“Boundless Love, thank you for cherishing each person on this planet.”
And so, we greet you in each one:
I greet the enduring love in you. I greet the Compassionate One in you I greet the kindness in you.
I greet the spirit of ancestors in you. I greet the strength to endure in you. I greet the gift of laughter in you. I greet the dancing muse of creativity in you.
I greet the listening heart in you. I greet the radiant light in you. I greet the deep peace in you. I greet the gift of hope in you.
I greet the Holy One’s strength in you. I greet the divine beauty in you. I greet the playful child in you.
I greet the strength to surrender in you. I greet the Beloved One in you.
We greet you Holy One. We greet each other.(from Joyce Rupp Prayer Seeds)
If your life is being transformed by love, you cannot keep it to yourself. You have to get involved in your family, your congregation, your union, your social groups, your community — and turn them into agencies of change. That is why Moses, Jesus and Gandhi would agree that the fundamental law of life is: “You shall love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself.” There can be no private compassion, as I understand it. The business of discovering the mystery but wonder of love must be lived in such a way as to help the grassroots where we live emerge in powerful form for truth, justice, equality, and the Beloved Community.
Silent Reflection
Intentions: We bring to the table:
All of creation. May we take care of all that you have given us and may we take care of each other with loving kindness.
All those in our various communities longing for justice, love, and beloved community.
All those gathered here, for our community, and for all of us on earth.
All those we call family- for those struggling within their relationships, vocation, and health issues.
All those suffering from mental illness, struggling to hope, those who are grieving, and those who are hospitalized.
All those suffering from all kinds of harm.
All those who seek justice, those experiencing racism, sexism, transphobia, and class based rejection.
All those living in poverty, war and the threat of war.
All those suffering from natural and human created disasters.
All those who are suffering from cancer especially those we have on our prayer list.
All those suffering from Covid and the medical staff caring for them. May they find their strength in you.
All our civil servants, politicians, and activists who seek the best for our nation and world, and for those who lust for power, may you inspire love and compassionate beingness.
We pray for these and all the unspoken intentions in our hearts
Closing prayer: Compassionate companion, Boundless love, transform our private compassion into a compassion with global reach. Direct our eyes to see you in all and lead us to walk together in holy mystery, wonder, and love toward a Beloved just Community.
Please join us between 9:30 and 9:55 am via Zoom Here is the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82512159155 phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-8656 Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Welcome and Theme:
Good morning and welcome everyone. We are so very happy to have you with us. Our theme today is the second command given to us by Jesus, ‘To love our neighbours and our enemies as ourselves’.
As we make the transition from the busyness of the world to the peace of our gathering, please take a moment to let the Holy One’s peace settle upon you.
Opening Song:
Love Large – video by Deven Horne and Mary Theresa Streck
An excerpt from "Loving Your Enemies," Sermon Delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church by Martin Luther King Jr. on November 17, 1957
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you.”Certainly, these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command.
Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency.
You must begin by analyzing self. A second thing that an individual must do is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and every time you begin to think of hating that person, realize that there is some good; even the nation, the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of everyone and see deep down within, “the image of God,” place your attention there.And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love because God loves them.
Hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates.
It is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the meaning of these words, and to discover how we can live out this command, and why we should live by this command.
These are the inspired words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the community affirms them by saying AMEN
Sharon B:Psalm 139 [by Nan C. Merrill] Our Psalm Response is: R: Your Love is renewing and healing
O my Beloved,
You have searched me
and known me.
You discern my innermost thoughts.
R: Your Love is renewing and healing
You find me on the journey
and guide my steps;
you know my strengths
and my weaknesses.
R: Your Love is renewing and healing
Even before my words rise up in prayer,
Lo, you have already heard my heart call.
You encompass me with love,
where’er I go,
and your strength is my shield.
R: Your Love is renewing and healing
Such sensitivity is too wonderful,
for me; it is limitless:
boundless gratitude
is my soul’s response.
R: Your Love is renewing and healing
Terri Kersch:Second Reading A Reading from Feast of Days by Cherokee Sage, Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Courage is like a muscle. It doesn’t develop to full capacity until it is used.Courage comes when we stir it up in our spirits and refuse to look at the shape things are in or believe there is nothing, we can do about it.Most of us are timid about facing up to what we know is wrong.It is so much easier to let things ride than it is to take a thorny problem by the smooth handle and shake out the causes.
To have courage doesn’t mean we have to be aggressive and show everyone we are not afraid.Some of the bravest men in history were Indian chiefs trying to protect their land and their people. They used their skills in speaking to bring about understanding.
