January 11, The Baptism of the Lord
Wednesday, January 7, 2015 at 8:47AM Epiphany Thank You
Thank you to everyone who came out for the Epiphany Open House at the Rectory last Sunday afternoon. We had a nice group, good food, and great conversation. It was nice to have warm weather. Thank you to Louise Macatee who helped Fr. Bob get set up in Tracy’s absence.
CGS Level I Atrium
January 11, 2015
The Baptism of the Lord
The Mustard Seed
In the Level I atrium, we have enjoyed two weeks of the celebration of birth of Jesus. The color in our atrium began with purple (preparation at Advent), then changed to white (celebrating the feast of great light at Christmas), and now to green (for growing in the love of God or Ordinary Time). This is one of my favorite times of the Church year when we get to hear and discuss the Kingdom of God and wonder what it is like.
We look at parables of the mustard seed, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great value, and the yeast by way of a common theme, i.e., the juxtaposition of smallness with greatness. Jesus taught many of his lessons using the parable method. He wants his followers to think deeply about the message he is teaching, not give up answers – at least, not easily. As Sofia Cavalletti writes, “The secret of the parable resides in its concealing what it wants to teach; the parable does not explain, clarify, or ‘define’; it offers an element for meditation.” (RPC pp 160-1) It leads us in education to wonder. We will listen to scripture but also think about what the parable is concealing, and discuss want it might want to teach us. Although there are three references to the mustard seed parable in the Synoptic Gospels, we focus on Mark 4:30-32. The Gospel of Mark is thought to be the first of the Gospels written; the one the others borrowed from.
In the Kingdom presentations is an embedded awareness that the mystery of the kingdom of God is the mystery of life itself, a continual process of growth and transformation to greater and greater fullness of life. It is the unstoppable force that swells the tiniest of all seeds into the greatest of shrubs, whose living power surrounds us in all the shrubs and plants of creation, and which transforms the human being, from the tiny baby, past skills, past knowledge, and even past death to fullness of life in God.
During the presentation, we ponder the mystery of the kingdom of God and share wonder over the immense transformation from the tiniest of seeds to the greatest of shrubs, over being surrounded by this mysterious force present in all of nature, and over its power at work within us, growing and transforming us beyond death to fullness of life in God. Three verses of scripture lead us to knowledge of the fullness of life in God. From small to great. I invite you to wonder along with us.
Ms. Georgie
The Financial Page
Annual Giving for 2015
We are 3/4 the way through the Annual Giving Drive for 2015. A large number of pledges have yet to come in. Please make an Annual Giving Pledge for 2015 and send you pledge card in as soon as possible.
Annual Giving for 2014 Completing the pledges
If you’ve not yet done so, please complete your 2014 Annual Giving Pledge as soon as possible. This will enable our Treasurer Leigh Torgerson to close the parish books for the year. We will send giving statements to all of you by the end of January.
Thank you to everyone who supports our parish through their financial contributions. Everyone’s gift is both vital and necessary for our parish life. We are deeply grateful to all of you.
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Food For Thought
On the Food For Thought Table this Sunday an article about God and one about meaning.
1. From the December issue of The Atlantic, Why God Will Not Die, by Jack Miles. “Science keeps revealing how much we don’t know, perhaps can’t know. Yet humans seek closure, which should make religious pluralists of us all.”
2. From the New York Times., The Problem with Meaning, by David Brooks. “ Our fuzzy modern idea of “meaning” is a poor substitute for real moral architecture”