IMPORTANT: For those coming the Brick Church service on April 27

Please use Rutledge Road to Old Georgetown  (#2. option in directions the right hand column)  rather than Hwy. 45.  The road (Old Georgetown Hwy  is impassable due to rain)

DIRECTIONS TO BRICK CHURCH HERE

Happy Easter - Thanks be to God!

A wonderful Easter thought....

"  Adam, along with his bride, walked out a garden into a grave.  The Second [Adam, that is Jesus], along with his bride [the Church], out of a grave into a garden."   RC Sproul

Here are two images..the first is a portion (the left side of the canvas) of the Annunciation by Fra Angelica and the second is a depiction of Jesus Christ welcoming his bride, the Church, into the Garden.

"...Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 15:57)

Holy Saturday

In the darkness of Holy Saturday, whether the day or a life event,  the words of Job stand true.

"I know that my redeemer liveth" - Handel - Messiah, Pt. III

Lynn Dawson, Soprano 

Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

A Good Friday Visual Meditation

‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’ (1951), by Salvador Dalí 

      
     The Rev. Patrick Comerford, Church of Ireland priest,  writes....my choice of a work of Art for Lent this Good Friday morning is ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross,’ painted by Salvador Dali in 1951. This painting is in oil on canvas, measures 205 cm × 116 cm and can be seen in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow.
This painting by Salvador Dalí depicts Christ on the cross in a darkened sky floating over a body of water complete with a boat and fishermen. Although Dalí depicts the crucifixion, this painting shows no nails, no blood, and no crown of thorns. Dalí once said he was convinced in a dream that these features would mar his depiction of Christ, and in that dream he was shown the importance of depicting Christ in the extreme angle we see in this painting.  The painting is known as the ‘Christ of Saint John of the Cross’ because Dalí based his design on a drawing by the 16th century Spanish Carmelite friar and mystic Saint John of the Cross.
The composition of Christ is also based on a triangle and circle: the triangle is formed by Christ’s arms; the circle is formed by his head. The triangle refers to the Trinity. While the circle represents, in Dalí’s own words, “the very unity of the universe, the Christ!”  It is different from any other image of the crucifixion. The angle of the view describes the hanging pain of this method of execution, but hides the ordinarily clichéd facial expressions normally seen on representations of the Crucifixion.
In 2009, the Guardian art critic, Jonathan Jones, described it as “kitsch and lurid,” but said this painting is “for better or worse, probably the most enduring vision of the crucifixion painted in the 20th century.”  The painting was bought for Glasgow Corporation in the early 1950s for £8,200, and went on display at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in 1952. In 1961, a visitor attacked the painting with a stone and tore the canvas with his hands. It was successfully restored over several months. In 2006, it was selected in a poll as Scotland’s favourite painting.
Patrick Comerford's Blog is HERE

Maundy Thursday

     The events of Maundy Thursday include foot washing and what has become known as the Institution of the Holy Eucharist or Holy Communion.
    Somewhere between 1494-1498, Leonardo Da Vinci painted his masterpiece "The Last Supper" in the refectory (dining hall) of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy. Almost immediately it began to deteriorate so that by, as early as 1517, the paint began to flake.  One copy of that painting is by Giampietrino around 1520. This painting is thought to accurately reflect much of the detail now lost in the original.   It is reproduced below.  Below that is a remarkable poem by  Ranier Maria Rilke inspired by the daVinci original.  May these bless you this Holy Week.

Click to enlarge

The Last Supper, by Ranier Maria Rilke

They are assembled, astonished and disturbed

round him, who like a sage resolved his fate,

and now leaves those to whom he most belonged,

leaving and passing by them like a stranger.

The loneliness of old comes over him

which helped mature him for his deepest acts;

now will he once again walk through the olive grove,

and those who love him still will flee before his sight.

To this last supper he has summoned them,

and (like a shot that scatters birds from trees)

their hands draw back from reaching for the loaves

upon his word: they fly across to him;

they flutter, frightened, round the supper table

searching for an escape. But he is present

everywhere like an all-pervading twilight-hour.

Here they are gathered, wondering and deranged,

Round Him, who wisely doth Himself inclose,

And who now takes Himself away, estranged,

 From those who owned Him once, and past them

flows.

He feels the ancient loneliness to-day

That taught Him all His deepest acts of love;

Now in the olive groves He soon will rove,

And these who love Him all will flee away.

To the last supper table He hath led.

