Prelude Melodia Africana I by Ludovico Einaudi
Opening Words by Jeffrey Bowes
Here we have gathered to make another link in the chain of days that binds our lives in fellowship.
We bring our whole self to worship, with all the pleasures and the pains of our daily lives. All our hopes and dreams and fears are here with us. Our remembrance of days past and of people gone before us rests in our hearts. In thought and prayer, we gather our loved ones around us, those who are with us today, those who are close as neighbours and family and friends, and those who are far away.
We trust and hope that here there will be ease for the heart, refreshment for the spirit, challenge for the mind, and a way to make peace in our lives and bring peace in the world.
We offer our friendship in fellowship, our service in community, our care in mutual support through the trials and troubles of daily life, and our devotion one to another in sharing the high days and the happy days.
May we feel, as true presence, a spirit of unity and love, of friendship, of mutual desire to find joy, happiness, high aspiration, and a deep sense that we are connected as one with all living things.
This meeting is for a brief time in this holy day, a moment for renewal and refreshment of mind and heart and spirit. When we leave, may the blessings we find in this company go with us that we may be a blessing to the world in all we encounter until we meet again.
Chalice Lighting (you may wish to light a candle in your own home at this point. I will be lighting my chalice for worship at 11.00 am on Sunday morning) (words by Jane Blackall)
We light this chalice as a reminder of the tradition that holds us,
and the values and aspirations we share as a community:
our commitment to the common good,
our care for those who are downtrodden,
and our yearning for a better world that’s yet to be,
where all may know true freedom, justice, equality, and peace.
May this small flame be for us a sign of faith, hope, and love.
Opening Prayer by Jenny Jacobs (adapted)
Spirit of Life and Love,
Here we are amongst our fellows, in a place where we feel safe, a place we know and where we are known, in a loving community.
With all the problems and challenging situations in our lives, nevertheless, we have the safe still point of this community, on this Sunday, in this place.
Let us give thanks for the stability we enjoy in our lives amidst our friends and families.
Let us pray for all of our brothers and sisters whose lives are not so blessed; whose lives and communities are devastated by war, by terrorism, by famine, by drought, by sickness, by climate change.
Let us open our hearts so that we can empathise with our fellows and feel their pain.
Let us remember and hold in our hearts those who have had to leave their communities, hoping to build new relationships and new lives in foreign lands.
Let us recognise all those things we have in common with them and with people everywhere; our shared hopes and aspirations, for a settled home, a safe haven, rewarding work, a bright future for our children.
Let us help build our society into a place which extends the hand of welcome to all those who need it both without and within.
Let us work towards a safer, fairer world for all, wherever they may be.
Let us live our lives in such a way that we always behave towards others with the same care and compassion we would hope to receive ourselves.
Amen
Reading Making a Morning Connection, Part One by Richard Rohr, 4th March 2024
On spring and summer mornings, I love to go out early with my little cup of coffee and walk through my garden with my dog Venus. If I can somehow let my “roots and tendrils” reconnect me with the “givens” of life, as Bill Plotkin calls them – not the ideas about life, but the natural world, what is—I experience the most extraordinary grounding, connection, healing, and even revelation. One little hopping bird can do me in!
Many of us have a sense of self or identity created by our relationship to ideas, thoughts, and words. We can spend our whole lives rattling around inside of ideas, rarely touching upon what is right in front of us, when it’s the “givens” that heal us and reconnect us to Reality. We spend a majority of our time interacting with thoughts and opinions about everything. We’re almost entirely fixated on our computers, smart phones, news feeds, email, social media, and selfies. This is, of course, an “unnatural” world of our own creation. We don’t even realize that we’ve disconnected ourselves from the only world that people lived in for most of human history.
Alternative Lord’s Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love, here and everywhere,
May we be aware of your presence in our lives.
May our world be blessed.
May our daily needs be met,
And may our shortcomings be forgiven,
As we forgive those of others.
Give us the strength to resist wrong-doing,
The inspiration and guidance to do right,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are your hands in the world; help us to grow.
May we have compassion for all living beings,
And receive whatever life brings,
With courage and trust.
Amen
Reading Making a Morning Connection, Part Two by Richard Rohr, 4th March 2024
One of the foundational reasons for our sense of isolation and unhappiness is that we have lost our contact with nature. In the natural world, there is no theology to agree or disagree with. We don’t have to identify as Presbyterian or Lutheran, male or female, conservative or progressive. There is nothing to argue about. It is in contact with all the “givens”—that which has been available to every creature God has created since the Big Bang—that something is indeed given. I guess in the spiritual world we would call it grace.