These are the inspired words of the Cherokee Sage, Joyce Sequichie Hifler, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Deb Trees:Alleluia
GOSPEL
Kathy W: A reading from the gospel attributed to Luke 6:27-38
[The Inclusive Bible]
To you, hear me, I say love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you.When they slap you on one cheek, turn and give them the other: when they take your coat, let them have your shirt as well.Give to all who beg from you. When someone takes what is yours, don’t demand it back. Do to others what you would have them do to you.If you love those who love you, what credit does that give to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to only to those who do good to you, what credit does that give to you?
Even sinners do as much. If you lend to those and you expect them to repay you, what credit does that give to you?Even sinners lend to other sinners expecting to be repaid in full. Love your enemies and do good to them.Lend without expecting repayment and your reward will be great.You will rightly be called children of God who is good, even to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be compassionate as your loving God is compassionate.Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn and you won’t be condemned.Pardon, and you will be pardoned.Give and it will be given to you a full measure – packed down, shaken together, and running over – it will be poured into your lap. For the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.
These are inspired words of the evangelist known as Luke, and the community responds: AMEN!
Shared Homily:Suzanne D
Every February, people across Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom join with the United States to participate in Black History Month.It is part of our Canadian school curriculum, and many events are planned to promote awareness of the history, legacy, and modern-day contributions of those who helped shape the meaning of democratic principles.
Dr. Martin Luther’s King Jr. is among those we honour.He planted seeds with words, travelling the world to more than 20 different countries in a quest to bring about equality and end racial discrimination by non-violent means.Canada is known as the Northern Star of the Underground Railroad, and Dr. King traveled to speak in Windsor several times, once as the guest speaker for the annual Emancipation celebration.Across the river from Detroit, he forged many friendships where he saw Windsor as a meeting place for all nations.He brought people together to talk about peace building and critical social justice problems that were finally being addressed in the middle of the 20th century.
Dr. King’s influence springs forth from his deep faith in God and humankind.Today’s reading is an excerpt from his sermon written 65 years ago, that echoes Luke’s gospel. He uses Matthew’s rendition of his favourite scripture theme, that is found in more than 50 Bible verses in both the Old Testament and New.Today we are asked to love our neighbour and our enemies as ourselves, which is so significant that in all four gospels we hear Jesus declaring this as a second commandment.
But as Dr. King has said, this is a most difficult command. Two thousand years later, we ask ourselves if we have evolved beyond protectionist tribal beliefs to reach out in agape love to those we perceive as being different from ourselves.And how would we even begin to go beyond our personal imagined fears and set violence aside?
We are given guidance from Joyce Sequiche Hifler, a Cherokee sage, who provides an image of courage as the backbone of leadership. She challenges us all to avoid the path of least resistance and honours Indian chiefs who continue to try to protect their people and lands through words, applying wisdom to ‘do no harm’.
The writer of Psalm 139 turns to God, praying for strength and guidance to find love’s way into wisdom.The Gospel writer known as Luke further lights our path by asking us to summon compassion, non-judgment, forgiveness and charity, qualities that rest in the sacred core of us all.
Seeds have been planted and the soil prepared. The message today is promising and hopeful, for it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.Dr. King has asked us to nurture the seeds that have been planted, by first beginning with ourselves, to find the good in our enemy, and to recognize that hate is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates.He has also challenged us to discover the meaning of these prophetic words found in scripture, to consider how we can live out this command and he invites us to discover the underlying ‘why’ this is so important.
What did you hear? What are your thoughts? We would love to hear your insights on today’s readings. Please remember to re-mute yourself when you’re done sharing.
Sharon B: Thank you all for sharing your wisdom with us this morning.Let us join together in saying our Statement of Faith
Statement of Faith
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery beyond all definition and rational understanding, the heart of all that has ever existed, that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word, bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion, bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus as a vehicle of divine love, a source of wisdom and truth, and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One, the life that is our innermost life, the breath moving in our being, the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now, stretched out all around us for those with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it, and hands to make it happen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
(Written by Jay Murnane)
Kathleen R: As we prepare for this sacred meal, we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our prayers for the community.
(Prayers for the community)
We pray for these and all unspoken intentions. Amen.
Suzanne D: Please join in praying the Eucharistic prayer together.
Blessed are you, Holy One, source of all creation. Through your goodness you made this world and called us to be Your co-creators. We give thanks for the diversity and beauty of life around us and within us.
