Trinity Enews Article August 22, 2019
One of the blessings for me this summer has been participating in the Women’s Prayer Group. For six weeks, on Tuesday evenings, we have gathered in the library to listen to one another and to pray. It was an experiment and I think it worked. Months ago, when we Cindy Anderau and I were imagining this possibility, we had no idea what to expect. And yet we both felt compelled to “try on” this kind of small group, unsure if anyone would be interested or who would come.
Turns out fifteen women participated. And from these women and others of you I’ve heard a desire for more gatherings of men and women with opportunities to pray, study and share our faith. Which we will be doing on Saturday mornings beginning, September 14. This gathering will be a Bible Study on the “Acts of the Apostles” led by Floyd Higgins and Joe Glaze. All are welcome! There will also be a series of Sunday morning “Sacred Conversations” which follow worship beginning on September 22. The Women’s Retreat is September 28-29 at Camp Washington with the theme “When God Imagined Me.” The next Healing Service, on the first Wednesday of each month, will be September 3 at 7pm.
So, if you’re looking for ways to connect more deeply with God and one another, there are some exciting opportunities coming up to “try on” being part of this faith community. And I can think of no better way to grow in faith than worshipping at Trinity on Sunday mornings at 9:30am. This Sunday, our new curate, The Rev. Matt Babcock, and our returning seminarian, Ms. Cate Anthony, will lead in Morning Prayer and Cate will be preaching. On Sunday, September 1, I’ll be back from visiting family in Virginia and Ms. Janet Parker will be our guest preacher. Jan is an African American student at Andover Newton Theological Seminary at Yale Divinity School and a delight. I met Jan this summer and believe her voice is one we need to hear—more “trying on,” more growing in faith, more sharing our stories.
Blessings to all in these remaining “dog days” of summer, Jenny+
One of the blessings for me this summer has been participating in the Women’s Prayer Group. For six weeks, on Tuesday evenings, we have gathered in the library to listen to one another and to pray. It was an experiment and I think it worked. Months ago, when we Cindy Anderau and I were imagining this possibility, we had no idea what to expect. And yet we both felt compelled to “try on” this kind of small group, unsure if anyone would be interested or who would come.
Turns out fifteen women participated. And from these women and others of you I’ve heard a desire for more gatherings of men and women with opportunities to pray, study and share our faith. Which we will be doing on Saturday mornings beginning, September 14. This gathering will be a Bible Study on the “Acts of the Apostles” led by Floyd Higgins and Joe Glaze. All are welcome! There will also be a series of Sunday morning “Sacred Conversations” which follow worship beginning on September 22. The Women’s Retreat is September 28-29 at Camp Washington with the theme “When God Imagined Me.” The next Healing Service, on the first Wednesday of each month, will be September 3 at 7pm.
So, if you’re looking for ways to connect more deeply with God and one another, there are some exciting opportunities coming up to “try on” being part of this faith community. And I can think of no better way to grow in faith than worshipping at Trinity on Sunday mornings at 9:30am. This Sunday, our new curate, The Rev. Matt Babcock, and our returning seminarian, Ms. Cate Anthony, will lead in Morning Prayer and Cate will be preaching. On Sunday, September 1, I’ll be back from visiting family in Virginia and Ms. Janet Parker will be our guest preacher. Jan is an African American student at Andover Newton Theological Seminary at Yale Divinity School and a delight. I met Jan this summer and believe her voice is one we need to hear—more “trying on,” more growing in faith, more sharing our stories.
Blessings to all in these remaining “dog days” of summer, Jenny+
Trinity Enews July 31, 2019
While summer is the time many of us can get away, enjoying leisure time with family, vacationing at the Cape or in Maine, going to the beach, swimming, hiking, biking, boating etc. life at Trinity is rocking along. Planning for the fall is well underway. Our new curate, The Rev. Matt Babcock, begins his ministry with us this Sunday (see below). The curate’s house and grounds are being spruced up for Matt and Joel to move into mid-August. I’m having fun experimenting with the placement of chancel furniture. Our women’s summer prayer group is happening on Tuesday evenings and the monthly healing services begin next Wednesday evening. Annual staff evaluations are being accomplished. Carpeted areas of the church are being cleaned next week. Paul and Jesus are cutting the grass once a week. Bills are being paid. People are coming to worship every Sunday. Staff and clergy are faithfully taking their vacations. We’re all good. There’s a beautiful ease in living that is most welcomed in these remaining days of summer. So, in gratitude for summer I offer this prayer entitled, “For the Good Use of Leisure”
O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace;
and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds,
that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Summer Blessings, Jenny+
While summer is the time many of us can get away, enjoying leisure time with family, vacationing at the Cape or in Maine, going to the beach, swimming, hiking, biking, boating etc. life at Trinity is rocking along. Planning for the fall is well underway. Our new curate, The Rev. Matt Babcock, begins his ministry with us this Sunday (see below). The curate’s house and grounds are being spruced up for Matt and Joel to move into mid-August. I’m having fun experimenting with the placement of chancel furniture. Our women’s summer prayer group is happening on Tuesday evenings and the monthly healing services begin next Wednesday evening. Annual staff evaluations are being accomplished. Carpeted areas of the church are being cleaned next week. Paul and Jesus are cutting the grass once a week. Bills are being paid. People are coming to worship every Sunday. Staff and clergy are faithfully taking their vacations. We’re all good. There’s a beautiful ease in living that is most welcomed in these remaining days of summer. So, in gratitude for summer I offer this prayer entitled, “For the Good Use of Leisure”
O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace;
and grant that we may so use our leisure to rebuild our bodies and renew our minds,
that our spirits may be opened to the goodness of your creation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Summer Blessings, Jenny+
Trinity Enews Article July 18, 2019
On this summer day the view outside my study window at the rectory is all tree. The beautiful maple is huge and I’m guessing centuries old. Her trunk is massive and her branches expansive. Today she is receiving an extensive trim from the Lewis Tree Service, courtesy of the US Department of Transportation. With the arborist suspended in a bucket high above, the long pole being used for trimming is super sharp. One swing of the blade shears off excessive growth and dead branches. This pruning of the tree is necessary for the health of the tree and for the safety of the near-by power lines. The benefit for me is the ability to see more sky and receive more light into my study—my sacred space at home.
