Day by day, dear Lord,
Three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day.

Love one Another

Today I share with you a bit of writing from William Temple, who was Archbishop of Canterbury during World War II. Temple was a prolific writer and deeply involved in areas of both spirituality and social justice.

Following is an excerpt from his book, Readings in St. John’s Gospel, highlighting Jesus' new commandment that we are to love one another as Christ has loved us. I chose it because of some reading I am doing on the subject of the Great Commandment, and in particular, on what it means to love one another as Christ does:

This ‘new commandment’, to love as Christ has loved, is the impossible thing, except so far as we are ‘in Christ’ (to use St. Paul’s great phrase) as the branches are in the Vine. He himself will make it possible for us, but till then it is not possible.

Does this command supersede the Second Great Commandment, "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?" No - that stands as the general rule of our relation to all men…I am to care as much for his interest and welfare as for my own. But here the Lord speaks, not of our relation to mankind generally, but of the special bond of love that should unite all fellow-Christians. Within the Christian fellowship each is to be linked to each by a love like that of Christ for each. This is the new commandment; and obedience to it is to be the evidence to the world of true discipleship. If the Church really were like that, if every communicant had for every other a love like that of Christ for him, the power of its witness would be irresistible, and out of that nucleus of self-giving love - love like that of Christ upon the Cross - would flow the power making men generally love their neighbors as themselves.

Leave what you know and voyage out into the unknown.
Sometimes the journey is physical, as in the case of Abram and Moses. Sometimes the journey is a more interior casting aside of the known way and moving deeper into the unknown.

In either case, the beginning of such a journey contains within it both desire and fear.
These two companions keep us going forward toward the promise of God.

Desire is our catalyst for starting out and fear is the motivator that keeps us checking in with God.

Last Saturday a group of people got together at St. James to lay down pavers to construct a labyrinth. We weren’t sure how to do it, but we followed directions, worked together, and enjoyed the process of watching a circle come together.

The labyrinth symbolizes the paradoxical journey toward wholeness in God.
There is a pattern of movement, which is obscured when a person is actually in it, walking.
We will not get lost in a labyrinth but we may get confused, or impatient.
If we are faithful to following the course before us we will circle around to center,
And then out again.

Attachment to place and desire for journey creates a tension that is only addressed through the willingness to identify our deep attachment to God.

When we enter that tension with faithfulness we begin to experience the energy of resistance as a spark to ignite prayer within,
And movement without.

The spiritual life is not without struggle, but the promise is serenity.
The serenity that we are given through the Spirit comes when we cease to require it as a mark of faithfulness.
So let us ask for faith and not peace,
For perseverance and not ease,
For love that goes beyond attachment.

Blessings, Debra

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

Known
I know you.
I created you.
I am creating you.
I have loved you from your mother’s womb.

You have sometimes fled, as you now know, from my love.
But I love you nevertheless, and not-the-less and,
However far you flee,
It is I who sustain your very power of fleeing,
And I will never finally let you go.

I accept you as you are.
You are forgiven.
I know all your sufferings.
I have always known them.
Far beyond your suffering, when you suffer, I suffer.
I also know all the little tricks by which you try to hide
Any struggles from yourself and others.
But you are beautiful.
You are beautiful more deeply within than you can see.
You are beautiful because you yourself,
In the unique one that only you are,
Reflect already something of the beauty of my holiness
In a way that shall never end.
You are beautiful, also, because I, and I alone,
See the beauty you shall become.
Through the transforming power of my love,
You shall become perfectly beautiful.
You shall become perfectly beautiful
In a uniquely irreplaceable way
Which neither you nor I will work out alone.
For we shall work it out together.
--Transliteration of Psalm 139--

This Week at St. James:

Friday: SJA Graduation
Sunday: Worship at 8:00 and 10:15
Tuesday: 7:30 Vestry
Wednesday: 8:30 Healing Eucharist
Saturday: 11:00 Laura Brecht’s ordination
Sunday: Laura will be preaching at both services.

Prayers Etc.

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

For Charlie+ and Debra as they leave for vacation.
For the victims in China and Myanmar.
For those who are deployed and their families.

In Closing:

Grant me, O Lord,
To know what I ought to know,
To love what I ought to love,
To praise what delights you most,
To value what is precious in your sight,
To hate what is offensive to you.
Do not allow me to judge according to the sight of my eyes,
Nor to pass sentence according to the hearing of the ears
Of ignorant men; but to discern with true judgment
Between things visible and spiritual, and above all things,
Always to inquire what is the good pleasure of your will.
--A Prayer of Thomas a Kempis--

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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