Sunday worship, 19 September 2010

I attended the forum prior to worship this morning at St. John's. It was the first time I had been in the undercroft of the church, and I found this prayer on a bulletin board:

Lord,
When I am hungry, send me someone to feed
When I am thirsty, send me someone who needs a drink
When I am old, send me someone to warm
When I am sad, send me someone to cheer
When I need understanding, send me someone who needs mine
When I need to be looked after, send me someone to care for
When I think only of myself, draw my thoughts to another
So let us pray as though everything depends of God
And work as though God depends on us for everything
Amen.

It did not have an author, but is an amazing prayer, in my opinion.

The forum was led by a person who ministers in a prison in Baltimore, Maryland. He shared that the number one problem for prisoners is the death of a loved one: they are not allowed to leave for funerals, and so the loss of a loved one with no closure is especially difficult. I cannot imagine how challenging his job must be.

The celebrant at worship was the Rev. Lawrence Estey. Scriptures read were Jeremiah 8:18-9:1, Psalm 79:1-9, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, and Luke 16:1-13.

He talked of how disappointed we can be when we entrust something of value to someone else, and then they disappoint us. He talked of how we can often forgive the other if it is someone we love, but how suspicious we are of those with whom we deal commerically: we will change rather than try to understand what happened that caused the disappointment. He, too, used the parable of the prodigal son (not a part of today's readings) in his sermon. He assured us that there is no score keeping allowed. We need to forgive and move on. We need to stop counting our wrongs and simply forgive. And keep on forgiving, for such is the kingdom of God, for such is the Grace of God. Doing so might change a small part of the world. And that might make a huge difference.

The words about this lesson are my interpretation of what was said. The actual words said and ideas presented belong to Rev. Estey and were delivered in a manner that was more interesting and likely clearer than what I have shared here.

During announcements, we learned that there were three strong candidates for the associate rector position at St. John's/on Mount Desert Island. I can only imagine the decision was difficult given the candidates whose names I heard: any choice would have been a great asset to this community of faith. Emily Blair Stribling will be the new associate rector at St. John's, with an island-wide connection to all parishes. And so the experiment here in shared pastoral resources continues. I am sad I will not be here to be a part of it.