Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written fo rour learning: grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast in the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. AMEN.

Lamp and Light

When I was a child, my mother gave me a copy of Pearl S. Buck’s "The Story Bible." I read it from end to end, because, like all of Buck’s writing, it was an engaging read, and it left me with a love of scripture. How many times have I wished I every one of us could read that wonderful book!

Each day we are confronted with challenges to our faith. How do we behave as Christians in business, in the home, at play? We receive instruction from our church, we hear scripture read each Sunday; but do we really know the scriptures? How are they to be a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path, when we don’t know them?

Lately I have talked with many who have said, "I feel like I don’t know anything about the Bible, and I want to learn more." There are many ways to study the Bible, and about the Bible, including studying the Bible as literature, as history, and most important, as sacred text. But these things can only be done if we actually read what has been written.

Reading the Bible doesn’t have to be either boring or intimidating; in fact, it can be an adventure. This year, our Christian Formation Community will be trying out a Bible Challenge in the fall, to see how many people in the parish we can get reading the Bible regularly. With that end in mind, we have collected all kinds of resources, both in book form, and on CD, so that people can get to know our Holy Scripture.

Some of these resources include well-done dramatizations of the Bible on CD, The 100 Minute Bible, Walking the Bible, The Essential 100 Stories, and The Idiot’s Guide to the Bible.

If you are interested in previewing one of these resources over the summer, please email me, and we’ll set up a lending library. Join in the adventure! What better time for reading and listening than summer?

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

Sovereign Father;
Help me to remember that no problem
Is too small to escape your concern
And no perplexity is too great to
Resist your solutions.
I know you will go before me
To show me the way;
Behind me to press me forward,
Beside me to give me courage,
Above me to protect me,
And within me to give me wisdom and discernment.
--Lloyd John Ogilvie--

This Week at St. James:

Friday: SJA Graduation Dance
Saturday: Paving the Labyrinth!
Sunday: Services at 8:00 and 10:15; 4:00 Memorial Organ Concert in the church
Monday: SJA Field Day
Wednesday: 8:30 Healing Eucharist; SJA Moving Up Day
Friday: SJA Graduation

Prayers Etc.

For Laura Brecht. Laura will be ordained to the transitional deaconate at the Cathedral on June 14. The next day, she will be our preacher.

For those who are deployed and their families
For those who have been victims in China and Myanmar

For those on our Prayer List:
Alexa; David; Arabella; Brittany; Owen; Jennifer D.
Rob C.; Andrew; Jason; Donna & Jim; Larry
Mimi & Poppa B.; Betsy; Mary S.; Todd; Vicki T.
Ray W.; Cathy A.; Carol W.; Charles R.; Dolores; Sherry

Beloved, to thee I raise my whole being,
A vessel emptied of self.
Accept, O Lord, this my emptiness,
And so fill me with Thy Self -
- thy light, thy love, thy life -
that these thy precious gifts may radiate through me
and overflow the chalice of my heart
into the hearts of all with whom I come in contact this day,
revealing unto them the beauty of thy joy and wholeness
and the serenity of thy peace which nothing can destroy.
--Francis Nuttall--

In Closing:

May God have mercy on us,
And bless us.
May he make the light of his face
Shine on us,
And may he have mercy on us,
That we may know his way on earth
And his salvation
In all the nations.
--Medieval Prymer--

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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