Gathering Music
Welcome and Announcements
Centering
Prelude
Original Composition
by Mary Bopp
Introduction to the Service
Chalice Lighting
"You are Welcome Here"
by Rev. Allison Palm
We gather this morning on the brink of a new congregational year,
Some of us come fresh from summer adventures,
From wind and waves and sunshine.
Some of us come broken down from summer losses,
From tears and pain and heartache.
Some of us come renewed from summer rest,
From peace and solitude and contemplation.
Some of us come wearied from summer monotony,
From work and heat and sameness.
Whoever you are, wherever you come from, whatever gifts and needs you bring,
You are welcome here
Opening Hymn
#361 Enter, Rejoice, & Come In
Words & Music by Louise Ruspini
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Today will be a joyful day;
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Open your ears to the song.
Open your ears to the song.
Today will be a joyful day;
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Open your hearts ev'ry one.
Open your hearts ev'ry one.
Today will be a joyful day;
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Don't be afraid of some change.
Don't be afraid of some change.
Today will be a joyful day;
Enter, rejoice, and come in.
Reading 1
"Prayer for an Invitation"
Poem by David Whyte
I pray for you, world
to come and find me,
to see me and recognize me
and beckon me out,
to call me
even when I lose
the ability to call on
you who have searched
so long for me.
I pray to understand
the stranger inside me
who will emerge in the end
to take your gift.
I pray for the world
to find me
in its own wise way.
I pray to be wanted
and needed
by those I have
learned to love
and those
I must learn to love.
I pray to be wanted
and needed
by those I cannot recognize
in my self-imposed
aloneness.
And
I pray to be wanted
and needed
by those
I wish to be wanted by.
But I acknowledge
the power
of your beautiful
disguise, and I ask
for the patient heart
of all things
to understand
the abiding
fear I feel
in following
your unknown
ways,
in my
fear of receiving,
in my fear of taking your hand,
in my fear
of following
your hidden,
difficult
and forever
beckoning way
Welcoming Visitors and Joys & Concerns
Musical Response
Reading 2
Reflection on Mary Oliver's poem: Invitation
by Fay Adams
There is an urgency in this poem. Mary begs us not to miss out on what is offered up to us. She says that especially here, especially now, especially when much of what we see and hear about is brokenness, we must not forget the feast that is offered up to us already. Simply by virtue of our being alive and being in the magnificent company of Life's abundance it is offered ... This could be the moment of revolution. Albeit a quiet and personal one. Here is the question I will take with me from this poem: even in my 'busy and very important day' (which every day needs to be!), can I let the wonders of Life change me?
Invitation
Poem by Mary Oliver
Oh do you have time
to linger
for just a little while
out of your busy
and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expresive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
And not for the sake of winning
but for the sheer delight and gratitude--
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
Offering
Original Composition
by Mary Bopp
Sermon
Closing Hymn
#188 "Come, Come, Whoever You Are"
Words adapted from Rumi
Music by Lynn Adair Unger
Come, come, whoever you are,
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
Ours is no caravan of despair.
Come, yet again, come.
Extinguishing the Chalice
"A First Step Faith"
by Rev. Scott Tayler
Go with faith,
not the kind that is called to move mountains,
but the quieter sort
that calls us to take the first step
even when the whole staircase sits beyond our view.
And as we move toward the unseen
may we notice that the way unfolds only as we risk traveling it
that on this journey
we are never alone.
Amen
Closing Circle
May faith in the spirit of life
And hope for the community of Earth
And love of the light in each other
Be ours now, and in all the days to come.