For many of you, Friday is the last workday of the week.  Yippee!  Thank God it’s Friday.  But listen (or read) what one guy has to say about work.

“What’s the point of working your fingers to the bone if you hand over what you worked for to someone who never lifted a finger for it?  Smoke, that’s what it is. A bad business from start to finish. So what do you get from a life of hard labor? Pain and grief from dawn to dusk. Never a decent night’s rest. Nothing but smoke.”

Wow, what a cheery fellow!  And, this Sunday we will spend a little more time with the bundle-of-joy who wrote this passage.  But don’t worry, Barbara Brown Taylor has a much sunnier attitude towards work and physical labor, and we will tap into her wisdom as well.

To support us in our work of worship, Thom has once again arranged for some more wonderful musicians to be with us.  Our own Sarah Green and Heather Erickson will be singing a number of compositions, including one by Heather herself.  Sarah will also be our liturgist, and we will take a moment in the service to bless her, as she prepares to leave for her next adventure in life at a Ph.D writing program in Ohio.   It is important that we mark these important transitions in the lives of our community members together, and invite God to be with us all in these moments.  So, please let me know if you are approaching a time of transition in your life. 

I hope that many of you have been able to participate in our small groups program.  Many of our groups are preparing for their final meetings this coming week.  Many are preparing food, and I am hoping for some ice cream (I may bring it!).  Actually, I am hoping that we will achieve the joy and abandon of the small group that met here in the church this afternoon.  We had a small group of really small people hosted by the New Mom’s group!    There are so many wonderful things happening in our community.  God is good!   This is the kind of work that feeds the soul.

And finally, the deacons, other lay leaders, and myself are busy preparing for the time in August when I will be away visiting my parents in Ireland. I will share more of those details in the week to come.

Peace and blessings to all,

—- Ian
Ian Holland
Support Pastor

I just stood in the light drizzle/sleet with a new friend, Joel, a local carpenter and Somervillian, and we stared at the gigantic pile of earth on our church lawn, and contemplated what could be done about it. Just how does a grave become a garden? Two by twelves, strong backs, and a little bit of know-how. We’ll be calling on you for some help here, in a couple of weeks, to effect the transformation. Joel will supply the know-how, Home Depot the two by twelves, you the strength. Dear me, I love Somerville, and how it brings idealists together in the most interesting ways.

Speaking of strength–thank you for the outpouring of prayers and offers of casseroles, child care, whatever needs to be done, all since yesterday’s disclosure of my upcoming lung surgery. I’ll let you know, as I know, what we Baskettes need, and you can’t imagine how grateful I am.

Speaking of strength–Easter continues, and still we rise. This weekend I’ll be preaching on near death experiences (not that I plan to have one anytime soon):  what people who have had them can teach those of us who haven’t, about the proper orientation to gratitude in daily living, and trust in what lies beyond the veil. It’s a Jubilee Sunday, and the sermon may also include references to The Princess Bride, and Simon Says. Our children will sing! Jeff B. is our able liturgist. Laura Ruth will be away candidating at Hope Central Church that morning! Our fervent prayers will be with her. We will sing our lungs out, some good old spirituals.

After church: Sacred Conversations on Race committee meets, as well as Mission and Justice Team. You are welcome to attend either, and do this joyful work with us. And the sun will return, so they say.

Just how does a grave become a garden? Strong backs, the right tools, and vision. This is Easter.

Christlove
Molly

Some of you grew up in non-liturgical traditions, or in no church at all, and wonder, what the heck is this Holy Week thing? Tonight is Maundy Thursday. There are various ways of ‘celebrating’ it–mostly, it’s to remember what Jesus was doing just before he was arrested. Sometimes he was washing feet. Sometimes, celebrating the last supper. Sometimes, in the garden, weeping, alone.

That’s why I put ‘celebrate’ in quotes–because how do we celebrate the fact of God going to God’s death? Some people shy away from this part of Holy Week. It’s bleak. It’s barren. It’s mournful. But I ask you: when, in our relentlessly cheerful, risk-averse, deathly-afraid-of-death culture, do we get to mourn? I love, love, love Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, because they help me to feel all of my feelings, and make Easter shine like the sun after long rain. Kahlil Gibran said, “As much as sorrow has carved out your being, that’s how much joy you can contain.” What sorrow is carving out your being? Let it have its way with you. It’s safe, in God’s keeping, today and tomorrow.

What to expect:

Tonight: 6:30p, Gather in the sanctuary to become informal disciples of Jesus around the Last Supper feast table. We’ll eat grape leaves, feta, dates, apricots, pita. We’ll drink wine and pomegranate juice. Then we’ll pile up the broken pieces, and, at 7p, hear wonderful music from Tara, Elke, Joe, Thom. We’ll hear 12 readings from the last 24 hours of the life of Jesus. We’ll hear modern poems, chosen by Sarah Green, to punctuate the readings and break them open for us. We’ll sing, and pray, and leave in silence.

Tomorrow: Our Good Friday vigil starts at 7a with morning prayer in the chapel, and moves upstairs at 7:30a, where we’ll have prayer stations set up, and someone available at all times to pray with you, if you like. You may come and go throughout the day. Every hour on the hour, we’ll chant, hear a collect, a reading. At 2:15p, you can come listen to Macmillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross–haunting, awful, awe-full. At 3p, the hour when Jesus died, a short service with song and prayer. Vigil continues through 6p. You can come put prayers in our wailing wall, made by Michael S., you can kneel before the cross, write confessions in water on a board and watch them evaporate, pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, by running water. Don’t forget Easter. It’s coming. Invite friends into the mystery and joy of it, even if they haven’t tasted the sorrow! You have a friend or family member who wants to come, who needs to come, whom you haven’t asked yet. Trust me.

blessings

Molly

This week we finish up our sermon series on the Bible.