As birds are frightened from a garden-bed

By shots, so He their hands forth from the bread

Doth frighten by His word: to Him they flee;

Then flutter round the table in their fright

And seek a passage from the hall. But He

Is everywhere, like dusk at fall of night.

More Resources for Walking the Week

Dear Friends, Lent and Beyond is a website/blog kept by Jill Woodliff who lists many excellent and prayerful resources for Walking the Week.  Please check it out by clicking on the link below ....   

 Lent and Beyond

Holy Monday-anointing, indignation, cleansing and joy

...reposted from the wonderful blog of Archbishop Cranmer...the link to which is HERE

   ...and  being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her (Mk 14:3-9).

      The Jewish commemoration of the Passover begins this evening, recalling the time the Israelites escaped slavery in Egypt by marking their doorposts with the blood of a pure lamb so that the spirit of the Lord might pass over their homes in the slaughter of the first-born. The Gospels record that six days before the Passover, Mary lavishly anointed her Lord in anticipation of His burial. Christ commends her for the deed, saying: “Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her” (Mk 14:9).

      As Jews come together around the Seder, Christians gather to watch Eastenders [A British Television Show] : Holy Monday is indistinguishable from last Monday, or the Monday before that. But today is day for reflecting on the greatest anointing of all - that of the Holy Spirit. Mary's worship at the feet of Jesus was audacious and extravagant, but it was an act of faith and love: all she wanted to do was worship in her own way, which the disciples met with protestation and indignation. It's a woman, you see. And not just a woman, but a mightily-sinning one.

     And yet this woman's actions and expressions teach the men a thing or two. She understands and apprehends on a different spiritual plane. They see the perfume and immediately think about the cost and absurd waste; she gently caresses her Lord's ankles and toes, anoints them with a spiced aroma, and smells the scent of salvation. They want action; their mission is to feed the poor. She wants reflection; her heart's desire is to worship.

     And so the Christ, the Messiah, is anointed not by prophets or priests, but by but by a prostitute. And that is fitting in this revolutionary kingdom of God. But we easily forget this woman. Jesus said: "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." But she invariably gets lost somewhere between the palm leaves and Eastenders.

      Holy Monday is also frequently linked to the Lord’s cleansing of the Temple which had become a den of thieves. The House of God, supposedly a place set aside for meditation and prayer, had become a place of hypocrisy, insincerity, greed and lust. Nothing really changes.

     Christians are called to be living sacrifice; to worship God daily in their actions and their words. This is becoming increasingly difficult in a context of increasing secularisation confronted by a compromised church. But the witness of our extravagant devotion to the Lord is wholly dependent upon the purity and honesty of our lives: and that must be marked by humility and love, not by aggressive demands for rights or assertions of pride.

      Let Caesar collect his taxes and make his laws: it is for Christians to cleanse our temple and devote ourselves lavishly to the Lord, that we may find peace, joy and happiness.

Palm-Passion Sunday

      The Sunday, known as Palm-Passion Sunday, has twin emphases. The first is  Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem with Hosannas and palms during which he is hailed as the long awaited one, the King - clearly a zenith moment.  Over the course of Holy Week, the emphasis shifts dramatically and we hear notes of  fear, anger, and betrayal - all culminating in the nadir of crucifixion.

       It is tempting to focus on just one or the other, but we do need, for our own soul's health, to hold to both because this reflects our human experience in the fullness of longing, pain and joy.   James W. Farwell writes "  We both desire and resist God’s movement toward us – a movement that brings us blessing and life, but costs not less than everything, and we remain ambivalent about this. Yet it is to us – these ambivalent creatures longing for union with the One by whom we are united with our Creator, yet fiercely determined to make our way with the very freedom the Creator grants us – it is to us that God in Christ comes with a fierce love as king, as servant, as reconciler, as a robber of the tombs into which we fall, and as bread."

       It is this same Jesus Christ we celebrate on Sunday next.  Be sure to join us as we  sing "Hosanna" and then shout, "Crucify." It can be a heart rending experience and one that readies us for Easter Day like nothing else.         JTCO

(The marvelous painting above is the Entry into Jerusalem by P. Lorenzetti - 1320.  The buildings depicted are in Assisi, Italy.)

Our First Responsibility

This morning I was  taken by these comments from A.W. Tozer (1897-1963).  He writes:

....the way to escape religion as a front is to make it a fount. See to it that we pray more than we preach and we will never preach ourselves out. Stay with God in the secret place longer than we are with men in the public place and the fountain of our wisdom will never dry up. Keep our hearts open to the inflowing Spirit and we will not become exhausted by the outflow. Cultivate the acquaintance of God more than the friendship of men and we will always have abundance of bread to give to the hungry. 