We open our awareness to the goodness of all of creation and we remember our responsibility to serve. You invite us to build the earth into a community of love rooted in justice. You placed confidence in us, for you made us and you know that we are good.
In joy and in thanksgiving we join with all the faithful servants who have gone before us and we sing:
Here in this Place – Holy Holy Holy by Christopher Grundy
Sharon B: We thank you for Jesus, simple servant, lifting up the lowly, revealing you as God-With-Us, and revealing us as one with you and all of creation.
He lived among us to show us who we are and challenged us to know you. He taught us the strength of compassionate love.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
Kathleen R:On the night before he died, Jesus gathered for supper with the people closest to him. Like the least of household servants, he washed their feet, so that they would re-member him.
All lift their plates and pray the following:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift their cups and pray the following:
Kathy Worotny: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives. As we share communion, we become Communion both love’s nourishment and love’s challenge.Please receive Communion with the words, “May I be a blessing in our time”.
Holy One, we are willing to do everything Jesus did, to re-create the living presence of a love that does justice, of a compassion that heals and liberates, of a joy that generates hope, of a light that illumines people and confronts the darkness of every injustice and inequity.
We trust you to continue to share with us your own spirit, the spirit that animated Jesus, for it is through his life and teaching, all honor and glory is yours, O Holy One, forever and ever. Amen.
All: Amen.
Sharon B:Let us pray as Jesus taught us
Holy One, you are within, around and among us. We celebrate your many names. Your wisdom come; your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us. Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits, and we let go. You support us in our power, and we act with courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us, now and forever, Amen.
[Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter]
Blessing
Kathy W:Let us raise our hands and pray the blessing together:
May we continue to be the face of God to each other. May we call each other to extravagant generosity! May we walk in hope with a prayerful awareness that now is the time for a change of heart. May we, like Jesus, be a shining light and make change when we can.
phone-in for (audio only).Phone Number: (646) 558-8656
Meeting ID: 825 1215 9155
Love’s Nourishment and Love’s Challenge
Welcome and Theme: Welcome. We are so very glad to have you with us as we celebrate our liturgy this evening. Our theme tonight is Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.
Opening Prayer: Holy One, let us feel your love surrounding us, supporting us, as we learn to live together in peace, live together in love. Please guide our hearts and minds and hands as we embrace your compassion and let go of judging to build a community of love. AMEN.
Opening Song: Come Ye (from a distance) by Sweet Honey in the Rock
A reading from “Building a Community of Love: bell hooks and Thich Nhat Hanh”
Thich Nhat Hanh: You want to be human. Be angry, it’s okay. But not to practice is not okay. To be angry, that is very human. And to learn how to smile at your anger and make peace with your anger is very nice. That is the whole thing—the meaning of the practice, of the learning. By taking a look at your anger it can be transformed into the kind of energy that you need—understanding and compassion. It is with negative energy that you can make the positive energy. A flower, although beautiful, will become compost someday, but if you know how to transform the compost back into the flower, then you don’t have to worry. You don’t have to worry about your anger because you know how to handle it—to embrace, to recognize, and to transform it. So this is what is possible.
bell hooks: I think this is what people misunderstand about Martin Luther King saying to love your enemies. They think he was just using this silly little phrase, but what he meant was that as Black Americans we need to let our anger go, because holding on to it we hold ourselves down. We oppress ourselves by holding on to anger. My students tell me, we don’t want to love! We’re tired of being loving! And I say to them, if you’re tired of being loving, then you haven’t really been loving, because when you are loving you have more strength. As you were telling us yesterday, we grow stronger in the act of loving. This has been, I think, a very hurting thing for Black Americans—to feel that we can’t love our enemies. People forget what a great tradition we have as African-Americans in the practice of forgiveness and compassion. And if we neglect that tradition, we suffer.
Thich Nhat Hanh: When we have anger in us, we suffer. When we have discrimination in us, we suffer. When we have the complex of superiority, we suffer. When we have the complex of inferiority, we suffer also. So when we are capable of transforming these negative things in us, we are free and happiness is possible.
…
bell hooks: And lastly, what about fear? Because I think that many white people approach black people or Asian people not with hatred or anger but with fear. What can love do for that fear?
Thich Nhat Hanh: Fear is born from ignorance. We think that the other person is trying to take away something from us. But if we look deeply, we see that the desire of the other person is exactly our own desire—to have peace, to be able to have a chance to live. … The only answer to fear is more understanding. And there is no understanding if there is no effort to look more deeply to see what is there in our heart and in the heart of the other person. The Buddha always reminds us that our afflictions, including our fear and our desiring, are born from our ignorance.
