Day 3 of Advent "give ear to my words"

Readings for Day 3 of Advent

Psalm 5

Isaiah 1:21-31

1 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Luke 20:9-18

"give ear to my words"

From Psalm 5

¹ Give ear to my words, O LORD; *

consider my meditation.

² Hearken to my cry for help, my King and my God, *

for I make my prayer to you.

The psalmist calls out a rather modern prayer, "give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation," and prays that God might listen to his prayers.  Praying about praying.  As we move into the season of Advent, we might turn to God in prayer and prayer can take many forms.  There are the prayers that we issue in the form of words, such as the Psalmist often does.  "God give me grace!" "God give me patience!"  "God help me!"  "God, I am thankful for all that I have and all that I have."  Words are important, and when we can vocalize our prayers in words, our words become a part of us, and also can become praise and also hope for others.  Prayers of grace and thanksgiving before meals, prayers before a potentially difficult meeting, prayers for safety and a good effort before an athletic competition.  Do we have the courage to offer words of prayer?  Do we have the courage to offer prayers in a variety of contexts?  Do we have the courage to give word to our faith?  Do we have the courage to live out our faith in this way?  St. Francis is reported to have said, "Preach the gospel always, when necessary, use words." Absolutely, I agree.  It can be rather more difficult to live out a theology or a spirituality than it is to write or say a creed.  However, there are also times to speak words of prayer.  

Advent and Christmas can be opportunities for us to give voice to our faith, to actually speak up for "the reason for the season," and to remind people that Christmas is "Christ's Mass" and that it is a recognition of the Incarnation of God becoming Human in the person of Jesus, and also the way this Incarnation lives on today.

Do we have the courage to give voice to prayers that might offer thanksgiving and praise for the "reason for the season"?  I hope and pray that we do.

May Advent continue to offer you blessings,

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

God confronts, converts and consoles

I have been reading Richard Rohr's daily email reflections for some time now.  He is a Roman Catholic priest who runs the Action and Contemplation Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico which is a center in which people delve deeply into their inner lives while they also strive to pursue actions which bring peace and justice to the community and the larger world.  He is a good thinker and challenging writer, and I have been enjoying the ways that he is calling us to be more adult in the way that we are observing and practicing Advent.  Here is his email reflection that was sent out today, well worth the read:

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

ADVENT

Jesus identified his own message with what he called the coming of the “reign of God” or the “kingdom of God,” whereas we have often settled for the sweet coming of a baby who asked little of us in terms ofsurrender, encounter, mutuality or any studying of the Scriptures or the actual teaching of Jesus. This is what I am inviting you to this Advent.  But be forewarned: the Word of God confronts, converts, and consoles us—in that order.  The suffering, injustice and devastation on this planet are too great now to settle for any infantile gospel or any infantile Jesus.  Actually, that has always been true. Adapted from Preparing for Christmas with Richard Rohr, p.2

Day 2 of Advent - "a shield about me"

Day 2 of Advent - First Monday in Advent


Readings from the Daily Office


Isaiah 1:10-20
Psalm 1
Psalm 2
Psalm 3
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Luke 20:1-8


"a shield about me"


In Psalm 3, we hear the cry of one who has "many adversaries," but who also turns to the Lord, who abides in the Lord. The Lord is a shield around the psalmist, though surrounded by many adversaries.  The collect in the service of Eucharist for the first Sunday in Advent yesterday had that wonderful line, "cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light," and here, today, in Psalm 3 we hear of the shield that the Lord provides.  Who are these adversaries?  Are they real, or metaphorical?  Are they under the powers of "darkness" or are they psychological projections from within us?


For those of us living rather comfortable lives, the notion that there are "many adversaries" surrounding us may move us to consider the metaphorical, or psychological aspects of this Psalm.  However, there are many in the world who live in the midst of enemies, and as we journey on the way of Christ, we may find ourselves doing ministry and presence among adversaries.  As we journey along the adventure of following Jesus, it is likely that we will be standing among those who are encountering injustice, oppression, and even the threat of death.