Our first responsibility is not to the public but to God and our own souls.

                                                               God Tells the Man Who Cares, 115-116 – AW Tozer

I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word. My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word. -Psalm 119:147-148

A Wonderful Hymn for Lent - Come, Ye Sinners Poor and Needy

The text is by Joseph Hart , from Hymns Com­posed on Var­i­ous Sub­jects, 1759.   The tune is named  Rest­or­a­tion and is from The South­ern Har­mo­ny and Mu­sic­al Com­pan­ion, by William Walker.

The version below is by Fernando Ortega with help from Amy Grant.  Here are the words:

1. Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
   Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
   Jesus ready stands to save you,
   Full of pity, love and pow’r.
• Refrain:
  I will arise and go to Jesus,
  He will embrace me in His arms;
  In the arms of my dear Savior,
  Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
2. Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
   God’s free bounty glorify;
   True belief and true repentance,
   Every grace that brings you nigh.
3. Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,
   Lost and ruined by the fall;
   If you tarry till you’re better,
   You will never come at all.
4. View Him prostrate in the garden;
   On the ground your Maker lies;
   On the bloody tree behold Him;
   Sinner, will this not suffice?
5. Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended,
   Pleads the merit of His blood:
   Venture on Him, venture wholly,
   Let no other trust intrude.
6. Let not conscience make you linger,
   Not of fitness fondly dream;
   All the fitness He requireth
   Is to feel your need of Him.

 

March 2014 Dates for Your Calendar

This Sunday, March 2- 10:00 AM - The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

Tuesday, March 4 - Annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper - 5:30-7:30 PM.

Wednesday, March 5-  Ash Wednesday - Service at 6:30 - Imposition of Ashes - Lent begins.

Sunday, March 9,  10:00 AM - First Sunday in Lent

The Call

                            Below is a very lovely meditation by Suzanne Guthrie



The Calling of Peter and Andrew by Duccio_di_Buoninsegna - 1255-1319

The Byzantine influence upon Duccio is unmistakable. I love Duccio and I love this painting. Jesus stands against an iconic mountain on the land, calling to the two disciples in the boat upon the water against a blank, golden sky. The fish alone seem animated - the viewer sees time suspended, a moment encoded with portents and possibility.

Reality is not like the painting. Seagulls swarm the boat, women and vendors wait impatiently on the shore. Old men watch, assessing everything from the fishermen's' bodily strength, to the weave of the nets, to the condition of the boat, to the catch. Children run around. Feral cats and stray dogs wait stealthily for scraps.

Duccio's scene, pared down like an icon, lacks only one thing; the viewer accepting the invitation to step in. The painting draws me into the scene, placing me in the boat between Jesus and Peter. I feel Andrew turning around. I'm caught between Peter's hard gaze and Jesus' outstretched hand.

Situated in this way, I hear the words of Jesus addressed not only to Andrew and Peter but to me. "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of people."

From here The Edge of Enclosure

Annual Meeting and Meet our New Deacon

This Sunday, January 12th
immediately following Church (approx. 11:00 noon)

Elections and Reports
What could be more fun?

We will also welcome the Rev. Melissa Timmerman

as our new Deacon
Please join us! 
 

Happy New Year!

 

A  Prayer for the Ending of an Old Year and

 the Beginning of a New Year...

 

Lord, give me I pray:
A remembering heart for the things that have happened...
An attentive heart to what I have learned
A forgiving heart for what has hurt
A grateful heart for what has blessed
A brave heart for what may be required
An open heart to all that may come
A trusting heart to go forth with You
A loving heart for You and all your creation
A longing heart for the reconciliation of all things.
A willing heart to say “Yes” to what You will. 

 

Leighton Ford (Hat Tip - Janet Echols)

New Year's Eve 2013 - The Seventh Day of Christmas

Dear Friends,

      On this, the Seventh Day of Christmas, we mark both the Feast of St. Sylvester -4th C. Pope, who died Dec. 31, 335 and New Year's Eve.  Closely associated with the Emperor  Constantine, Sylvester was a great builder of churches.  Sylvester is also known as "Father Time."

      In one legend, the Emperor Constantine was cured of leprosy by the virtue of the baptismal water administered by Sylvester.  The Emperor, abjectly grateful, not only confirmed the bishop of Rome as the primate above all other bishops, he resigned his imperial insignia and walked before Sylvester's horse holding the pope's bridle as the papal groom. The generous pope, in return, offered the crown of his own good will to Constantine, who abandoned Rome to the pope and took up residence in Constantinople.

