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| Many thanks to Grete Plender for the lovely garden flowers. |
Services
for this coming Sunday, August 31st, the Twelfth Sunday
after Pentecost, will be at 8 and 10 am. We hope you will join us for worship
and fellowship.
The
readings for this Sunday are Exodus 3:1-15, Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, Romans 12:9-21, Matthew 16:21-28.
First Wednesday Supper will meet this Wednesday evening, September
3rd. We will gather in the Prince Room at 5:30 for a light soup
& salad supper and a reading, followed by conversation and eucharist. We
will close by 7:00.
At
7:00 on Wednesday evening, immediately following the
above-mentioned gathering, there will be open meeting of the FUN-Raising Committee for all who are interested in
helping prepare for the Sandwich Fair. There’s much to be done on many levels
for this major, parish endeavor.
The
Annual Harvest Gathering Party is scheduled for Saturday, September 6, meeting
at Gretchen and Karl’s house at 9 AM
so that we can all go into the field to harvest together. At noon we will gather for a pot-luck meal together at their house. Please
mark you calendar for two weeks from Saturday, and plan to come! No special
skills required.
Lakes Region Convocation (the association of Episcopal
Churches in this region of the state) will
be meeting here at Saint Andrew’s on Tuesday, September 2nd at 7 pm.
This will be preceded by a half hour of social time. The Episcopal Church
is a participatory democracy, with delegates from each parish. If you are
interested in what’s going on in the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New
Hampshire, or if you would like to be part of our ministry of hospitality that
evening (we provide the refreshment), please speak to George Rau or Gretchen Behr-Svendsen.
Or feel free just to come and see!
There will NOT be a
rummage sale this year.
The committee is taking a break from this event for this year. If you planned
to donate items for this year, our friends at Agape Ministries will gladly
accept your donations or spread them out and drop off at other various
locations.
Calling all lovers of homemade jams,
jellies, pickles, etc.
Sandwich Fair is coming up the second weekend of October. Anyone who wishes to
create their own delicacies for sale, please contact David, Gretchen, Chris or
Carol with questions and requests for labels. For all who love to consume
homemade canned goods, consider saving you empty jars for re-use by one of us.
Also, if you frequent yard sales and happen to see 8 or 16oz canning jars, grab
them. (New jars run from $8-$12/case of twelve) We will reimburse you.
Food for thought: The Dance of Action and Contemplation, from Richard Rohr
I believe that the combination of human action from a contemplative center is the greatest art form. It underlies all those other, more visible art forms that we see in great sculpture, music, writing, painting, and most especially, in the art form of human character development. When the external life and the inner life are working together, we always have beauty, symmetry, and actual transformation of persons—lives and actions that inherently sparkle and heal, in part because they can integrate the negativity of failure, sin, and rejection and they can spot their own shadow games.
With most humans, the process begins on the action side; in fact, the entire first half of life for most of us, even introverts, is all about external action. We begin with crawling, walking, playing, speaking. We learn, we experiment, we try, we stumble, we fall. Gradually these enactments grow larger and more “mature,” but we remain largely unaware of our inner and actual motivations or purpose for any of it.
Yes, there are feelings and imaginings during this time, maybe even sustained study, prayer, or disciplined thought, but do not yet call that contemplation. These reflections are necessarily and almost always self-referential, both for good and ill. At this point, life is still largely about “me” and finding my own preferred and proper viewing platform. It has to be. But it is not yet the great art form of the calm union between our inner and outer lives. We must go further.
You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain a certain degree of anxiety, and a willingness to not know—and not even need to know. This ever widens and deepens your perspective. This is how you allow and encounter Mystery and move into the contemplative zone.
Adapted from Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer.
I believe that the combination of human action from a contemplative center is the greatest art form. It underlies all those other, more visible art forms that we see in great sculpture, music, writing, painting, and most especially, in the art form of human character development. When the external life and the inner life are working together, we always have beauty, symmetry, and actual transformation of persons—lives and actions that inherently sparkle and heal, in part because they can integrate the negativity of failure, sin, and rejection and they can spot their own shadow games.
With most humans, the process begins on the action side; in fact, the entire first half of life for most of us, even introverts, is all about external action. We begin with crawling, walking, playing, speaking. We learn, we experiment, we try, we stumble, we fall. Gradually these enactments grow larger and more “mature,” but we remain largely unaware of our inner and actual motivations or purpose for any of it.
Yes, there are feelings and imaginings during this time, maybe even sustained study, prayer, or disciplined thought, but do not yet call that contemplation. These reflections are necessarily and almost always self-referential, both for good and ill. At this point, life is still largely about “me” and finding my own preferred and proper viewing platform. It has to be. But it is not yet the great art form of the calm union between our inner and outer lives. We must go further.
You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain a certain degree of anxiety, and a willingness to not know—and not even need to know. This ever widens and deepens your perspective. This is how you allow and encounter Mystery and move into the contemplative zone.
Adapted from Dancing Standing Still: Healing the World from a Place of Prayer.
See you in church!
Summer blessings,
Heidi+
