How was church today?

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The curious thing is that More Voices has a lot of beautiful contemporary hymns with a more progressive theology. If MV does not have a sufficient number of hymns and your congregations likes variety, Evangelical Lutheran Worship also has a a lot of progressive, upbeat ones.
Exactly GiancarloZ!! I asked a while back about More Voices - and the quick reply was that it was "too old" ! It is often the source for much of the music at UCCan GC and regional meetings - and I love it!
 
The past Sunday I led the worship service at the assisted-living residence again, and this time it worked better.
I cut a lot of parts of the liturgy, but it still felt a little rushed for me. Next time it will need to be even leaner.
I draw almost everything from the Book of Common Prayer and used the KJV bible for the Gospel reading, which they seemed to enjoy. And most of them knew the responses by heart.
I didn't write the sermon/message myself, but used a resource of the Presbyterian Church (USA) called Looking into the Lectionary, which brings good sermon starters. As I don't have much time there, I used just the starter as it was very concise. It can be read here.
Hymns were very classical: Jesus Loves Me, Seek Ye First, Be Thou My Vision, and Here I Am Lord. We sang O Canada as our postlude.
Everyone sang along and I received many compliments for the selection.
I think it was an 8. To be 10, I would need more ten minutes OR less elements. More 10 minutes is out of question, so I will work to cut even more things for the next time.
 
Today the sermon was on the eneagram based on characters from Winnie the Pooh. Listening to the sermon I was either the Owl or Eyore, a 5 or 4 on the eneagram. Being curious I decided to do an enegram test online tonight and it typed me as "probably a 5 with wing 4". I had to look up what the heck a wing was and it is tendencies towards. I'm thinking life would be a whole lot easier if I were a 9 like Winnie and was just content with my jar of honey....
 
A fellow LLWL did the service at our church yesterday, and she did a great job...gave me some different ideas to think about regarding the "Who is my neighbour?" question that was asked of Jesus.
 
Today the sermon was on the eneagram based on characters from Winnie the Pooh. Listening to the sermon I was either the Owl or Eyore, a 5 or 4 on the eneagram. Being curious I decided to do an enegram test online tonight and it typed me as "probably a 5 with wing 4". I had to look up what the heck a wing was and it is tendencies towards. I'm thinking life would be a whole lot easier if I were a 9 like Winnie and was just content with my jar of honey....

Oh my suite Baubo ... and then on a winger look up historical accounts of Bauboo! An image of a body lost ... when some relations just go to your head ... man its awful!

Some neuroscience says that it is aeneid ... required to bring well fired people down from the stars when flamed ... by rye visions!

Then some other folk will deny everything ... inclusive of the greater psyche! It is worth the trip to catch the fringe ...
 
Our service refreshed my mind, soul and powers of thought on the nature of transliteration ... which is opposed by literal laws!

Then the alternate says that knowing is evil ... thus an naivete in the ploy that might be called a negative conspiracy ... quantum state bichance that could shift to bic hanse ... English causes funny shifts in the origins ... right off the top of the head ... abstraction! Far out pilgrimages ...

Some say farc eids are frac tel! Word slippage is like that ... as the inky runs ... strokes of changing luck!

It almost appears that "memes" and "quanta" may relate ... bumps and holes where things ground to a halt! So may myths to gather and relate as they are generally lost out there ... potent observational science with dew care is annis! Translated, it is a lost concern when following emotions alone as in that state one doesn't process well ...

Solution of dissolution? Read intuit with a grain (salted)! These may be fired across the synaptic gap ... separates the agonist , antagonist, reverse agonist in the protagonist as appearing as stimulant in the myth ... very complex and dispised by those wishing for simple things ... considering how complex is the ploy we've created.

Did you know ploy is a metaphor of conspiracy? I'm sorry ... you probably didn't feel you needed to know that ... thus disowned, denied, etc as the night falls! It is adequate to give rise to what beAtmon ...
 
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Robin's shadow thus retreated in the knight ... like Jean de Arcy ... anglicized to archedaimons as the sun comes into focus! Whirley gigs cause daze and singular bits of information arise so as not the overwhelm the stumped!

Tis all sacred within the myth ... well obscured ... like occi dentalism ... and soft teeth of some abstracts! That B intoxicant Oz ... that far out sensuality ... a sign, iconic warning of what you have the power to get into by Osis! "Meme" braens ... some go to seed and are distributed as dark unseen tiny things ... Muse Tardy? Drag on humour ...
 
Today the sermon was Rev. John interviewing Carolyn Pogue. Carolyn had some of her artwork on display and it was all dead bird skeletons and bones that she had found and then turned into different pieces of art. It was interesting and who would have thought of Carolyn as Granny-Goth with an interest in dead bird bones. Ha ha ha and speaking of Magnificent Obsessions, I had a nice 90 km bike ride after church.
 