These are the inspired words of bell hooks and Thich Nhat Hanh and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
“To you who hear me, I say: love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you. When someone slaps you on one cheek, turn and give them the other. When someone takes your coat, let them have your shirt as well. Give to all who beg from you; and, when someone takes what is yours, don’t demand it back.
“Do to others what you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what merit lies in that? Even evildoers love those who love them. If you do good only to those who do good to you, what merit lies in that? Even evildoers do as much. If you lend to someone and expect repayment, what real credit is that to you? Evildoers lend to other evildoers, expecting to be repaid in full. Love your enemies. Do good to them. Lend without expecting repayment, and your reward will be great. You’ll rightly be called children of the Holy One, since God is good even to the ungrateful and the wicked.
“Be compassionate, as your loving God is compassionate. Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Pardon, and you’ll be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you: a full measure—packed down, shaken together and spilling over—will be poured into your lap. The amount you measure out is the amount you’ll receive.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Luke and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Shared Homily
Statement of Faith
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery beyond all definition and rational understanding, the heart of all that has ever existed, that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word, bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion, bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus as a vehicle of divine love, a source of wisdom and truth, and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One, the life that is our innermost life, the breath moving in our being, the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now, stretched out all around us for those with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it, and hands to make it happen.
Liturgy of the Eucharist
Presider: As we prepare for this sacred meal, we are aware of our call to serve, and just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. We bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns.
Intentions read
Presider: We bring these and all deeply held blessings, cares, and concerns to the table of friendship and peace.
Presider:With open hands let us pray our Eucharistic Prayer together:
All: O Holy One you have sent prophets and messengers to show us the way-Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, Moses and Jesus, Buddha and Mohammad, Hildegard and Teresa, Oscar and Dorothy, and all of us here and now who celebrate this liturgy today.
Everything we do, we do together with You. We cannot be without You. We cannot be without each other. You are made visible in this world with our acts of love and kindness. With grateful hearts we raise our voices and sing:
All: Holy One, slowly this world is moving toward oneness. Your pattern of love is in everything and there are messages of love in every pattern.Help us to stand with each other in love and suffering.The pain of one, is the pain of all.May we co-create with You and restore balance and harmony in our world.
Presider: Please extend your hands in blessing.
All: We invoke Your Spirit upon the gifts of this Eucharistic table, bread of the grain and wine of the grape, that they may become gifts of wisdom, light and truth which remind us of our call to be the body of Christ to the world.
On the night before he faced his own death and for the sake of living fully, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly within them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift their plate and pray the following:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat; this is my very self.
All lift their cup and pray the following:
Presider: He then raised high the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this, I am among you.
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives,
As we share communion, we will become communion
Both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.
Please consume the bread and drink the cup with the words: We are one with our God.
Communion Meditation: Find Our Way to Love by The Many
Written as a response to the horror of Orlando, of Paris, of Charleston, the insanity of a world where hatred and violence seem to be winning, this song is a lament and a search for a different way. Perhaps there are no easy answers, but maybe it begins with us seeing that we are "us" - that we're all in this together on this tender, trembling earth. When I hurt you, I hurt me. Inspired by these powerful words by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from his letter from a Birmingham jail: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects on directly, affects all indirectly.” Lyrics by Lenora Rand. Music by Gary Rand with thanks to Hannah Rand for her help on the song as well as lending her beautiful voice to it. And thanks to the author Rob Bell for this quote: “With every action, comment, conversation, we have the choice to invite Heaven or Hell to Earth.” Amen to that.
Presider: Holy One we know you as the voice of kindness within us and the constant hope that lives in our hearts. We are grateful for the gift of your Spirit, always drawing beauty and balance out of chaos. And like Jesus,
Standing where he stood,
and for what he stood,
and with whom he stood,
we are united in your Spirit
now and forever.Amen.
Let us pray the prayer Jesus:
O Holy One, who is within, around and among us,
We celebrate your many names.
Your Wisdom come.
Your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us,
Each day you give us all we need;
You remind us of our limits, and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us, now and forever.Amen
(Miriam Therese Winter)
Prayer after Communion
Presider: We are one human family. We each light a flame in the darkness of this world.Love one another.Amen.
Presider: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.
May you know you are one with all creation. Love, intentionally, love extravagantly, love unconditionally. Our world waits in the darkness for the light that is you.Amen.
Closing Song: You Get What You Give by the New Radicals
