MidWeek Pause Service 2-16-22
Bring your Hopes, Bring your Doubts, Feed your Soul.
Pause Worship Video is posted below.
Order
Welcome-Travis
Guided Meditation
Song -O Lord Hear Our Prayer
The Northern Vicar (pastoral notes from the intersection of Northern Exposure and The Vicar of Dibley)
A couple of stories this week caught my attention. Recently, a Catholic priest in Michigan was informed by the Vatican that his baptism and ordination –
and all the baptisms, weddings, and Eucharistic offerings he performed as a priest – were invalid because the Archbishop who baptized the priest when
he was an infant said “We baptize you in the name of…” rather than “I baptize you in the name of…”
The other story was in the Sunday New York Times. Actor Christopher Walken was asked to describe the perfect Sunday morning,
“The New York Sunday Times with a cup of coffee, in front of the fireplace. That is beautiful.”
Those two stories illustrate the difficulty ahead of us. Even if people put the paper down and consider being part of a faith community
they think we are more worried about whether a priest used the first person plural 30 years ago rather than the issues of the day: loneliness,
despair, racism, the environment, peace, & etc It’s enough to make you wonder if Metro Transit is still hiring bus drivers!
But this week at Judson Church I heard people struggling and wrestling with the meaning of what does it mean to be anti-racist;
I heard people trying to find ways to offer youth more leadership within the community; I heard everyone in staff reviews sharing ways
to make Judson a more thriving community; I read drafts of letters about Judson being their “home” and had numerous conversations on the phone,
email and texts about the importance of hospitality. There were no grammar debates, instead, there were conversations and hopes about a way
of life that just might make somebody want to put down the paper on a Sunday morning…
Peace,
Travis
On Sunday we will center on Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Plain, Luke 6:27-38. In this ‘sermon’ Jesus instructs us to pray for our enemies,
poet Joy Harjo reveals why that just may be a life-changing practice.
Poem for the Day “This Morning I Pray for My Enemies” by Joy Harjo
And whom do I call my enemy?
I turn in the direction of the sun and keep walking.
The heart is the smaller cousin of the sun.
It hears the gnashing even as it hears the blessing.
An enemy who gets in, risks the danger of becoming a friend.
Ponderings from the Pews – a Judson Second Hour experience, February 20th –
Sip a little coffee, devour a delicious donut, and warm your hearts with stories.
Several Judson family members will share their ponderings, musings, and stories during a
second-hour gathering in Judson’s sanctuary following Sunday’s worship service.
Masks are required and social distancing is strongly urged.
Please join us for this special time!
Find Judson on the internet through our link tree, linktr.ee/JudsonChurch
The February Messenger, Tree of Life, and Calendar can be found by clicking here