One Heart. One Team. One Love.

From the UVA Women's Lacrosse team's Twitter account.

One Heart. One Team. One Love.  We love you Yeardley!

Royal Wedding cartwheels down the aisle! - (real ones!!)

Wow, check out this verger cartwheeling down the aisle!

Real!

A better Royal Wedding entrance

I still wish the real wedding entrance was a bit more like this:

Google's Royal Wedding doodle

Rowan Williams on the Royal Wedding

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams reflected on marriage, and on the Royal Wedding in a recent YouTube.  Brilliant!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Chrysostom on friendship

‎"As bright bodies emit rays to a distance, and flowers drop their sweet leaves on the ground around them, so friends impart favor even to the places where they dwell. With friends even poverty is pleasant. Words cannot express the joy which a friend imparts; they only can know who have experienced." 


~ St. John Chrysostom

Wednesday in Easter Week

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Easter Week, by Joyce Kilmer - Poetry for Poetry Month

Easter Week
by Joyce Kilmer

(In memory of Joseph Mary Plunkett)

("Romantic Ireland's dead and gone,
It's with O'Leary in the grave.") —William Butler Yeats.

"Romantic Ireland's dead and gone,

    It's with O'Leary in the grave."

Then, Yeats, what gave that Easter dawn

    A hue so radiantly brave?

There was a rain of blood that day,

    Red rain in gay blue April weather.

It blessed the earth till it gave birth

    To valour thick as blooms of heather.

Romantic Ireland never dies!

    O'Leary lies in fertile ground,

And songs and spears throughout the years

    Rise up where patriot graves are found.

Immortal patriots newly dead

    And ye that bled in bygone years,

What banners rise before your eyes?

    What is the tune that greets your ears?

The young Republic's banners smile

    For many a mile where troops convene.

O'Connell street is loudly sweet

    With strains of Wearing of the Green.

The soil of Ireland throbs and glows

    With life that knows the hour is here

To strike again like Irishmen

    For that which Irishmen hold dear.

Lord Edward leaves his resting place

    And Sarsfield's face is glad and fierce.

See Emmet leap from troubled sleep

    To grasp the hand of Padraic Pearse!

There is no rope can strangle song

    And not for long death takes his toll.

No prison bars can dim the stars

    Nor quicklime eat the living soul.

Romantic Ireland is not old.

    For years untold her youth shall shine.

Her heart is fed on Heavenly bread,

    The blood of martyrs is her wine.

Tuesday in Easter Week

O God, who by the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light: Grant that we, who have been raised with him, may abide in his presence and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be dominion and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

Easter Sermon - "I have seen the Lord!" - 24 April 2011 - The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Easter Sermon

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood, VA

In the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia

24 April 2011

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look

favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred

mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry

out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world

see and know that things which were cast down are being

raised up, and things which had grown old are being made

new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection

by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus

Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity

of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Almighty God, by the Passover of your Son you have brought

us out of sin into righteousness and out of death into life:

Grant to those who are sealed by your Holy Spirit the will

and the power to proclaim you to all the world; through Jesus

Christ our Lord.  Amen.

This is the moment of new creation.

This is the first day of God’s new week.

The darkness is gone, and the sun is shining. ~ N.T. Wright

Wake up, my spirit;

awake, lute and harp.

I myself will wake the dawn.

                                    ~Psalm 108:2

Running

Seeing

Turning

Sharing the good news.

Early that morning

Mary Magdalene went to the tomb

She saw

She saw that the stone was cast aside

She ran

She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple

Peter, and the other disciple

ran to the tomb

The first post-resurrection race!

They ran

And the other disciple reached the tomb first

He saw

..he saw the linen wrappings

Peter arrived

and went in

He saw

…he saw the linen wrappings rolled up.

They saw the empty tomb

but they did not fully understand

that Jesus “must rise from the dead”

they returned to their homes.

Perhaps this was the end of the story.

But Mary stood weeping

Outside the tomb.

She looked into the tomb

And she saw…

…what was that?

She saw two angels sitting

where the body of Jesus had been lying

as if they were protecting, or mourning, or signifying

something new.

But.

Could there be something new?

Here at the end?

The story that seemed to end, might have another chapter?

They spoke to her,

and asked her why she was weeping.