This is not some New Age idea. In Scripture we read, “What can be known about God is perfectly plain, since God has made it plain. Ever since God created the world, God’s everlasting power and divinity, however invisible, have been there for the mind to see in the things that God has made” (Romans 1:19–20). Every day, we are given a natural way to reconnect with God and it doesn’t depend upon intelligence, education, or a religion. It depends on really being present and connecting with the soul.
Of course, it’s not as simple as just standing in my garden. If I get my email first or start worrying and planning my day, the moment’s over. It’s done because I’m not really present. But we can preserve and protect those sacred moments before we read the news or check our email, before we look at social media or review the day’s agenda. If we can find a way to be present to the “givens,” especially the natural “givens,” I believe we can be happy.
Prayer by Celia Midgley
Loving God, help us to love
Our neighbour as ourselves.
Create in us a tender heart for all that lives,
For all that may grow.
Make us aware of the fragility
And potential of human beings.
Let our passion ever be tempered with kindness,
Our lives with humility,
And however hard the path
May caring be our calling.
Amen
Reading Called to Care by Celia Midgley, from With Heart and Mind
How often do we hear the words, ‘I don’t care’ – uttered with a shrug of indifference, or even anger? I heard them again this morning. ‘I don’t care about…,’ the man began, and I half stopped listening as he launched into his own concerns, the things he did care about. His vehemence silenced his hearers. It was not that he did not have a point. It was his lack of caring for another’s.
It is easy to say that we do not care. It is a way of not engaging with others. It is the way of the bully, of the demagogue. It wins the plaudits of the crowd. But it succeeds by sweeping aside others’ viewpoints and sensitivities.
We are called to care. Care about everything, the small and the great. Care about tiny plants and creatures, about large trees and rivers, about buildings and cities. Care about people you pass on the street; make way for them. Care about those you may never meet but who, like you, inhabit this world.
Caring is the more difficult path. It compels us to review constantly all that we say and do. It slows us down. But it helps us to balance our lives, and to take tentative steps towards peace.
Time of Stillness and Reflection (words by Jenny Jacobs, adapted)
Strong Father God, protect us from harm. Show us how to care for those weaker than ourselves.
Loving Mother God, embrace and hold us. Enable us to love our neighbours and include all humanity within our circle of compassion.
Playful Sister God, surprise and delight us. Reveal the wonders of Creation and open our eyes so that we pay attention to the glory in the everyday.
Ardent Brother God, impassion us to fight injustice. Lend us your clear-sightedness and the will to bring fair shares to all.
Helpless Infant God, fill us with tenderness. Enable us to grow into our full humanity as we care for those who need our loving kindness.
[silence]
God, in our best aspects we evoke your spirit. Be with us, be in us, let our hands be your hands and let our acts be worthy of the spirit that inspires us. Today, tomorrow and always.
Amen
Musical Interlude Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy
Address May Caring Be Our Calling
When the whole country went into lockdown in the early Spring of 2020, as Covid 19 began to spread its evil tendrils around the world, I was encouraged by the amount of caring going on in our communities. In a blogpost written on 20th March 2020 (so almost exactly four years ago) I wrote,
“As we all hunker down to live our new lives under Covid-19, I have been encouraged and uplifted by the amount of good deeds and loving that are going on in the world, in my neighbourhood, and in my country…
Most of the people I know, both online and in person, are taking a [very] pragmatic and unselfish approach to life. Unitarian ministers and lay worship leaders / congregation leaders are producing online resources to share with their congregations, coming up with ingenious ways to keep in touch with them while the physical distancing rules are in force, and generally trying to do their best in very difficult circumstances. I have found the willingness, even eagerness, of the fit and healthy, to care for the less fortunate among us, very heartening.
This virus is undoubtedly the most life-changing thing most of us have come across in our whole lives. I believe that how we respond to it, both individually, and as a society, will have a great effect on how well we come through it. If we do the best that we can to look after ourselves, support others, or receive support graciously and with gratitude, we will come out of this better and stronger than before. But if we allow fear to overcome common sense, it will be a very long few weeks or months. [little did I know it would turn into years].
Yes, there are things we cannot control – how long this will last, its effects on the economy, and on our individual lives. Yes, we are afraid for the well-being of our loved ones. But there are also things we can control – mainly our own attitudes, our willingness to take each day as it comes, sensible adherence to the physical distancing regulations (because this is not about “social” distancing at all – there are many other ways to keep in touch) and to do our best to remain as positive as we can, and get through this somehow.”
