Frontpage, July 26, 2020

July 26, 2020 – Eighth after Pentecost

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The Week Ahead…

July 26 – Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

July 26 – 10:00am, Zoom Church – Join here at 9:30am for gathering – service starts at 10am Meeting ID 834 7356 6532 Password 748475

1. Bulletin for July 26, 10:00am

2. Readings and Prayers Pentecost 8, July 26

3. Sermon

July 26 – 11:15am – National Cathedral church service online

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July 29 – 10:00am – Ecumenical Bible Study through Zoom

July 31 – 7:00am – Episcopal Church Men – Bring your own Breakfast, Parish House

Aug 2 – Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Aug. 2 10:00am – Join here at 9:30am for gathering – service starts at 10am Meeting ID 834 7356 6532 Password 748475

Aug. 2 – 11:15am – National Cathedral church service online

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“Back in the Saddle Again” – The Village Dinner Comes Back in Aug

It has been gone 4 months during Covid-19 but it is back in August on the second Wed (Aug. 12) in a slightly different form:

1. Meals will be take-out only (no dining inside).
2. One person will be the runner to take meals to the cars.
3. The runner will also carry a pot that patrons can place their payment in.
4. Food preparers/kitchen help/runner will wear gloves and face masks.

The meal in August will be Lasagna, bread, salad and for dessert 2 large cookies.

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Sacred Ground Begins Aug 13, 7pm

Plan to join the Sacred Ground discussion group. Sacred Ground is a ten session study that a lot of churches are using to help friends and congregations to talk about the issues around race in the United States.

The program has been developed by The Episcopal Church and Katrina Brown, director of the Traces of the Trade documentary. Through readings and documentaries, we will learn about the history of race in America and the impact it has in our world today and to talk about changes that we can be part of to work for greater justice for all. We’ll gather on Zoom to talk about the challenges and the divides of the present day from a place of faith, hope and love for God and for one another. More information

The first session for this series will be on Zoom, Thursday, August 13, at 7PM. Please let Catherine know if you plan to participate so that you can read and watch the materials provided to focus our discussion at that first session OR online signup

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Ask yourself: What are you grateful for?

By Donna Britt
Washington Post

A few years back, I was headed to the grocery store to buy a lottery ticket whose jackpot was a half-billion dollars when I ran into my neighbor Kathy. Asked if she, too, was joining the throngs buying tickets at gas stations and convenience stores, this happily married mom and grandma replied:

“I already feel like I hit the lottery.”

Her response was a wonderful example of the ancient spiritual principle that anyone looking for uplift in an anxiety-filled world might consider. Ask yourself a simple question:

What are you grateful for?

If your list is short — “My health, my family” — I get it. What could be more priceless, especially now? But think harder. Raising your gratitude game can make you feel happier during these unsettled times. Last year, when one of my yoga students quipped, “It’s impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time,” I had no idea how right she was.

Life is uniquely challenging right now. When unsettling news about the pandemic or protests pins me to my chair, gratitude gives me back my power. I remind myself of how thankful I am for my strong, smart sons; for each box, can and bottle in my pantry; for uncomfortable but long-overdue conversations sparked by our social justice challenges; for the extravagant beauty of birds, flowers and trees that greet my walk; and — especially — for my toddler grandson’s gorgeousness on FaceTime. Being grateful shortens my freakouts and rivets my attention on what matters in this moment.

So why does gratitude so often elude us? For starters, most of us get a bigger kick out of being miserable than we realize. It’s human nature to obsess on things that are broken while barely glancing at all that’s working. Wasn’t griping about being banned from restaurants and bars more fun than noting culinary skills we honed and gas and money we saved by cooking and pouring for ourselves? Plus, everyone’s future feels uncertain. Shoved out of our routines and shaken by a continually changing world, we fret about horrors that could emerge next month — or in the next few hours. If that weren’t enough, it’s hard being grateful when you’re in mourning. It’s been four short months since we were unceremoniously booted from the institutions that moor us: schools, churches, workplaces, gyms. Even with limited access to these establishments now, most of us still grieve the death of our former lives — even if in February we couldn’t stop complaining.

