
The women run to tell the others,
"We have seen the Lord."
He lives!
Alleluia!

Mrs. Marjorie Burke, from
Women’s Uncommon Prayer

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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