Who would have thought that, four years later, people would still be getting sick from the coronavirus? And yet, they are. According to the worldometers.info website, the total number of cases in the UK to 11th March 2024 is 24,902,971 (nearly 25 million) and the total number of deaths has been 23,112 – nearly ten percent of that number. All of us have lost people we loved. On the bright side, nearly 23 million people have recovered. The rest (I guess, although the article didn’t say) have been left with long-term residual symptoms. Interestingly, the highest daily rate for new cases was not in April 2020, when there was a slightly lower peak, but in January 2022, when we all began to think it was time it was over, and stopped being so careful about mingling without masks. On 5th January 2022, the “new cases daily” figure reached an all-time daily high of more than 275,000; and a few days later, there were over four and a half million people “currently infected”.
It has not yet run its course and, even though we now have an effective vaccination programme in place, I suspect that it will never disappear completely. This virus has had a profound effect on our society – and especially on those who are more vulnerable to catching it. The sick, the elderly, anyone with any long-term health condition. All of whom are still in danger.
And it has not only had health ramifications. The economic effects of Covid 19 have been dreadful. An article written for Wikipedia in February 2022 summarised the changes in the global economy, as every part of the world was hit: the effects on the services sector, and on the global supply chain, which has led to global energy crises and food crises. It makes grim reading. As the anonymous author commented, “Possible instability generated by an outbreak and associated behavioural changes could result in temporary food shortages, price spikes, and disruption to markets. Such price rises would be felt most by vulnerable populations who depend on markets for their food as well as those already depending on humanitarian assistance to maintain their livelihoods and food access… the additional inflationary effect of protectionist policies through import tariffs and export bans could cause a significant increase in the number of people facing severe food insecurity worldwide. Many fashion, sport, and technology events have been cancelled or have changed to be online. While the monetary impact on the travel and trade industry is yet to be estimated, it is likely to be in the billions and increasing.” Sadly, this prognostication has come true.
All of which underlines our duty of care to those less fortunate than ourselves. I know it can be hard to keep on caring, once the first crisis is over, but there are so many people whose lives have been adversely affected by Covid 19, we need to continue to make the effort to go the extra mile. We need to carry on with the business of caring for each other, which includes strangers, and also care for ourselves.
I liked Richard Rohr’s reflection on his “morning connection” with the natural world, which set him up for the day. He found that when he could do this, he “experience[d] the most extraordinary grounding, connection, healing, and even revelation.” I wonder whether each of us can think of a special place we can go to, in order to nourish our souls? Mine is undoubtedly Salcey Forest. I find that being there is a more or less instant remedy for any perturbation of mind. If I am feeling agitated or fed up, I know that going for a walk in the forest will soothe me and bring my soul back into balance. It never fails to lift my spirits. Whatever the season, being in among the trees and other green and living things brings me peace. For you, it might not be trees which do the trick – it may be walking by a lake or river, or simply around your own back garden. The key to this kind of self-care is to do it regularly.
And of course, we also need to care for our planet, otherwise there won’t be beautiful places like Salcey Forest to restore our souls.
Finally, like I said, we need to care for each other. Unless we walk through life with our eyes, minds and hearts shut, we will inevitably be influenced and changed by the actions and words of people with whom we come into contact, whether it is a casual encounter in the street, a member of our family, or of our spiritual community. And, of course, our actions and words influence everyone else. I suppose another way of putting it would be to quote John Donne’s famous meditation: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, … any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
We are all human beings, we are all members of many communities – our families, our friends, our colleagues, our church – and we are all members of the human race. What difference can we, as individuals, make to those communities? We need to be aware that we are in a living relationship with the rest of the world, and that our words and actions can influence the fate of that world and its inhabitants, our fellow human beings, not to mention all the other living things. Whether our influence is for good or ill is up to us.
Which means being alert, being aware, being conscious of our part in the world, and our possible influence on it, not just on Sundays, but every day of the week, every minute of the day. Quite a challenge, but we can do it, if we truly want to. We may be small in number, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot be great in heart, that we cannot bear witness to the power of love, and “thus strengthen the living and loving of others”, as Philip Hewett once wrote in The Unitarian Way.
I’d like to finish by repeating the words of the beautiful prayer written by Unitarian minister, Celia Midgley:
“Loving God, help us to love
Our neighbour as ourselves.
Create in us a tender heart for all that lives,
For all that may grow.
Make us aware of the fragility
And potential of human beings.
Let our passion ever be tempered with kindness,
Our lives with humility,
And however hard the path
May caring be our calling.”
Whether it is for each other, for ourselves or for our world, may caring be our calling. Amen
Closing Words
Spirit of Life and Love,
May we learn to care for each other,
Care for ourselves, and care for our planet.
May we return to our everyday world refreshed,
may we share the love we feel,
may we look out for each other, and our world,
and may we keep up our hearts,
now and in the days to come, Amen
Postlude Chanson de matin by Edward Elgar