“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

She turned,

She turned,

And saw a man,

Perhaps it was the gardener.

He asks, “why are you weeping,”…

. . . she wants to know where they have put Jesus’s body.

He says to her, “Mary!”

MARY

Mary

Mary

Calling her by name.

Calling her to new life,

Calling her to turn and see

…that the story would go on.

She turned,

She turned,

And she said to him, “Rabbouni!”

He said,

“Go”

He said,
“Tell!”

He said,

“Tell my brothers!”

The story is not over,

there is something new.

“I am ascending

to my Father and your Father,

to my God and your God!”

Mary went,

And said,

“I have seen the Lord!”

Just as Mary mistakes Jesus for the gardener, we also focus on the ends rather than the beginnings, on the past rather than the future, on the decaying rather than the new.  God has breathed new life into us, God has breathed new life into the world, God has breathed new life into our old and tired world. 

There is no power that can hold him down, or lock him up.  The stone, the entrance to this tomb, this cave, this stone is heaved away. 

He is risen!

He is alive,

and we are also alive.

Where the book seems to end

a new page has been affixed.

Where time seems to have run out

some seconds were put back on the clock.

The tale we have told,

is but a portion of the story of God.

“Nothing can separate us from the love of God.” Romans 8:38-39 

“Neither death,

nor life,

nor angels,

nor rulers,

nor things present,

nor things to come,

nor powers,

nor height,

nor depth,

nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And since we are not separated form God, we joyfully re-enter life as a blessing.  Let Jesus call your own name.  Like Mary who ran and proclaimed, “I have seen the Lord,” we can embrace the new life for us.  We can turn and get busy.  We can get busy forgiving and blessing! Our mission is to go out, “rejoicing in the power of the Spirit,” our mission is to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself.”  Our own baptismal covenant offers us the pathway to follow in the way of Jesus, rejoicing always in the power of the Spirit. 

“Our lives seem small and insignificant, yet one life is a significant piece of the eternal and cosmic Christ, a short moment of Incarnation that is building up the Body of God.  You belong to God’s universe because everything belongs.  Every part of you belongs, and no part need be rejected or denied, but only educated, healed, forgiven, and set free in new form. . . .All is transformed.  Grace is everywhere.” ~Richard Rohr

This Easter is for you, and for me, and for the entire world.  Here we hear the first Easter sermon, preached and proclaimed by a woman, joyful, hopeful, and real.  Mary saw, and she ran, and she proclaimed!  Here we hear the first sermon, the first Easter sermon, preached on the first Easter.  “I have seen the Lord!” “He is risen,  Alleluia!”

"I have seen the Lord!" ~ Happy Easter!

John 20:1-18


Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Prayer for Holy Saturday

A Prayer for Holy Saturday 


O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Happy Earth Day

Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward, by John Donne

Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward

Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this,

The intelligence that moves, devotion is,

And as the other Spheares, by being growne

Subject to forraigne motion, lose their owne,

And being by others hurried every day,

Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey:

Pleasure or businesse, so, our Soules admit

For their first mover, and are whirld by it.

Hence is't, that I am carryed towards the West

This day, when my Soules forme bends toward the East.

There I should see a Sunne, by rising set,

And by that setting endlesse day beget;

But that Christ on this Crosse, did rise and fall,

Sinne had eternally benighted all.

Yet dare I'almost be glad, I do not see

That spectacle of too much weight for mee.

Who sees Gods face, that is selfe life, must dye;

What a death were it then to see God dye?

It made his owne Lieutenant Nature shrinke,

It made his footstoole crack, and the Sunne winke.

Could I behold those hands which span the Poles,

And tune all spheares at once peirc'd with those holes?

Could I behold that endlesse height which is

Zenith to us, and our Antipodes,

Humbled below us? or that blood which is

The seat of all our Soules, if not of his,

Made durt of dust, or that flesh which was worne

By God, for his apparell, rag'd, and torne?

If on these things I durst not looke, durst I

Upon his miserable mother cast mine eye,

Who was Gods partner here, and furnish'd thus

Halfe of that Sacrifice, which ransom'd us?

Though these things, as I ride, be from mine eye,

They'are present yet unto my memory,

For that looks towards them; and thou look'st towards mee,

O Saviour, as thou hang'st upon the tree;

I turne my backe to thee, but to receive

Corrections, till thy mercies bid thee leave.