I thought church went quite well. I was leading worship with asnall congregation across the river. I was a bit nervous about my topic because I felt called to speak a bout being righteous as opposed to self=righteous in our lives; I was afraid someone might think I was fointing a finger directly at them. It wasn't meant for any one person or congregation, but for all of us to examine ourselves and humbly admit where we can do better. But the energy was good, and the feedback during the fellowship time showed that many people understood my message and appreciated it. I heard several stories that paralled my illustrations where people have felt welcomed and included or unwelcome. I came home feeling justified. (I' better watch my 'humility and not get too puffed up).
 
Differential observation of righteousness-unrighteous may provide a social vision ... if the civilization doesn't become too antisocial with the concept of conflict with all else as self-vision goes dark in the greater composition as a scene of ridiculous drama ... a bunch of selfies?

Differentiating the powers from those under can be seen as sub divine to those that would prefer to be lords of the land and with great shadows of darkness ... night light? Leads to nocturnal visions that if things were balanced we'd be better off in a reduced civilization ... as indicated by vast hubris ...

Consider it a dream parallel to MLK ... backing away form the image of The Hill not being supportive of lesser folk ... it is a sad song encouraging Negro Spirits as rendered in the Blues. I just like what many cannot see ... but the powerful will pass on that thought ... the support mists and clouding the entire perspective ... others search for the internalized lustre ... neuros?

Irrational, or lost rationality can cause some items to go astray ... thus not understood well ... due to dark passions in the primal void ... these go on and on as it there are no ends to ethics ... thus eternal pilgrimages ...
 
I led worship at my home church....first time in a long time. It was a small but fun group. My sister, friend and I sang, practiced the song 5 minutes before the service. The message I gave was on 'hospitality', and was received well. Now to prepare for leading a service next week. Sometimes, I'd like to just rest on laurels...Whew! That went well....without having to try to find something meaningful for another group. But, alas, it is not my will, and God manages to plant thoughts in this fairly thick skull.
 
Today the guest minister was Harlan Pruden. Children's story was 47,000 Beads about a two spirited native girl and the way her aunts and mom helped her to find her path in life. Sermon was speaking about the different way aboriginal and non-aboriginal folks approach the accumulation of stuff. In the aboriginal tradition if someone really admires something you give it to them as a gift. Got me thinking, if someone really admired my bike would I give it to them and walk? Probably not; it must be challenging to follow the aboriginal spiritual path.
 
Today the guest minister was Harlan Pruden. Children's story was 47,000 Beads about a two spirited native girl and the way her aunts and mom helped her to find her path in life. Sermon was speaking about the different way aboriginal and non-aboriginal folks approach the accumulation of stuff. In the aboriginal tradition if someone really admires something you give it to them as a gift. Got me thinking, if someone really admired my bike would I give it to them and walk? Probably not; it must be challenging to follow the aboriginal spiritual path.
Makes methink of how often Canadians “admire” something out of politeness. Could end up with a lot of stuff that way.
 
I'm part of an interesting facebook group, for my geographical region, called the "Buy Nothing" group. We are encouraged to give from our abundance, and request per our needs. No barters or trades. It's a cool group. Over the last few months, I've donated some food I'm not going to use (like a fresh container of cream bought for a visitor and unused, a day after purchase), delivered some food from people to other people, acquired yet another useless cat bed that "I thought she'd like", received pots and planters for my church plant sale, outfitted myself as Auntie Opal for the VBC play, potted up a few nettle plants and dried some for tea, etc.
 
The congregation I am a member of seems in a holding pattern. We agreed yesterday to a .4 and a.2 position for a 1 year period. .2 is a retired minister and will do communion once a month. .4 is mostly pastoral care. I see it as keeping the status quo but not moving forward.
 
We had a really nice guest minister on Sunday, "The Rev Ev", known of/known by a few congregational members. Very engaging speaker, very warm and welcoming, but damn me, if she didn't do that most awful of prologues to her sermon: "May the words...ever acceptable in your sight, Oh Lord". Yuck. Gives me that "I'm a miserable worm" feeling that one then has to overcome. And then not a single hymn from MV, although the VU selections weren't awful. Fortunately 30-something year old Jeffrey, our youth minister, will be in the pulpit for the next two weeks, which will be more youthful and language-careful, but may be a little distracted, because he's also running a Presbytery-wide theatre troupe, with will mount two productions in Barrie, two in Parry Sound and one in Windermere next week. (The play is called Zak and the Blue Stone, suitable for children, interesting for adults, with an environmental theme.) One of my projects this week is to get my car as clean as it's likely to come (not very) and considerably less smelly (dog, drool, dirt, sand) before I do my share of driving around of actors next week.
 
My worship experiences for many weeks have occurred while camping at the lake.

There was lots of space for wonder - awe - delight.

I spotted some flowers I had never seen before - small, white, lady slipper orchids. Looked them up in a flower ID book I keep in the camper. Seemed to be Franklin orchids - listed as rare in this province. The next time we drove by the Park Office we popped in and asked if our ID could be correct. No one there had heard of them or seen them so a convoy followed us to the magic spot. Photos were taken to be shared with more knowledgeable folks, who eventually confirmed my find.
 

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