Watching the pruning of this tree causes me to ponder what needs to be pruned in me so that more of Christ’s light shines forth into the world. Which branches of busyness are crowding out the beauty of life and stifling my growth? What aspects of my spiritual life am I neglecting? What is weighing me down unnecessarily, blocking out light and love and joy? The truth is, we are given one life to live. For the sake of our souls, summer is a good time to slow down and observe the world around us. And who better to enlighten us than the late poet Mary Oliver.
On this summer day the view outside my study window at the rectory is all tree. The beautiful maple is huge and I’m guessing centuries old. Her trunk is massive and her branches expansive. Today she is receiving an extensive trim from the Lewis Tree Service, courtesy of the US Department of Transportation. With the arborist suspended in a bucket high above, the long pole being used for trimming is super sharp. One swing of the blade shears off excessive growth and dead branches. This pruning of the tree is necessary for the health of the tree and for the safety of the near-by power lines. The benefit for me is the ability to see more sky and receive more light into my study—my sacred space at home.
Watching the pruning of this tree causes me to ponder what needs to be pruned in me so that more of Christ’s light shines forth into the world. Which branches of busyness are crowding out the beauty of life and stifling my growth? What aspects of my spiritual life am I neglecting? What is weighing me down unnecessarily, blocking out light and love and joy? The truth is, we are given one life to live. For the sake of our souls, summer is a good time to slow down and observe the world around us. And who better to enlighten us than the late poet Mary Oliver.
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean--
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean--
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down--
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
Trinity Enews Article July 11, 2019
Three weeks ago, when work crews began to prepare Main Street for repaving, I was fascinated by the whole operation. Watching from an upstairs window, it was like a parade. Police cars flashed blue lights as officers stood in middle of Main Street directing traffic. Huge milling machines inched their way over the asphalt, followed by workmen dressed in yellow florescent jumpsuits waving orange glow sticks. A relay team of dump trucks hauled away the old asphalt. Like clockwork, for several evenings, the cadre of trucks would begin lining up around 8pm and work well into the night. The first night or two I didn’t mind the noise but after several nights of fitful sleep, I was extremely annoyed by the inconvenience. I was happy to leave town on vacation, sure that repaving Main Street would be completed by the time we arrived home last Friday night.
Not so. On Monday night, the returning trucks were even bigger and whatever they were doing made the house shake. Lights flashed, and noise resounded until 5:00am. And they are back tonight, Tuesday night. Cars and trucks are creeping along Main Street in a single lane. I can smell the fresh asphalt. Several drivers yell out bad words or blow their horns. I can already tell, this is going to be a long sleepless night. And yet, it wasn’t. By 10pm Main Street was blissfully quiet, and I slept like a baby all night.
Admittedly this is what I often do—anticipate the worse, get all worked up over something that never happens, expend energy being annoyed when I could be at peace. “Peace be with you,” Jesus says to his anxious disciples as he stands before them after his resurrection. “Peace be with you.” It’s a spiritual practice to be at peace and it’s one I’m working on. Colossians 3:15 reminds us to, “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.”
May the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and may we all be thankful.
Jenny+
Three weeks ago, when work crews began to prepare Main Street for repaving, I was fascinated by the whole operation. Watching from an upstairs window, it was like a parade. Police cars flashed blue lights as officers stood in middle of Main Street directing traffic. Huge milling machines inched their way over the asphalt, followed by workmen dressed in yellow florescent jumpsuits waving orange glow sticks. A relay team of dump trucks hauled away the old asphalt. Like clockwork, for several evenings, the cadre of trucks would begin lining up around 8pm and work well into the night. The first night or two I didn’t mind the noise but after several nights of fitful sleep, I was extremely annoyed by the inconvenience. I was happy to leave town on vacation, sure that repaving Main Street would be completed by the time we arrived home last Friday night.
Not so. On Monday night, the returning trucks were even bigger and whatever they were doing made the house shake. Lights flashed, and noise resounded until 5:00am. And they are back tonight, Tuesday night. Cars and trucks are creeping along Main Street in a single lane. I can smell the fresh asphalt. Several drivers yell out bad words or blow their horns. I can already tell, this is going to be a long sleepless night. And yet, it wasn’t. By 10pm Main Street was blissfully quiet, and I slept like a baby all night.
Admittedly this is what I often do—anticipate the worse, get all worked up over something that never happens, expend energy being annoyed when I could be at peace. “Peace be with you,” Jesus says to his anxious disciples as he stands before them after his resurrection. “Peace be with you.” It’s a spiritual practice to be at peace and it’s one I’m working on. Colossians 3:15 reminds us to, “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.”
May the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and may we all be thankful.
Jenny+