Give thanks

Give thanks

Gratitude is riches

Gratitude is riches

generosity

“Sink your generosity deep into our lives
that your muchness may expose our false lack
that endlessly receiving we may endlessly give
so that the world may be made Easter new,
without greedy lack, but only wonder…
Finish your creation, in wonder, love and praise. Amen.”

-Walter Brueggemann

generosity

“Sink your generosity deep into our lives
that your muchness may expose our false lack
that endlessly receiving we may endlessly give
so that the world may be made Easter new,
without greedy lack, but only wonder…
Finish your creation, in wonder, love and praise. Amen.”

-Walter Brueggemann

Surely, it is God who saves me

Canticle 9 The First Song of Isaiah
Isaiah 12:2-6 Ecce, Deus

Surely, it is God who saves me; *
I will trust in him and not be afraid.

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, *
and he will be my Savior.

Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing *
from the springs of salvation.

And on that day you shall say, *
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;

Make his deeds known among the peoples; *
see that they remember that his Name is exalted.

Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things, *
and this is known in all the world.

Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, *
for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Surely, it is God who saves me

Canticle 9 The First Song of Isaiah
Isaiah 12:2-6 Ecce, Deus

Surely, it is God who saves me; *
I will trust in him and not be afraid.

For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense, *
and he will be my Savior.

Therefore you shall draw water with rejoicing *
from the springs of salvation.

And on that day you shall say, *
Give thanks to the Lord and call upon his Name;

Make his deeds known among the peoples; *
see that they remember that his Name is exalted.

Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things, *
and this is known in all the world.

Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy, *
for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Walter Brueggemann on The Eucharist

“The church is the only community in the world that has as its central symbolic act, an act that is called, “Thanks.” The Eucharist. You know Eucharist is Greek for “Thanks.” And participation in the Eucharist is an act of gratitude for the abundance that the creator God gives to the world.

And I think that the neighborly economy can only be funded by gratitude. It is all a gift! I did not make any of it, produce any of it, it is a gift! But the extraction economy wants to think, “It’s mine!” “I made it, I own it, I can do what I want, I don’t have to be grateful to anybody.”

Which leads me to think that participation in the Eucharist is the most subversive thing we can do.

But notice what the long history of the church has done to the Eucharist. It has siphoned off its danger into something about sin and salvation and getting right with God, rather than a meal for the neighborhood. The African Americans in the United Church of Christ calls the Eucharist “The Welcome Table.” All are welcome, no restrictions. All are welcome because there is more than enough.”

-Walter Brueggemann

Reflection on The Eucharist by Walter Brueggemann

“The church is the only community in the world that has as its central symbolic act, an act that is called, “Thanks.” The Eucharist. You know Eucharist is Greek for “Thanks.” And participation in the Eucharist is an act of gratitude for the abundance that the creator God gives to the world.

And I think that the neighborly economy can only be funded by gratitude. It is all a gift! I did not make any of it, produce any of it, it is a gift! But the extraction economy wants to think, “It’s mine!” “I made it, I own it, I can do what I want, I don’t have to be grateful to anybody.”

Which leads me to think that participation in the Eucharist is the most subversive thing we can do.

But notice what the long history of the church has done to the Eucharist. It has siphoned off its danger into something about sin and salvation and getting right with God, rather than a meal for the neighborhood. The African Americans in the United Church of Christ calls the Eucharist “The Welcome Table.” All are welcome, no restrictions. All are welcome because there is more than enough.”

-Walter Brueggemann

Reflection on The Eucharist by Walter Brueggemann

“The church is the only community in the world that has as its central symbolic act, an act that is called, “Thanks.” The Eucharist. You know Eucharist is Greek for “Thanks.” And participation in the Eucharist is an act of gratitude for the abundance that the creator God gives to the world.

And I think that the neighborly economy can only be funded by gratitude. It is all a gift! I did not make any of it, produce any of it, it is a gift! But the extraction economy wants to think, “It’s mine!” “I made it, I own it, I can do what I want, I don’t have to be grateful to anybody.”

Which leads me to think that participation in the Eucharist is the most subversive thing we can do.

But notice what the long history of the church has done to the Eucharist. It has siphoned off its danger into something about sin and salvation and getting right with God, rather than a meal for the neighborhood. The African Americans in the United Church of Christ calls the Eucharist “The Welcome Table.” All are welcome, no restrictions. All are welcome because there is more than enough.”

