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

And lo! In a flash of crimson splendor, with blazing, scarlet clouds running before his chariot and heralding his majestic approach,
God’s sun rises upon the world.
- Wm. Thackeray
Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures,
Especially Sir brother Son,
Who is the day and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor;
And bears a likeness of You Most High One.
- Canticle of the Sun

Too Much of a Good Thing
In Chico, California, where I grew up, there was a coffee house downtown, called Café Paulo. Paulo’s slogan was: "Chico – so hot we can roast our beans on the street!" They probably could have. In the hot, dry Sacramento Valley, Chico’s heat was often above 110 in the summer. Our local AAA baseball team was called the Chico Heat. One did not attempt to live in Chico without air conditioning in one’s home, and in every conveyance one owned.

Heat is something I am used to. Humidity is a relatively new experience, and these days I long for the hot, desert-like days in Chico, where one can jump in a pool or a shower, and feel cooled off for a long period of time, and where one’s clothes are not always slightly damp.


This hot spell we are having is a challenge to us all. Many are flocking to cooler places, or spending as much time as possible indoors. Yet as bad as it is for most of us, I remember a mission trip my daughter Francesca took a few years ago to the Bronx, to a particular neighborhood where no one had air conditioning, or pools, or cars, where one’s home was the only safe haven from street fighting, where the Episcopal Church’s mission was to reach out to the children of the neighborhood who were often alone.

It is always good to remember that as hot as we are, we are blessed to have at our fingertips devices that make us more comfortable. We are blessed to be surrounded by loved ones, to have cars, safe communities, friends. As the heat intensifies, let us remember to pray for those who have no air conditioning, for the poor of our city and others who have no relief in sight. As we do so, let us also remember to thank God daily for the abundant blessings he has brought our way, and continue to ask, “what can I do to bless others?”

Jesu Who Ought to be Praised
It were as easy for Jesu
To renew the withered tree
As to wither the new
Were it his will so to do.
Jesu! Jesu! Jesu!
Jesu! Meet it were to praise him.
There is no plant in the ground
But is full of His virtue,
There is no form in the strand
But is full of His blessing.
Jesu! Jesu! Jesu!
Jesu! Meet it were to praise Him.
There is no life in the sea,
There isno creature in the river
There is naught in the firmament,
But proclaims His goodness
Jesu! Jesu! Jesu!
Jesu! Meet it were to praise Him.
There is no bird on the wing,
There is no star in the sky,
Thre is nothing beneath the sun,
But proclaims His goodness.
Jesu! Jesu! Jesu!
Jesu! Meet it were to praise Him.
 - Celtic Vision

Debra’s Midweek Meditation
A Life of Worth
"I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all."
Ephesians 4:1-6


How easy it is to read this passage from Ephesians and come away feeling challenged by the kind of life I am leading right now.
I wonder, can my life EVER be worthy of the grace I have, and am receiving from God, or the call that has been put upon my heart?
Are there new disciplines that will change me, or new worship styles that will inspire me to live a more worthy life?
Luckily, Paul reminds us, in the second sentence, that our baptism has made us ONE with and in God.
This intimacy with God through Christ is our call. We are members of the family of Christ-it is in our bones and in our breath.
Does this remove from us the burden of perfection?
If we let it-it can.
We are being called to wholeness in God-not perfection in humanity (whatever that is!).
As we live into the cool water of Baptism and the reviving breeze of the Spirit we will find - "the heart of our life-the eternal place of our own soul."

Blessings,
Debra

The quote is from John O'Donahue-Irish

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

O Jesus
Be the canoe that holds me in the sea of life.
Be the steer that keeps me straight.
Be the out rigger that supports me in times of great temptation.
Let thy spirit be my sail that carries me through each day.
Keep my body strong,
So that I can paddle steadfastly on,
In the long voyage of life.
- A New Hebridean Prayer

This week at St. James
Thursday: Charlie+ returns
Friday: 11:30 Memorial Service for Lelia Griswold at Fancy Hill
Sunday: Services at 8:00 and 10:15
Monday: Loree+ away on vacation
Wednesday: 8:30 Healing Eucharist

Coming up:
September 9: Red Cross Babysitter Training in the Parish Library. Contact me if you have children interested in attending.
September 10: Beginning of Sunday School and the 9:00 service, and the academy and church picnic from 4-7.
Godly Play training in Baltimore, September 21-23. If you’re interested in attending, let me know soon.
I will be away on vacation for the next two weeks. The Pax will resume on August 23.

Prayers, Etc.
For those who are deployed and their families.
For safety and refreshment for those who travel.
For Laura and Lyle.
For Kelly Krumpe’s grandmother, who has died, and those who mourn.

For those on our prayer list:
Dot; Sue; Lori; Bill; Sarah; Joel
Toni; Anna; Philip; David; Brooke; Brian G.
Leib & Carlyn; Lovisah; Jeffrey; Miriam F. Mary
Traskey family; Harold Fitch; Walter Rasmussen
Pat Easter; Dick Hauck; Matthew Day; Erin Niles

May he support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done! Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last.
- John Henry Newman

In Closing:

Floating in a pond on a hot summer’s day
Your sunlight radiating within and without me
Bathing me in the warmth of your goodness.
Bullfrogs croaking
Dragonflies mating
Birds singing
Fish jumping
A splash of cool water –
Ahhh - - - -
"Come to me all y that travail and are heavy-laden
and I will refresh you…"
- Elizabeth Geitz

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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