     This evening also marks New Year's Eve and the conclusion of 2013.   To mark the occasion, I've posted below a version of Auld Lang Syne - the poem by Robert Burns.  The performance is by Dougie MacLean from the album Tribute.   The dialect is Lowland Scots and the translation is included. 

May you all drink from the cup of kindness in the coming year!

Jennie

 

Keeping Christmas

       The sign in front of our local drug store  read "Christmas  1/2 off."  Momentarily, I wondered had happened to the other half.  John suggested it might have flown away with Rudolph.  We laughed, but the question lingered. 

     This day, Dec. 27th, is the Third Day of  Christmas and, no, Virginia, Christmas is not halfway over-- we are just beginning.  More and more, it seems that  the idea of Christmas as a Season of Twelve Days is dwindling and giving way to the Two Christmas Scenario . 

     The first could be called the Cultural/commercial Christmas which features Santa, the elves, non-religious Christmas music, Holiday programs, and much buying and selling of gifts.  The second could be called a Christ-centered or Christian Christmas and focuses on Christmas as the Birth of Christ - Jesus being the reason for the season.

     Cultural Christmas starts gearing up somewhere around Halloween  and, in some quarters, the beginning of October.  Decorations appear, music starts, and people are put in mind of the necessity to BUY presents for those for whom they care. On Dec. 26th,  Christmas trees are out in the street, the Christmas music and decorations are gone and people are pressing on to the next celebration - New Year's Eve and Day.  Also, "Christmas 1/2 off" notices promptly appear.

    Anticipation of the Christ-Centered Christmas begins in Advent - usually the last Sunday in November or the first in December.  Four Sundays are marked and, in our readings, we encounter some of the Advent people:  The prophets - Isaiah and John the Baptist; St. Nicholas of Myra (Dec. 6th); St. Joseph and St. Mary.  The themes of Advent are reflection, quiet anticipation and spiritual "house-cleaning" in anticipation of the coming of the King - not only as a newborn in Bethlehem but as the Great Judge at the end of time. 

    One way of staying focused on  a Christ-Centered Christmas is to keep the Twelve Days.  Below are some suggestions.  May you be blessed in Keeping Christmas this year.

Keeping the Twelve Days of Christmas

 

How strange and hopeful it is to cry NOEL in the heart of the winter darkness.  “So we banish the long nights with firelight and candles.  We defy the winter by festooning summer’s green from our rafters.  We spread our tables with the abundance of the harvest, all signs of God’s graciousness, signs of the bounty of heaven itself.  We gather around the sparkling tree of life and declare this place, no matter how humble, to be paradise.  We celebrate a birth, not a birthday.  Christmas is not Jesus’ birthday,  It is not an anniversary of something that happened long ago.  Christmas is the celebration of Christ, now, hodie, today.  The word for “today” is a key for entering into the mystery of Christmastide, for if Christ is born today that mean we can see and touch and hold Christ.  It also means we must feed and clothe and protect Christ, now, hodie, today.

One of the hallmarks of genuine Christian celebration is this combination of tremendous comfort and joy with tremendous challenge.  No wonder it takes so many days to keep Christmastide!  And no wonder we keep Christmastide by renewing our efforts to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, and to bring together neighbors and strangers alike to share in the feast of Christ.  Today Christ is born.  NOEL!  Hodie Christus natus est.  Noel! “


The Twelve Day of Christmas are a great time for continuing the celebration.  Try saving some gifts for these days.  Keep your decorations up.  Play and sing Christmas carols.  Invite friends over for Christmas cookies.  Be counter-cultural.  Celebrate with gusto!

 Dec. 25 - The First Day - Today Christ is Born!

Dec. 26 – St. Stephen, deacon and first martyr.  Take food to a shelter.  Help the poor in some concrete way today.
 

Dec. 27 – St. John, apostle and evangelist.  Celebrate God’s love.  “Love one another” was John’s constant sermon.  Toast those named John or Joanna.

 

Dec. 28- Holy Innocents.  Turn off Christmas lights for today and remember Herod’s innocent victims as well as all innocent victims in our own time.

Dec. 29 – The Prince of Peace.  Pray for peace today.  Mend a quarrel or write a letter to elected officials.

Dec. 30 – Anna and Simeon – These were two senior citizens who welcomed the baby Jesus to the Temple.  Visit or phone some older people in your life today.