This is what I’m preaching – when we pick up our Bibles and read them, we often find ourselves connecting with the most poignant, powerful, basic, golden, loving, divine movement. This movement, whose name is “I Am,” a verb, is so compelling that we will do whatever we can to remove all that dis-connects us from this power source. This connection propels us into action, for example, climate change action.

This weekend, across the globe, we are being called into action, to connect with the earth. Our scripture for Sunday from Romans says that God’s eternal power and divine nature is invisible, but can be understood and seen through the things that God has made. Connecting with creation, connects us with God. We are also called by scripture to care for the least of these, and so we can act on behalf of those who bear the brunt and pollution of our desires and even entitlement to cheap oil resources, precious metals, and inexpensive labor.

Tomorrow, you can participate in the International Day of Climate Action. With Somerville Climate Change Action, an group with whom Andrea has been working, you can join the underwater activities at Christopher Columbus Park, http://groups.google.com/group/somervilleclimateaction/browse_thread/thread/f52b8d6fd99e0e32/0ef117a153f0af0d?lnk=raot&pli=1.

On Sunday night, with Massachusetts Power Shift, you can join the Sleep Out, www.masspowershift.org/events/boston-common-sleep-out, a move to catch our Senator John Kerry’s attention as he prepares to negotiate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December, http://en.cop15.dk/.

You can join Somerville’s Transition Town, http://group.google.com/group/transitionsomerville. Our own Althea, who is a part of Transition Town, is working specifically on how to make the Climate Change movement work across race and class.

Our connection to God often happens in nature, when we are alone, this is true. But our Christian practice also calls us to community. Come, let’s be community to each other this Sunday morning. Oh, and also come for a musical surprise.

Jason, our newest Ph.D., is our liturgist. Molly will read our scripture and lead our prayers. Our Stewardship season begins as well.

And come for BRUNCH and bid in the Goods and Services auction – to fund our missionary action in Mexico, just after services.

Love,
Laura Ruth

–
Rev. Laura Ruth Jarrett
Minister of Outreach
First Congregational Church of Somerville, UCC
An Open and Affirming Congregation
W. 12-9, Th. 2-8, Su. 8:30-2

Anyone remember that story recorded in 3 of the 4 gospels–the story of the man who hadn’t walked in years? He was paralyzed. He had friends who had heard of Jesus, heard of the things Jesus could do. They knew this man’s paralysis was beyond their power to heal, but they had enough moxie to carry him to the house where Jesus was staying, to drag him up to the roof when nobody made way for them to the door, and to cut a hole in the roof to let him down at Jesus’ feet. They were the rooftop people: not healers, but ones who paved the way for it.

We’ve built a small group out of this story: for anyone in a caregiving profession [health care, therapy, social work, teaching, ministry, et alia] who knows when they’re out of their depth–and knows, too, perhaps all they can do is heave and ho, not alone but with others, to bring those in need of healing into a space where healing happens, into the presence of One who can heal. Our small group, Rooftop People, comes back together this Sunday after hiatus: meeting after worship, 11:30, in the Chapel, for thelogical reflection and prayer, and every first Sunday of the month thereafter. If you need us, won’t you join us?

Deep seekers and lovers of God and archetype, a brochure for a brief conference at BU just came across my desk. I’m going, and I’d love you to join me if you’re interested: “Exploring Spirituality in Self and Others Through (Jungian) Psychological Type,” on Wednesday October 28, in the afternoon. Those of you who became fascinated with type after the church retreats we did on Myers-Briggs and Enneagram might find this a useful time. The link is:

www.bu.edu/danielsen/spirithealth

Finally, we don’t need to wait for a conference to tell us how to do it: we work on spirit-health every day, in our prayers alone, in our talk together. Want to talk or pray with me? I’ll be keeping a booth warm at the Diesel, tomorrow morning, Wednesday, 8-10a.

blessings,
Molly

It’s a beautiful day. What are you doing indoors?

This Sunday in church: I’m preaching from John’s gospel, more gooey, high-blown stuff on love, specifically: “This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Hear this John: easier said than done. We have a hard enough time loving ourselves. Maybe we’re starting at the wrong end of things? What is the relationship between loving, knowing, yourself, and loving, knowing, others?

Andrea Ranger is our first-time liturgist! People, come and smile and nod at her, when she confesses. If she happens to tear, cry with her. This is what it means to be one bread, one body, broken.

Laura Ruth is back with us! She’ll lead us in prayers. Thom is back! He’ll lead us in song. Our new Sunday school teacher, Erin Iwanusa, begins! She’ll be with the 7-11 year olds until Katy Pare finishes in June, then shift to the 3-6 year old classroom. Find her, greet her, make her feel at home among us!

After worship, we reuse, recycle, and take the “one body” image a little further: our first-ever Clothing Swap at church. Bring your well-loved stuff to share! Shoes especially invited–any extra will go to Rwanda for genocide orphans.

Now, what are you doing still reading this? Go outside!

blessings,
Molly