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Rev. Chris Jimmerson
May 24, 2020
First UU Church of Austin
4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756
www.austinuu.org
It seems like we cross into new territory all of the time these days. As we cope with a pandemic, we are in the midst of crossing a threshold, but we cannot yet see what the other side of that threshold may be like. Still, there may be opportunity in the uncertainty. We may have the agency to influence the other side of the threshold.
Chalice Lighting
We light this chalice so that its flame may signify the spiritual strands of light that bind our hearts and souls with one another. Even while we must be physically apart, we bask in its warmth together.
Call to Worship
A PLACE WE ARE CREATING
-John SchaarThe future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created–created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.
Affirming Our Mission
Together we nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice to build the Beloved Community.
Meditation Reading
BLESSING WHEN THE WORLD IS ENDING
-Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the SeasonsLook, the world
is always ending
somewhere.Somewhere
the sun has come
crashing down.Somewhere
it has gone
completely dark.Somewhere
it has ended
with the gun,
the knife,
the fist.Somewhere
it has ended
with the slammed door,
the shattered hope.Somewhere
it has ended
with the utter quiet
that follows the news
from the phone,
the television,
the hospital room.Somewhere
it has ended
with a tenderness
that will break
your heart.But, listen,
this blessing means
to be anything
but morose.
It has not come
to cause despair.It is simply here
because there is nothing
a blessing
is better suited for
than an ending,
nothing that cries out more
for a blessing
than when a world
is falling apart.This blessing
will not fix you,
will not mend you,
will not give you
false comfort;
it will not talk to you
about one door opening
when another one closes.It will simply
sit itself beside you
among the shards
and gently turn your face
toward the direction
from which the light
will come,
gathering itself
about you
as the world begins
again.
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