Dec. 31 – Sylvester, 4th c. saint. New Year’s Eve. Sometimes known as “Father Time”.  Have a party, blow horns, tell some favorite stories.

Jan 1. – The Holy Name of Jesus.  Eight days after Jesus was born, his parents named him.  Meditate today on the many names of Jesus Christ.

Jan.2 – Basil and Gregory – 4th c. bishops and teachers.  Remember to move your kings closer today. 

Jan. 3 – Praise to God!  Listen to Handel’s Messiah!

Jan. 4- Elizabeth Ann Seton – was a teacher who started one of the first Sunday School in the US.  On this day give thanks for our teachers – past and present.

Jan 5 – The Twelfth Day -- God is love!  Give hugs to all today!  (Twelfth Night Parties!)

Jan 6- The Feast of the Epiphany – This word means “to show forth” or revelation.  Celebrate the many ways Jesus is revealed – to the Magi, to us.  The star is the great symbol of Epiphany so do some star gazing tonight while wearing a crown.

 

                                               May you have a Holy Christmastide!

St. James Annual Epiphany Party

 

 

 

Please Join Us for

 

Follow the Star

 

at

St. James-Santee Annual Epiphany Party

 

Saturday, January 4

6:00 PM

 

Please sign up to bring a dish

at stjamesec@tds.net

 

at the Hurteau's

 

 

Christmas Eve 2013

Gerrit van Honthorst, 1590-1656

 

 You and yours are invited to celebrate
the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ
     Christmas Eve - 6:30 PM
  Holy Communion, Homily, St. James Children and Youth Tell the Story of Christmas,  Carols,
            Organ and Hammered Dulcimer

                                                                                                                                                                                                      
 O Come, Let us Adore Him....the One who is the Light of the World!

Thanksgiving and Gratitude

Dear Friends, It is my prayer and hope that during this Thanksgiving time that you will stop to give thanks for our lives and for the many blessings - large and small- with which we are surrounded. Consider, too, being converted to a live lived in thankfulness every single day - for the beauty of nature, for the blessing of family and friends, and for the deepening flow of life's experience. Below is a lovely meditation by Brother David Steindl-Rast. It is entitled "A Good Day." Have a look and be blessed.

C.S. Lewis on Hope

This past Friday, we marked the commemoration of the life of C.S. Lewis,(1898-1963)  novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian, and Christian apologist. Here is a quote of his that speaks to hope -- spes!

Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in": aim at earth and you will get neither.

--C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book III, Chapter 10

 

Happy All Saints Day !!

All Saints by Fra Angelico

 

 

A Prayer for All Saints (BCP)

 

Almighty and everlasting God, we give you most high praise and Hearty thanks for the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all your saints, who have been the chosen vessels of your grace, and the lights of the world in their times: for Abraham, the father of believers, and Sarah his wife; for Moses the lawgiver, and Aaron the priest; for Miriam and Joshua, Deborah and Gideon, and Samuel with Hannah his mother, and for all the holy patriarchs; for Isaiah and all the prophets; for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God; for Peter and Paul and all the apostles; for Mary and Martha, and Mary Magdalene; for Stephen, the first martyr, and for all the martyrs; and for all your other righteous servants, known to us and unknown; and we beseech you that, rejoicing in their fellowship, encouraged by their examples, and aided by their prayers, we also may run with steadfastness the race that is set before us, and finish our course in faith; and that at the day of the general resurrection, we, with all those who are of the mystical body of your Son, may be set on his right hand, and hear his most joyful voice: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Grant this, O Father, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate.

The most well-known hymn associated with All Saints Day is For All the Saints -- here are two performances with the words below..

 

 

                          Lots of brass and congregational singing with this one..

1. For all the saints, who from their labours rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

2. Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;

Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;

Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

3. O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,

Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,

And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

4. O blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

5. And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,

And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

6. The golden evening brightens in the west;

Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;

Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

7. But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;

The saints triumphant rise in bright array;

The King of glory passes on His way.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

8. From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,

Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,

And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:

Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

A Psalm and A Meditation for All Hallows Eve 2013

All Hallows Blessings to You All! 

Two things ....

The first is a traditional piece of music for the feast of All Saints...

The second is a little hard to explain.  It's a video by Glen Scrivener, Church of England minister, poet and lover of the King James Version of the Bible.  He has a wonderful web site called King's English.  What's below is Halloween: Trick or Treat.  This is a rhyming explanation of what Halloween is truly about .  I find it wonderful and watched it twice through...Very nicely done..Have a look and see what you think!


