Reverend Ralph Moore, Sunday July 7th, 2024
Baptism – July 7, 2024
2 Corinthians 5:17-20, Psalm 23, Mark 10:13-16
O God, you prepared your disciples for the coming of the Spirit through the life and teaching of our savior Christ. Make our hearts and minds always ready to receive the blessing of the Spirit, that we may be filled with strength and compassion as loving servants of your grace. Amen
A few months ago one of our area's writers shared a very intimate experience in his life. (David Grima, the Rockland Courier-Gazette) In church one Sunday as he was taking communion the choir was singing and he was suddenly smitten. “I know that tune! I haven't heard that since I was a boy!” “Just as I am without one plea….O Lamb of God, I come, I come.” Transported back over 50 years ago, an unmeasurable moment, transcendent, his spirit fully accepting in the here and now “the gift of grace.” He goes on to reflect on how our given human spirit continually has the capacity “to sense the more and greater; the me, the us, the all.” To be full of the totally beautiful compassionate Spirit! Joy!
Jesus describes this when he invites the children--”to such as these the realm of God belongs….if you aren't open to this like a little child you'll never enter God's realm.” What are we doing this morning, if not seeking this overwhelming transcendent moment? And what a blessing that we've been invited to lift up and celebrate the wondrous life of Marian Grace Ott. Whenever we celebrate this sacrament it's as though Jesus himself set this up. (“sacrament”-- in the here and now touched by the sacred)
Our writer ponders how among us human beings: “what is it that goes so wrong with this [part of our human condition] that, having once tasted the transcendent, so many people have fallen back so very far as to confuse their religion with hatred, cruelty and violence.” This echoes Paul's simple reminder about us as we seek spiritual maturity. We're in the world and, --but, when we become part of the “beloved community” formed in the name of Jesus, “there is a new creation, everything old has passed away...new things have come into being!” David concludes with his hope that in the harsh, angry world about us more of us “might still hear that 'still, small voice' offering grace.”
This is an invitation to open ourselves to renewal, be as little children. Stop all thoughts! Now feelings, special high moment in our lives. “Breath on me, Breathe of God.” As little children, we “re-member.” “Remember” by Joy Harjo. Ursula LeGuin: “I stand out on the deck of my house, looking at the sky full of God's children and I know that I am one of them.” Psalm 23: “I lie down in green pastures..beside still waters..my soul revives..my head is anointed with oil..goodness and mercy follow me all my days..I shall fear no evil….” Of such is the kingdom of heaven….the realm of the Spirit.
Remember - Joy Harjo
Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.
“Remember.” Copyright ©1983 by Joy Harjo