Even if we don't find ourselves there, we will find ourselves encountering adversaries in our lives, adversaries that may lead us to forget our ethical principles, adversaries that may move us off our moorings.  Where will we turn in these moments?  The collect advises us to "cast away the works of darkness"...and "put on the armor of light."  And the psalmist prays with audacious hope:

But you, O LORD, are a shield about me; *

you are my glory, the one who lifts up my head.

We hope, not because our surroundings give us signs that things will get better.  Rather, we pray and live with audacious, courageous, and stupendous hope that comes from God, that comes through our faith in things that we can't quite grasp. God provides for us, even when we are walking though the darkness, even when we are surrounded by adversaries of various stripes.  God provides a shield for us, God provides an armor of light.  God, in Christ, provides for us - and we are to live audacious, courageous and stupendous lives because of it.  

So, put on your armor of light, consider the shield that the Lord provides.  

Have a Blessed Advent,

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Advent 1 Sermon - 28 November 2010

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Advent I Sermon – 28 November 2010

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, VA

In the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

The holiday season can be a set up for major disappointment.  No matter what our age, we may have some images or dreams of the way that this all should go.  Perhaps you are someone who just craves some time to reflect upon this season of expectation, to try to focus upon the image of Mary as she was told that she would give birth to a most amazing child – Emmanuel, God with us.  And so, you desire some time to reflect, to “ponder these things in your heart” as Mary did.  But then, the season is one that blitzes us with social engagements, craziness of holiday shopping, longer “to do” lists, and events at school, at the organizations you support, and even at church.  This is to say nothing of the nearly daily reminders in the mailbox of all the wonderful organizations who need your financial help at this time of year.  So, where do we find the time to reflect, to “ponder these things in our hearts”?  It seems like it would take a spiritual giant such as Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, or Dorothy Day to remember “the reason for the season.”

Perhaps your image or dream of the way that this all should go include aspects that just aren’t possible anymore.  Loved ones live far away or are no longer with us.  We can spend a great deal of energy trying to incorporate the new realities of our lives as we enter the highly-charged season of Advent.  It reminds me a bit of the psalmist who sang, “how can we sing a song of Zion in a strange land.”  As we move through our lives, even the familiar holiday season can feel quite unfamiliar, and we can feel strange – or even feel like a stranger in a strange land as the contexts of our lives deal up changes that our hearts and minds are not quite ready for.  How do we weather these changes as we enter the season?

In addition, the “magic” of the time may seem dampened as we enter middle-age, or even as we enter middle school.  You may desire a white Christmas, like the ones we used to know … this is possible, as the snow buried us last year, but our dreams and images in the minds of our hearts may not match up with the reality. 

Our nostalgia for things past can lead us to cling to things that give comfort, but which may not really feed us.  Creating the image of the “perfect” Christmas tree with a huge pile of presents under it may offer momentary relief from the reality that we are anxious about our lives.  Adorning the house with decorations may give us a fleeting gloss over the fact that there are some key loved ones who are no longer with us.  Our nostalgia for things past can even lead us to focus on the past with an ever tighter grip.  What kind of pie will be served, which church service will we attend, will we be reading from the King James version or some “modern” edition, will we be wearing purple or blue vestments, will we find the cherished stockings, or are we going to have to buy new ones at Target? 

As we enter Advent, I pray that we might have a holy Advent. 

Richard Rohr

“This Advent, I’d like to invite you beyond a merely sentimental understanding of Christmas as “waiting for the baby Jesus” to an adult and social appreciation of the message of the Incarnation of God in Christ.  We Franciscans have always believed that the Incarnation was already the Redemption, because in Jesus’ birth God was already saying that it was good to be human, and God was on our side, and on the side of all creation.

The need on this earth for adult Christianity and the actual message of Jesus is so urgent that we cannot allow this great feast of Christmas, and its preparation in Advent, to be watered down in any way.”

As the swirl of the holiday begins I would offer a few ideas for us as we strive to have a holy Advent that is beyond the merely sentimental understanding of Christmas.  1) Reading the Bible; 2) Pondering these things in your heart like Mary; 3) Preparing the way like John the Baptist; 4) Being shocked with awe, like the shepherds 

When I see the bumper stickers and the billboards that say, “remember the reason for the season,” I wonder if it might somehow be liberating to actually read the Bible.  Ok, here’s what I propose – several ideas:

1)    Get a good Children’s Bible and read the Bible to your kids before bed.