De profundis  (Out of the deep...)





Psalm 130 is a traditional offering for All Hallows Eve and here is a very beautiful version by the
 choir of Kings College Cambridge, under the direction of Sir David Willcocks.  This dark lament, a Penitential Psalm, is the De profundis used in liturgical prayers for the faithful departed in Western liturgical tradition. In deep sorrow the psalmist cries to God (1-2), asking for mercy (3-4). The psalmist's trust (5-6) becomes a model for the people (7-8).

Text:

130 De profundis

OUT of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord : Lord, hear my voice.
2. O let thine ears consider well : the voice of my complaint.
3. If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss : O Lord, who may abide it?
4. For there is mercy with thee : therefore shalt thou be feared.
5. I look for the Lord; my soul doth wait for him : in his word is my trust.
6. My soul fleeth unto the Lord : before the morning watch, I say, before the morning watch.
7. O Israel, trust in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy : and with him is plenteous redemption.
8. And he shall redeem Israel : from all his sins.


The second --

Who Lives on Jesus Street?

Here is a great interview with Suzy McCall - founder of LAMB..Read and be inspired.  Suzy embodies freedom in Christ in a way that not many folks do...she truly does follow the Lamb wherever he goes...

Meet Suzy McCall, an American missionary in Honduras. The obedience of this one woman from South Carolina has radically changed the lives of thousands of people in Central America and the United States.

Suzy is the founder of The LAMB Institute, offering hope for new life – both spiritual and physical – in Flor del Campo, the slums of Tegucigalpa. LAMB serves up generous bowls of the Gospel of Christ, seasoned with unconditional love, to every soul passing through its doors. She lives out her ministry motto: follow the LAMB wherever he goes. Now, after only two decades of existence, LAMB operates a school, a children’s home, a safe house, a micro-loan program for cottage industries, and a teen outreach program for young boys on the streets.

The rest is here    (This link will take you to Pringle Franklin's Blog Living on Jesus Street)

Binding up Scattered Leaves

Dear St. James Santee Family and Friends,

“Media vita in morte sumus” – In the midst of life we are in death –is the title and first line of a Latin antiphon probably originating in France around 750 AD.   Luther made use of it as did our reformer, Thomas Cranmer, and it appears as an antiphon in the Book of Common Prayer.  It certainly expresses well the sense of sudden dislocation we feel when someone we love has died. 

In times of shock and grief, life and time itself seem to go on pause.  Quite often this happens in a sudden way.  In the silence, one becomes aware of the way the light is falling or of the sound of birds singing around us.  Time has slowed.

 Gradually, though, this gives way to the sense that life has gone on after all – babies are still being born, the buzz of classroom learning continues, factories still are producing and the mail is still being delivered.  At this point, we find ourselves drawn back to life itself and the necessity of choosing to live.

          The choice to re-embrace time and life can be made more easily when our hope for the future is glimpsed.    John Donne, English divine and writer (of “No man is an island” fame) contemplated mortality and hope at length.  Below is a passage I have found especially helpful in these past weeks of grieving the death of my father.  It is from his Mediation 27… (Emphasis mine)

 “….all mankind is of one author and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another.”

         I look with hope to the day when all of the scattered pages are gathered and for grace-filled eternity spent in that “library where every book shall lie open to one another.”  Until that blessed day, my prayer is that we will love one another very, very well in the time we are given.

Blessings,   Jennie+

Hugo - Twenty Four Years Later

       On this day, Sept. 21, in 1989  Hurricane Hugo paid a call to the Lowcountry. He was not a gentleman and left twenty-seven souls dead in South Carolina, nearly 100,000 homeless, and somewhere around $10 billion in damages.  I remember as if it were yesterday and as one of the most frightening experiences of my life.  The storm came on a Thursday and over the next few days we crawled out of homes to survey damages.  We adapted to no electricity or running water.  On Sunday, I gathered with members and friends of St. Paul's , Summerville where I was serving as an Assistant to the Rector.  No electricity in the Church building but plenty of power abounded.  We were thankful to have survived, in prayer for those who had suffered loss, and holding on to each other.   Every year I am struck by the Collect of the Day which followed on Sunday the 24th of September.  It reads

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This was not our home but the scene was similar.  Trees down everywhere - snapped off about twenty feet up. The landscape and homes trashed.  Two 90 pine trees came down into our house.  Not as bad as McClellanville and environs where the big surge tide came through but bad enough to never forget!

May we never need a Hugo to remind us to love things heavenly and to hold fast to those that shall endure.