-Walter Brueggemann

Eagles' Nelson Agholor stays true to his roots during rookie season

Eagles' Nelson Agholor stays true to his roots during rookie season

ON HIS WAY home from the NovaCare Complex Monday night, Nelson Agholor had a lot on his mind.

The rookie receiver had come to the facility on the Eagles' off day to get some lifting in, catch some balls on the JUGS machine and work off any leftover frustration from his up-and-down performance in the loss to the Washington Redskins the day before, which featured his spectacular, one-handed catch and fumbled reverse opportunity on consecutive plays.

Agholor, 22, was minutes from home when he telephoned one of his most cherished confidants.

"He was real disappointed in the fumble, but I just think it's more like, 'Hey, I've learned from it and I've got to get better,' " said Dominick Ciao, Agholor's high school football coach at Berkeley Prep in Tampa, Fla., from 2007-11. "He made a great catch. He never spoke about his catch. To him, it's just about getting better."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20151011_Eagles__Nelson_Agholor_stays_true_to_his_roots_during_rookie_season.html#Phez7vRrsPtOwAWB.99

A Thanksgiving Proclamation

Washington, D.C.

October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards 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 even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful 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 to provoke their aggression, 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 theatre of military conflict; while that theatre 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 defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe 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 battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness 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 States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Happy Thanksgiving - "A Litany of Thanksgiving" and "A Good Day with David Steindl-Rast"

A Litany of Thanksgiving


Let us give thanks to God our Father for all his gifts so
freely bestowed upon us.
For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and
sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.

For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women,
revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.

For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and
our friends,
We thank you, Lord.

For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
We thank you, Lord.

For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
We thank you, Lord.

For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering
and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.

For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.

For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.

Above all, we give you thanks for the great mercies and
promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and theHoly Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.



David Steindl-Rast "A Good Day"

David Steindl-Rast: Want to be happy? Be grateful

The gift of this day

We can easily fall into the trap of forgetting the most basic gifts that we have been given.  The gift of this moment, the gift of this day, the gift of our particular life.  As Jane Kenyon writes in her poem, 'it could be otherwise,"  indeed!


Prayers for gratitude on this day,


~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Otherwise

Jane Kenyon

I got out of bed

on two strong legs.

It might have been

otherwise. I ate

cereal, sweet

milk, ripe, flawless

peach. It might

have been otherwise.

I took the dog uphill

to the birch wood.

All morning I did 

the work I love.

At noon I lay down

with my mate. It might

have been otherwise.

We ate dinner together

at a table with silver

candlesticks. It might

have been otherwise.

I slept in a bed

in a room with paintings

on the walls, and 

planned another day

just like this day.

But one day, I know, 

it will be otherwise.

Source: Collected Poems

hat tip to "Inward/Outward" blog

Easter 4 Sermon

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Fourth Sunday of Easter Sermon

25 April 2010 

Have you heard the news…?

You have been given this day, we have been given this day, perhaps even 24 new hours, to live.  To see glimpses of God's love for us, to experience and share it.

24 new hours.

A gift.

Do we see it this way?  Do we fall into the trap (idolatry) of thinking that we have a fundamental right to this day, ... week, ... year, ... decade and beyond?  A gift, a gift of life.  We have been given this day, can we live in gratitude?


We have a finite amount of time here together, and this is but a temporary home before we go to our ultimate home.  Until then, however, in this time and this place, there may be glimpses and signs of the greater home of the greater glory, of our own deeper reality.  

In the Acts reading today, the widows in the followers of the "way of Jesus" beg Peter to come quickly and raise Tabitha from the dead.  We know that Tabitha was a woman devoted to good works and acts of charity, and the widows had been recipients of her good works and compassion.  They came to Peter not unlike Mary and Martha who came to Jesus and begged to have Jesus bring Lazarus back from the dead.  Here, Peter goes to Tabitha, and through him, God raises her from the dead.  This act is but one of many miraculous acts that we hear about in the lectionary during this season of Easter.  These acts inspire many to become followers and believers to the “way of Jesus.”  

Read the rest HERE

Installation services

We had two great services of Installation of our new Head of School this week that took a lot of work, coordination and planning, but were great services of celebration for her new ministry. I am so thankful for everyone who played a part, and especially those who were on the planning teams who helped this rookie clergyperson to pull of some really fine liturgy. Here's one photo from the Celebration for Students from Tuesday of this week that shows just a few of the participants. I am full of gratitude for the many gifts and offerings made during these two services (and each an every day in this place.)

Thanks to all!

Peace and Blessings,

The Rev. Peter M. Carey