2)    Read the readings for the Daily Office – daily readings from the Old and New Testament which move along through the Advent season.

3)    Read and reflect upon the Sunday readings that are upcoming, so that when you come to church, you’ve done your own thinking on them – and see if we preachers are onto anything at all!

4)    Focus on the Birth Narratives in the Gospels and the narratives of the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  Do you know about Zechariah?

5)    Focus on the words of Isaiah, whose prophesies lay out a vision of a new heaven and a new earth – an age of peace which will follow the judgment of the Lord.

6)    You could download a podcast of James Earl Jones reading the New Testament, which I did, and listened to one Lent while I drove the DC Beltway from Alexandria to Silver Spring.

I would argue that setting out time to read the Bible may offer a bit more depth to the season then you have experienced before.  Listening to a podcast on your drive to work, instead of incessant Christmas tunes.  Reading the stories of the Bible at bedtime instead of an escapist novel.  Reading outloud the stories of the Bible to your children, or spouse (!) instead of Berenstain Bears.

The visions that we have of our past Advents and Christmases stay with us.  In some key ways, reading the Bible may also offer us visions and images that ….

“He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

Isaiah 2:4

1 I was glad when they said to me, *

"Let us go to the house of the LORD."

2 Now our feet are standing *

within your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is built as a city *

that is at unity with itself;

4 To which the tribes go up,

the tribes of the LORD, *

the assembly of Israel,

to praise the Name of the LORD.

Psalm 22: 1-4

salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, . . . Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ

Romans 13

Visit "Advent Reflections at Emmanuel" blog!

Visit today, and every day of Advent.

http://adventemmanuel.blogspot.com/

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Advent - Day 1 "leaning into Advent"

First Sunday in Advent, and First Day of Advent

Daily Readings

Psalm 146    Isaiah 1: 1-9    2 Peter 3: 1-10    Matthew 25: 1-13

Sunday Readings

Isaiah 2:1-5   Romans 13:11-14   Matthew 24:36-44   Psalm 122

Leaning into Advent

When we read the lessons for this first day of Advent in the Daily Office, we see that they each describe a state of leaning.  The image for me is one of leaning forward, leaning into the future, leaning towards something that we might not quite see or know just yet, but leaning nonetheless.  The lesson from Isaiah (1: 1-9) describes the beginning of his vision which describes the destruction of his time - "cities burned with fire; in your very presence aliens devour your land" - but which also names the fact that God has left "a few survivors," there in that desolate place.  Even in the midst of turmoil and destruction, God has left a green shoot which will grow and thrive.  The image also points to our own time, time of trouble, time of turmoil, time of dissention, time of dividing differences.  But we should be reminded that God has provided a green shoot, a bit of hope even in the midst of chaos and change - and a bit of hope is all that is needed.  A bit of faith is all that is needed.

Also in the 2nd letter of Peter we hear words that offer the image of leaning, a leaning forward to a time when Christ will return.  The feet are firmly planted, but the body leans forward in hope and faith to a time of judgment, a time of reckoning, when God will return.  And this time will come "like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire."  All things will change, something new will happen, gloriously new, and we shall be filled with awe.  Our leaning forward in this time of Advent leads us into the deep understanding that God will break in upon this world in a new way, and also, incredibly, that God is always breaking into this world in a new way.

This new way of God breaking into the world should put us into a state of wakefulness, of mindfulness, of deep awareness.  The gospel of Matthew tells the story of the 10 wise bridesmaids who are ready, and are leaning forward into the future, they are ready for the groom who will return at any minute. The sense of waiting in anticipation, with expectation, is charged with the knowledge that God is always becoming known to us in new ways, are we really ready?  "Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour."


These Advent readings help us to lean forward into a state of eager anticipation and expectation.  Get ready!


~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

A video for Advent I

+Rowan Williams on Advent

This is quite excellent.  +Rowan Williams at his best.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

...on Advent

It is the last day of the Christian Year today, and the beginning of the Christian Year begins tomorrow with Advent I, when we begin the season of expectation, of waiting for Christmas - for the coming of Jesus.  The readings of the next four weeks will bring us into the heart of the prophetic vision from the Hebrew Scriptures of awaiting the Messiah and also the stories that preceded Jesus' Birth.

