Pax et Bonum
The Online worship resource for St. James Parish

To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.
- Emily Dickinson
Meeting with Time, slack thing, said I,
Thy Scythe is dull; whet it for shame.
No marvel, Sir, he did reply,
If it at length deserve some blame:
But where one man would have me grind it,
Twenty for one too sharp do find it.

Perhaps some such of old did pass,
Who above all things loved this life;
To whom thy scythe a hatchet was,
Which now is but a pruning-knife.
Christ’s coming hath made man thy debtor,
Since by thy cutting he grows better.
- George Herbert, "Time"

The Mystery of Time


In this amazing world we live in, we can map the areas of the earth that are in light or darkness at any given time. We can learn to understand the space-time continuum as a unit, 3 parts space, and one part time, although for some of us, our understanding does not go very deep. We do the things we can to tame time: we attempt to work a certain amount of hours; we have scheduled times for rest, for eating, for exercise. We mark off the days in an ancient system of light and darkness as if the calendar existed before the time-space continuum.

And then, in our well-ordered world, we get surprised. A sudden illness, the unexpected death of a loved one, the rebellion of one’s household appliances that all quit working at once; a disagreement with a friend; and in a matter of minutes, our carefully contrived time continuum is broken. Life comes to a stop, and yet it doesn’t. Only the events stop. Time continues to march on.

My own understanding of time is from a theological point of view, rather than a scientific one. Throughout the New Testament, one runs across two concepts of time: chronos and kairos. Chronos, from which words like Chronicle, or Chronic come, is a measured time. Time before and after – time that begins as future, goes through the present, and becomes past. It is the time that we measure with our calendar, our clocks, and our nano-seconds. Kairos is the time of now. It is not quantifiable, but exists in quality, in occasion, in significance. One could say kairos is quality, and chronos is quantity, although that simplifies it perhaps too much. Kairos is that brief moment in time when it seems that chronos does not exist, when we enter, for a moment, into eternity.

As our chronos continues to march with its ceaseless demands, let us remember that it is in kairos, the significant, eternal now, where we meet God. Ultimately, the calendar and the day planner will be laid aside. Ultimately, all we will have is now. Let’s make the most of it.

Guide us waking, O Lord, and guard us sleeping.
That awake we may watch with Christ,
And asleep we may rest in peace.
(from Compline)

Debra’s Midweek Meditation
We Are What He Made Us
For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Ephesians 2:10


We are God's own.
God has made us for good works--the kind of activities that produce gifts in us and others.
In this passage are references to God, the Creator, bringing us to life out of dust, and
reminders of our intimate connection with Christ Jesus.

Woven through the verse is the knowledge of the invitation to holy living,
in the salvation that we have received through Christ.

Last week we thought about listening to God rather than the voices of temptation.
This week, as we ponder the reality of our creation in Christ, we may experience an easier time in our listening.

The voice of temptation may be familiar,
but the voice of God is intimate,
The voice of temptation may be alluring,
but the voice of God is beloved,
The voice of temptation encourages the ego,
but the voice of God encourages And sustains the heart.

Listen this week for the voice of God-

It is as near to you as your heartbeat.

Blessings,
Debra

Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire.
Thou the anointing Spirit art,
Who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.

Thy blessed unction from above,
Is comfort, life, and fire of love.
Enable with perpetual light
The dullness of our blinded sight.

Anoint and cheer our soiled face
With the abundance of thy grace.
Keep far our foes, give peace at home;
Where thou art guide, no ill can come.

Teach us to know the Father, Son,
And thee, of both, to be but One.
That, through the ages all along,
This may be our endless song:

Praise to thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- Veni Creator Spiritus

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

This week at St. James
Tonight; 7:30 pm Youth Leader’s meeting
Sunday: Services at 8:00 and 10:15
Wednesday: 8:30 Healing Service in the Meditation Chapel; 9:30 Prayer Shawl ministry
Friday 8/4 11:30 Memorial Service for Lelia Griswold at Fancy Hill

Prayers, Etc.
For peace in the Middle East.
For those who are deployed and their families.
For Laura and Lyle
For William Fandeck, father of Kari-Ann Lynne, who has died, and his family who mourn.

For those on your prayer list:
Dot; Sue; Lori; Bill; Sarah; Joel; Toni
Anna; Philip; David; Brooke; Brian G.; Leib & Carlyn
Lovisah; Brooke H.; Brian E.; Jeffrey; Nancy B.; Cris
Miriam F.; Traskey Family; Harold Fitch; Dick Hauck
Donovan; Pat Easter; Matthew Day

In Closing:

May God shield you on every steep,
May Christ keep you in every path,
May Spirit bathe you in every pass.
- From The Celtic Vision

And may God continue to hold you in the palm of his hand.

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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