O thinke mee worth thine anger, punish mee,

Burne off my rusts, and my deformity,

Restore thine Image, so much, by thy grace,

That thou may'st know mee, and I'll turne my face.

Were you there? sung by Johnny Cash

A prayer for Good Friday

A Prayer for Good Friday: 


Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In wildness is the preservation of the world, Henry David Thoreau - Earth Day

The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild, and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the World. Every tree sends its fibers forth in search of the Wild. The cities import it at any price. Men plow and sail for it. From the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind. 

Ready for Silence, Madeleine L'Engle - Poetry for Poetry Month

Ready for Silence
Madeleine L'Engle

Then hear now the silence
He comes in the silence
in silence he enters
the womb of the bearer
in silence he goes to
the realm of the shadows
redeeming and shriving
in silence he moves from
the grave cloths, the dark tomb
in silence he rises
ascends to the glory
leaving his promise
leaving his comfort
leaving his silence

So come now, Lord Jesus
Come in your silence
breaking our noising
laughter of panic
breaking this earth's time
breaking us breaking us
quickly Lord Jesus
make no long tarrying

When will you come
and how will you come
and will we be ready
for silence
                  your silence

"Sit here while I pray."

“They went to a place called Gethsemane; and Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’  Jesus came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep?  Could you not keep awake one hour?  Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”  

Mark 14:32, 37-38

Last Supper by the "Brick New Testament - Legos - Blogging Holy Week

Last Supper, by Lost - Blogging Holy Week

Dali's Last Supper - Blogging Holy Week

Gethsemane by Mary Oliver - Poem for Poetry Month

Gethsemane, by Mary Oliver

The grass never sleeps.
Or the roses.
Nor does the lily have a secret eye that shuts until morning.

Jesus said, wait with me. But the disciples slept.

The cricket has such splendid fringe on its feet,
and it sings, have you noticed, with its whole body,
and heaven knows if it ever sleeps.

Jesus said, wait with me. And maybe the stars did, maybe the wind wound itself into a silver tree, and didn't move, maybe
the lake far away, where once he walked as on a
blue pavement,
lay still and waited, wild awake.

Oh the dear bodies, slumped and eye-shut, that could not
keep that vigil, how they must have wept,
so utterly human, knowing this too
must be a part of the story.

Corey Harris - The Conquering Lion - The feedback Sessions - part 2 - CVille

Corey Harris - The Conquering Lion - The feedback Sessions - part 2 - CVille

Awesome!

Corey Harris - the feedback sessions part 1 - CVille

Corey Harris - My Daily Bread...

He rocks!

Life of Brian - "I'm alive!!!"

Blogging Holy Week...you really must watch Life of Brian!

God says yes to me, by Kaylin Haught - Poetry for Poetry Month

God says yes to me

I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don't paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I'm telling you is
Yes Yes Yes

"God Says Yes To Me" by Kaylin Haught

Rowan Williams on Holy Week - Blogging Holy Week

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, gives his thoughts on Holy Week.

Holy Week is 'a week when we discover in a way we don't at any other time just we are and just who God is'.

Jesus enters Jerusalem, by Giotto - Blogging Holy Week

Image by Giotto, Arena Chapel frescoes

I like to see a thunderstorm, by Elizabeth Coatsworth - Poetry for Poetry Month

I Like To See A Thunderstorm

I like to see a thunderstorm,

A dunder storm,

A blunder storm,

I like to see it, black and slow,

Come tumbling down the hills.

A plunder storm,

A wonder storm,

Roar loudly at out little house

And shake the window sills!

~ Elizabeth Coatsworth (1893-1986)

I wandered lonely as a cloud, by William Wordsworth - Poetry for Poetry Month

I wandered lonely as a cloud, by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

We are not converted only once

"We are not converted only once in our lives but many times. 
And it is this endless series of upheavals, large and small, 
which leads to our transformation in Christ." - Thomas Merton

(hat tip to my friend and wise woman, Amanda!)

O Captain My Captain, by Walt Whitman - Poetry for Poetry Month

In honor of Abraham Lincoln on the anniversary of the day he died, a poem written in his honor by Walt Whitman:


O Captain my Captain!
by Walt Whitman

O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.