For us, this season of Advent is all to easily eclipsed by the rush to Christmas in the culture all around us.  Where we live, if you don't buy your Christmas tree in the next week or so, there won't be any left, but if you buy it now, the needles may not last until Christmas.  As a child, we would usually buy our Christmas tree just before Christmas, and we spent time in Advent lighting the four candles of the Advent Wreath.  As a child, the waiting was, of course, for the gifts and magic of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, but the waiting did move us into a mindset of expectation of the "not yet" of waiting for Jesus' coming.

This mindset of expectation is one that we can cultivate as we move into the season of Advent.  Considering the figures of Mary, as she lived in the tangible expectation of a child to be born, and the figure of John the Baptist who lived in tangible expectation for the Messiah who would baptize with fire, not with water.  I wish you a "Happy New Years Eve" tonight and a blessed Advent, may you take the time to consider, ponder, and sit deeply in the mindset of expectation.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

...on Advent

It is the last day of the Christian Year today, and the beginning of the Christian Year begins tomorrow with Advent I, when we begin the season of expectation, of waiting for Christmas - for the coming of Jesus.  The readings of the next four weeks will bring us into the heart of the prophetic vision from the Hebrew Scriptures of awaiting the Messiah and also the stories that preceded Jesus' Birth.

For us, this season of Advent is all to easily eclipsed by the rush to Christmas in the culture all around us.  Where we live, if you don't buy your Christmas tree in the next week or so, there won't be any left, but if you buy it now, the needles may not last until Christmas.  As a child, we would usually buy our Christmas tree just before Christmas, and we spent time in Advent lighting the four candles of the Advent Wreath.  As a child, the waiting was, of course, for the gifts and magic of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, but the waiting did move us into a mindset of expectation of the "not yet" of waiting for Jesus' coming.

This mindset of expectation is one that we can cultivate as we move into the season of Advent.  Considering the figures of Mary, as she lived in the tangible expectation of a child to be born, and the figure of John the Baptist who lived in tangible expectation for the Messiah who would baptize with fire, not with water.  I wish you a "Happy New Years Eve" tonight and a blessed Advent, may you take the time to consider, ponder, and sit deeply in the mindset of expectation.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Eucharist on the moon

I've heard this story before, but my mind is deep into the significance of Thankgiving and Eucharist - "eucharisto" which means thanksgiving today.  Did you know that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon?

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Buzz Aldrin, the second astronaut to set foot on the moon:

"I unstowed the elements in their flight packets. I put them and the scripture reading on the little table in front of the abort guidance-system computer. Then I called Houston: 'Houston, this is Eagle ... I would like to request a few moments' silence. I would like to invite each person listening in to contemplate for a few moments the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.'

For me, this meant taking communion. In the blackout I opened the little plastic packages which contained bread and wine. I poured wine into the chalice my parish had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first liquid ever to be poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were consecrated elements."

Thanksgiving Sermon - November 25, 2010

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Thanksgiving Sermon

25 November 2010

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Greenwood, VA

In the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

Philippians 4:4-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

Do we rejoice?  Do we celebrate what we have been given?  Do we start to think that we created things ourselves, rather than resting in the arms of God, resting and rejoicing for all we have.  Rejoice IN the Lord.  God knows us down to our very bones, down to our marrow, and yet, yet…God still holds us close.  The thought seems too wonderful to me.  Though God knows me, my secrets and things I hide from the world – and still God loves me, and God holds us close.  Rejoice in the Lord, always.  Again, I will say, Rejoice!

Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

Do you feel gentle?  Do you turn to your gentle side, or are you more apt to turn to your harsh side?  As we enter into the holiday season, can we recapture our gentle side?  Can we take the time that is needed to let the “better angels of our natures” guide us…and not only guide, us but also that we have the courage to share this gentleness with others.  This time of busy-ness, doing, to do lists, decreasing sunlight, and all the rest may leave us feeling not so gentle.  However, we can turn to God, take time for silence and find great comfort.

The Lord is near.

The Lord is near!  There is a bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is coming, look busy.”  I would say, Jesus is coming – Rejoice!

