“What’s In A Thought?”
Presented by Mike Burr, Pastor
Koinonia Church, Grand Junction, Colorado
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Readings:
The young dead soldiers do not speak. Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses: who has not heard them? They have a silence that speaks for them at night and when the clock counts. They say: we have done what we could but until it is finished it is not done. They say: we have given our lives but until it is finished no one can know what our lives gave. They say: our deaths are not ours; they are yours; they will mean what you make of them. They say: whether our lives
And our deaths were for peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say; it is you who must say this. They say: we leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning. We were young, they say. We have died. Remember us. –Archibald MacLeish
Scripture
Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise. You know the teachings I gave you, and you know what you heard me say and saw me do. So follow my example. And god, who gives peace, will be with you. ...Philippians 4:8-9
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1
Call to participation:
L: do not live too far in the past or the future. Live now. In each moment expect a miracle:
All: ten kinds of birds at the feeder, and the tracks of a fox in the snow.
L: pick up a magnifying glass and scrutinize that crocus,
All: the pollen at the center of the daffodil, life’s dust, death-defying life.
L: run naked through the garden early in the morning and hope the wild geese fly by.
All: get silly and laugh loudly with grandchildren or grandparents.
L: refuse to leave the dead behind, but bring their memory to all your chores and games and corners of quiet, warm tears:
All: joy and sorrow are woven together; one cannot be without the other.
L: if you love, know that sometimes your love will bring you tears; if you grieve, know it is because at some time you were willing to love.
All: do not be afraid to die today. But expect life! – “Expect life” by Elizabeth Tarbox
Litany of Remembrance
L: in the rising of the sun and in its going down, we remember them.
All: in the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter, we remember them.
L: in the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring, we remember them.
All: in the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer, we remember them.
L: in the rustling of leaves and in the beauty of autumn, we remember them.
All: in the beginning of the year and when it ends, we remember them.
L: when we are joyful or sad, energetic or sick, we remember them.
All: we, the living, carry them with us; we are their voices, their hands, their hearts. We take them with us, and with them choose the deeper path of living. – adapted from Roland B. Gittelsohn[Litanies are from Christ Community Church—a progressive Christian community with inspirational messages and content.]
Prayer
It is good and right we can come together this morning like this in community: it is good and right that we meditate, weep our tears, be uplifted by laughter, unite, connect, give and receive, and be enhanced in our humanity. We gather to reverence life together, to move in common vision and to welcome all who enter. Our prayer and hope would be that experience would form a common bond amongst everything else that takes place in our living. Our hope is that lives would gain sustenance of spirit from dawn to dusk and our spirituality would have focus on that which is essential and foundational to all life
This morning we lift up individual uniqueness and beauty – we celebrate the strength of community discovered in diversity. We are reminded that each presence is important for the whole; each voice, each body an encouragement to all the others.
In our memorializing, we both remember and recall. Re-membering as putting pieces and people back together. Firmly in our minds and hearts we establish those loved and lost; firmly in community we establish people to their rightful places. Re-membering is as beautiful as dis-membering is heinous. We re-member the broader community across the generations – fitting their lives, values and humanity into the context of our own. We celebrate their eternal and infinite life in our memories, in our voices and hands. We affirm the intimate connections between all people in mystery and in the ordinariness of life.
We remember all those grieving. May their tears be known and received. Our prayer is that sorrow would move into gratitude and understanding into healing. We lift up all family and friends in the broadest spectrum of experiences. In silence now, we remember those in need; in silence we remember all those the great host of witnesses on whose shoulders we stand.
May our memories be blessed to our living. May they continue to teach us and lead us in the great adventure of life.
And so it is, amen
I met a woman who had been married four times. She said she first chose a banker, secondly a clown, thirdly a preacher, and lastly an undertaker. I asked her if there was any kind of plan in picking a banker, a clown, a preacher, and an undertaker as her husbands. She said, "of course, one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go."
Part of my role as pastor that I take very seriously is to help people get ready for death. Death will surely come for all of us. As I heard said recently, “good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which you can die.” If you are less than healthy, keep in mind that one day the health nuts are going to be lying in hospitals dying of nothing. I’m kidding of course, and I encourage you to live a balanced, healthy life.
Preparing for death sounds grim, but in actuality it’s the work of preparing for life. Today we took some time and remembered people in our lives who’ve made a difference for us and who are now gone. This process is an important way of appreciating our lives.
Of course losing loved ones causes pain, and yet in a very real sense if we hadn’t loved, then there wouldn’t be the sense of loss. Our scripture today talks about being surrounded by a great cloud of wiriness’s—that’s true for all of us. Everyone here stands on the shoulders of generation upon generation of those who have gone before. People known and unknown who have built life and faith and country.
Remembering is a way of valuing, of gaining perspective, of seeing the our life journey. It’s a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.
To look backward for a while is to refresh the eye, to restore it, and to render it the more fit for its prime function of looking forward. ~Margaret Fairless Barber
Even the painful remembrances have their value. We learn even from the cruelest of teachers.
Usually on Memorial Day we focus on close loved ones. But we need to open up our memories because the whole of our past informs our present and sets the direction of our future.
I’d invite you for a moment to remember the first car that you can remember. Your first computer, your first memory of church.
Remember someone who made a difference for you—who saved you.
Remember a time when you felt taken care of, nurtured, safe.
Remember someone you didn’t know very well who had a positive impact on your life.
Remember a time when you made a great change—what/who inspired it.
Remember when you almost died.
A time when life looked it’s bleakest.
Remember being forgiven, or not.
Someone who influenced you as a child who was not an immediate family member.
A great teacher.
Someone who taught through their severity. [Emory]
A time of transformational learning.
A mentor who made a difference: how did you feel in their presence? What was their attitude toward you? How do you embody these characteristics in your relating to others?
Remember:
- A success
- A failure
- Something important you have learned
- A contribution to the life of another
Memory... Is the diary that we all carry about with us. ~Oscar Wilde
Everybody needs his memories.They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door ~Saul Bellow
So live that your memories will be part of your happiness.
As you consider your memories this morning, consider the outrageous improbability of your existence and give thanks. Use your memories to make the absolute most of each precious gift of a moment that is your life, and make the miracle that you are count for something profound. Live your life so that years later, when future generations are contemplating the miracle of their existence, your legacy will live on in ways known and unknown.
Peace and blessings, |