To Learn from Animal Being

Dear MRC Family,

Blessings to you, beloved of God, in this season of Ordinary Time

Well, dear ones, it is looking more likely that we will be inside our beautiful sanctuary instead of in our Meditation Prayer Garden as the remnants of Isaias will be affecting our area on Sunday morning. UGH! But no matter. Rain or shine ALL people and animals are truly welcome to come and worship God and give thanks for our glorious creation for the Blessing of the Animals at 10:30AM. If your animal companion is not really up for being around a bunch of people and other critters, bring a photo for a blessing. Even very loved stuffed animals will be blessed! The Joyful Noise Choir will sing the Anthem “Come Follow Me.” Our grounding Scriptures are Genesis 2.18-20a and Psalm 104.14-30 and I can’t wait to share The Story of Scootaloo with you. And we will receive our Deacons' offering to help those in our church and community who are in need. After worship, come downstairs and enjoy coffee, snacks, and conversation with the beloved community. If you are unable to be in person for worship, we will be streaming live on our YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@mrcafabulouschurchoflove1611. (Last week we had some technical difficulties but they should be fixed for this Sunday.)

I look forward to being with you this Sunday as we “learn from animal being.” Keep bothering and following Jesus.

To Learn From Animal Being — by John O'Donohue

Nearer to the earth's heart,
Deeper within its silence:
Animals know this world
In a way we never will.

We who are ever
Distanced and distracted
By the parade of bright
Windows thought opens:
Their seamless presence
Is not fractured thus.

Stranded between time
Gone and time emerging,
We manage seldom
To be where we are:
Whereas they are always
Looking out from
The here and now.

May we learn to return
And rest in the beauty
Of animal being,
Learn to lean low,
Leave our locked minds,
And with freed senses
Feel the earth
Breathing with us.

May we enter
Into lightness of spirit,
And slip frequently into
The feel of the wild.

Let the clear silence
Of our animal being
Cleanse our hearts
Of corrosive words.

May we learn to walk
Upon the earth
With all their confidence
And clear-eyed stillness
So that our minds

Might be baptized
In the name of the wind
And the light and the rain.

With gratitude for the privilege of being your pastor and the holy call of loving you,

Pastor Trish