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Do you worry?  Do you fear?  We are in the midst of wars abroad, and an economy that leaves us wondering how the future will look.  We are in the midst of political battles that leave us falling back to old and tired divisions between left and right.  Do not worry about anything.  But pray.  Pray.  By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God!  Give it to God.  Do not worry!

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And you will be blessed.  The peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.  You are blessed.  The peace of God will wash over you like a warm breeze.  The fears and anxieties are taken away, and God’s peace, which surpasses all our imaginations, all of our understanding, all of our dreams and visions will overcome us and leave us at rest, in peace.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

And so, think about these things.  Think about how we should rejoice in God.  Think about turning to our gentleness.  Think about the fact that the Lord is near!  The Lord is near!  Turn over your worry to God in prayer and supplication.  And that awesome peace of God will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 

Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

And don’t only think about these things, but keep on doing them.  Keep on doing that rejoicing, with gentleness, without worry, offering prayers, and recognizing the peace which passes all understanding.. That peace which we cannot fully understand; but only experience a piece of here in this time.  That peace which may come to us in this holiday time, if we take the time for silence, time for gratitude, time for thanksgiving, time for eucharisto – Eucharist.  Keep on doing the things that we have learned and received and heard and seen in Christ, for the God of peace will be with us!  Amen!

The only appropriate response is gratefulness...

Thank you Brother David Steindle-Rast!

"A Good Day"

Peace be with you,

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Thank you

If the only prayer you say in your entire life is thank you, that will suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

Thanksgiving is this holiday which has become a gorge-fest of eating and watching parades and football on television.  However, it at least is not drenched with candy and the getting of gifts.  Of course I do love getting gifts, and love giving gifts, but I do get a bit Scroogy - a bit Grinchy when it comes to many of our holidays.  Many of our holidays seem to become yet another excuse for the advertising industry to convince us that if we buy just one more thing, we'll be happy.  Thanksgiving has, in some ways, avoided this fate (although it is followed by Black Friday, so I may be putting too much hope in Thanksgiving).

Thanksgiving is this wonderful holiday that can unite people who may conceive of God in different ways, actually, the holiday can even bring together those who may be struggling with their understanding of the Almighty with those who profess a more orthodox faith.  The attitude of gratitude is one that we all can cultivate, and I hope that in the midst of the Turkey and parades and Turkey Trots and the NFL we might offer a hymn, prayer, or thought of thanks for all we have and all that we are.  Today.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

photo credit - Scott Gunn - Lambeth 2008

Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the everwatchful providence of almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated States to be affixed.

~Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Day Proclamation, October 3, 1863

Gratitude

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

Happy Thanksgiving week!

‎"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new." 


~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is there anything to add?

I am having trouble preaching on the Thanksgiving RCL texts because they seem self-evident, deep, rich, and wonderful.  What on earth could I add to them?


From the Collect, "Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty."  


From the Old Testament Lesson:  "The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me." 


From the Psalm: "the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures from age to age."


From the Epistle: "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."


From the Gospel: "Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."


~The Rev. Peter M. Carey


Check them out for yourself:


Thanksgiving Day
Year C
RCL
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 100
Philippians 4:4-9
John 6:25-35


Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Deuteronomy 26:1-11
When you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, "Today I declare to the LORD your God that I have come into the land that the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us." When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the LORD your God, you shall make this response before the LORD your God: "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me." You shall set it down before the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house.

Psalm 100 Page 729, BCP
Jubilate Deo
1 
Be joyful in the LORD, all you lands; *
serve the LORD with gladness
and come before his presence with a song. 
2 
Know this: The LORD himself is God; *
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. 
3 
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise; *
give thanks to him and call upon his Name. 
4 
For the LORD is good;
his mercy is everlasting; *
and his faithfulness endures from age to age. 


Philippians 4:4-9
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

John 6:25-35
When the crowd found Jesus on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal." Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, `He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

YES! ... Richmond Marathon!

The Richmond Marathon was great...I'm still recovering a bit, but it was a great time...here are a few images from the day!  What a great event, beautiful weather, and a wonderful way to see Richmond!

~Peter Carey

An early start to the day...up at 4 to drive to Richmond

The eventual winner, Mark Chepse, warming up...

Me at the start...hoping to warm up en route...

at Mile 8

the finish!  Yee Haw!!

at the finish...