Read more…

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Lectionary, Aug. 2 2020, Pentecost 9,  Proper 13, Year A

I.Theme –   God cares for his creation

 "Christ Feeding the 5000" – Eric Feather

The lectionary readings are here  or individually: 

Old Testament – Isaiah 55:1-5
Psalm – Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-22 Page 801, BCP
Epistle –Romans 9:1-5
Gospel – Matthew 14:13-21 

Our readings this week continue to show how much God cares for His creation. We read about lives changed forever. We hear about the innocent people suffering but also that God understands. God even shows His love for those who disobey Him and turn away from Him. We see that God wants to bless His people and we see that come about with miracles taking place and people being blessed.

We are an open church – we welcome everyone to share in our community:

– even the Babylonians and Persians in Isaiah

– Jews who question the falling away of the Christ movement in Paul

– Those who wanted to cast away the people in the Gospel for a lack of food

The Psalm demonstrates the actions of the Lord – the Lord “raises,” “gives,” “fulfills,” “hears,” and “watches.”  

This week has the only parable contained in all four Gospels – the feeding of the 5,000. Ironically the emphasis of the event is not so much upon the miraculous nature of the feeding, for the usual reference to the astonishment of the disciples and crowd (12:23, 14:33) is absent, as it is upon the implied revelation of who Jesus is.  

At the beginning of the passage, Jesus had retreated on news of John the Baptist death

"This passage shows so beautifully the humanity and divinity of Jesus." writes Rick Morley

"He could have sent them away. He could have told them all what had happened to John. He could have just cried and yelled and screamed. He could have gotten into the boat, conjured up a good storm and been done with them all. 

But, he was moved with compassion. He always is. He was able to see beyond his own pain, and feel the pain they were bringing."

For the early Church, the eucharistic significance of the feeding of the 5,000 made it a central experience in the narratives of Jesus’ ministry

The key acts are all there :

1. Jesus takes the food which is an offering – we give what we have.  

2. Jesus blesses the food by giving thanks. Our liturgy thanks God on behalf of creation, humanity, and the Church. In our lives we struggle to relearn the natural prayer of our childhood, when we woke each morning with wonder and gratitude in our heart. 

3. Jesus breaks the bread. In church, the breaking of the eucharistic bread may help us recall Christ’s sacrifice and death. In our lives, it is our very selves we are challenged to break—our limits of prejudices, fears, and old attitudes. God calls us to break through to a new awareness of the power of God’s love and of the needs of our brothers and sisters. 

4. He shares with all as we extend his ministry to the world.

This is the truth in which Paul exults when he proclaims that nothing, not our fears, not our sins, not the crushing powers of this world or any other can keep us apart from the love of God shown us in Jesus our lord. Our lives are broken, but we are loved forever. 

Read more…

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Bishop Robert Wright, Diocese of Atlanta commentary on Feeding – “Filled”

“Jesus fed five thousand people, the story says…took up scraps and blessed them. All that ate were filled. This story teaches a profound lesson about the nature of God. God is lively and breaks into situations and transforms them. But there’s another lesson here.

“Stories like this one invite us to share and be generous and offer that generosity to our neighbor in God’s name. That’s a very good thing. But, there’s “…a more excellent way.”

“Walter Brueggemann reminds us charity was never supposed to be the overarching goal. “Charity is the patch we use on the way to weaving a new garment.” Charity is a patch until such time that justice ensures enough for everyone. Jesus then is not just meeting a pressing need, he’s modeling “…a new economy that is organized around a love of neighbor and that is committed to the viability of widows, orphans, and immigrants. Widows, orphans and immigrants are people who in the ancient world did not have advocates….

“So it becomes a test case for the economy, (and the religious community) and it is a redistributive economy of respect and viability for vulnerable persons, and there is no way to cover over or to hide or disguise that we are talking about policies of redistribution. And obviously the 1 percent or the 3 percent or the 10 or whatever the top is, intends to keep extracting from the vulnerable until we have only the 1 percent and a big collection of subsistence peasants who have no economic viability. So what we have to do in the church is to educate the church that we are not really in the charity business, we are in the justice business.”

– Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination

QUESTIONS

1. Jesus gives the work back to the disciples to distribute the food. Charity acknowledges we work for a just society, for something better. We all should be filled. Charity acknowledges imperfect but we are on way to somewhere and that way is justice making sure all have the basics. Rob Wright believes the church should be in the justice business as well as the charity business

What steps can we do, should we do to enrich our neighbor during the pandemic? As Bishop Curry says “The way of love is seeking the good the welfare, the well being of others as well as the self.” The Gospel recognizes a social responsibility

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Feeding of the 5,000. How much energy did Jesus need?

Those of you who are scientific minded probably get tired reading all these words. What about numbers ? For you scientific types, using Einstein’s mass/energy conversion equation how much energy did Jesus have to munster to feed the 5,000 ?

Christian Gaffney answers that for you

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William Wilberforce and the movement to end slavery

The rock-like faith of Peter is at the heart of William Wilberforce’s crusade against the English slave trade. England was exporting 50,000 Africans to America a year in his life time. Wilberforce’s life is the subject of the movie "Amazing Grace" (2006).  You can see the trailer here. There is also a short 3 minute introduction to Wilberforce here.

Wilberforce was an English politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade.  He was a political activist and a man of strong faith. 

By the late 1700s, the economics of slavery were so entrenched that only a handful of people thought anything could be done about it. 

Read more about Wilberforce…

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Who Do You Say That I Am" – Finding identity, a short film

Who do you say that I am ?

Life is a journey and your life becomes an expression of something, an expression of someone. Meet a number of characters and their journey to find themselves and those around them. They include a jobless man, a depressed girl, a rich  man, a blonde model, a boyfriend, a basketball boy, a husband, a pregnant wife, a baby and young boy 

This short film was produced by students of the V-Kol Media School. It was written, filmed and edited in one week. All of the students were first time short film makers.  They were finding their own identities while the telling the stories of others in their particular situations.

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Remembering the beginning of World War I – July 28, 1914 – through Poetry

We try to understand war through memorials, the written word and art among other mediums. In particular, poetry flourished in this war among young soldiers. World War I saw a number of fine poets on the battlefields emerge. Here are sites that discuss these contributions:

1. The Lost Poets
2. War Poetry website
3. The Digital archive
4. British War Poetry

The most famous World War I poem is "In Flanders Fields" 

In Flanders Fields

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

"We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

"Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
 In Flanders fields."

-John McCrae 

McCrae was a Canadian physician and fought on the Western Front in 1914, but was then transferred to the medical corps and assigned to a hospital in France. He was asked to conduct the burial service for Alexis Helmer, a friend, because the chaplain had been called away somewhere else on duty that evening. It is believed that later that evening, after the burial, John began the draft for his now famous poem “In Flanders Fields”.  

McCrae died of pneumonia while on active duty in 1918. His volume of poetry, In Flanders Fields and Other Poems, was published in 1919.

The influence of the war poets continued beyond their time. 

In 1962, Benjamin Britten wrote his "War Requiem" for the consecration of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral destroyed in World War II. However, it was dedicated to four friends he lost in World War I.  For his text he used 9 poems  of World War I poet Wilfred Owen interspersed with the Latin Mass for the Dead.  Here is his use of an Owen poem "The Next War" :

"Out there, we’ve walked quite friendly up to Death, —
Sat down and eaten with him, cool and bland, —
Pardoned his spilling mess-tins in our hand.
We’ve sniffed the green thick odour of his breath, —
Our eyes wept, but our courage didn’t writhe.
He’s spat at us with bullets and he’s coughed
Shrapnel. We chorussed when he sang aloft,
 We whistled while he shaved us with his scythe. 

"Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed at him, we leagued with him, old chum.
No soldier’s paid to kick against His powers.
We laughed, — knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags
 He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags."

Owen died at just 25.

We are still looking back in this era. In 2009,  Mark Knopfler, the former front man for the British Band Dire Straits, released a song called "Remembrance Day". Remembrance Day is the English equivalent of Veterans’ Day. 

Here is a part of this moving song: 

"Time has slipped away
The summer sky to autumn yields
A haze of smoke across the fields
Let’s sup and fight another round
And walk the stubbled ground

"When November brings
The poppies on remembrance day
When the vicar comes to say
Lest we forget our sons

"We will remember them
Remember them
Remember them"

Check out the video with pictures from the time.  Here are the complete lyrics.

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