As daytime’s shift brings forth nighttime’s reign, Sleep nears. Our eyelids become heavy. Our head nods. And today must bid adieu.
Bless the pillows that hold our heads And absorb our dreams. Support our weary necks Aching from the long days. May the wisdom of sunlight’s hours Rest well as we sleep, Allowing today’s worries to hibernate- At least until morning.
May our pillows continue to balance us Cool us when we are warm, And warm us when we are cool. May it’s gift to us be a restful night of sleep As we resume our lives as dawn awakens.
Entry Into Worship Gathering together, we celebrate the blossoming of talents. Like the body and all of its individual parts, We each bring to the church a sparkle of light A heart filled with dreams And the joy of living into God’s vision.
As we celebrate the new path of our friend, We pray for peace among the rocky roads, Umbrellas on rainy days, Deep breaths in anxious moments, Love in lonely shadows And inspiration when the wells have run dry.
Invocation Holy God, Divine Gardener of our Spirits, You dwell with us in the fields of our faith. You call us onto path strange and familiar, Comfortable and troublesome. You sit with us among the bitter herbs And taste the sweetness of the fruit of the vine. You never veer away from us- Even when we are in knee deep in dirt You celebrate the fertile soil below. Our covenant is to be celebrated As we leap for joy Knowing each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made Because you know us well.
May we delight in your steadfast love- A love that knows no end, A love that stretches from horizon to horizon, A love that knows the shadows before sunset, And the night beyond dusk.
Fill this ordinand, this sibling in Christ With the visions of your Realm, The strength to bring your dreams to fruition And joy at the harvest.
Amen.
(c) 2023 Rev. Michelle L. Torigian. Permission to use with attribution.
Call to Worship One: God who dwells in the mystery of life Many: Fill us with wonder as we traipse around your world. One: Christ who offers kindness and mercy Many: Fill us with understanding as we meet our stranger, enemy, and friend. One: Spirit who delivers dreams to us Many: Draw us into your visions of love for our neighbors.
Invocation God of Illumination, Under the sparkles of the Christmas lights and long starry night skies, we find joy in the bustle of the Christmas season. As the Christmas lights are taken down, the beauty of Christmas is just beginning. Birth is happening in the springtime buds, the summer sunsets, the autumn hues, and the winter snowfall. May we see the joy of birth surrounding us throughout our year. May this joy move us to bear kindness, creating your Realm here on earth. Amen.
Prayer of Reflection Holy Bearer of Delight- Most days, we shuffle along, filled with focus on the ordinary. Instead of seeing your Divine Light in each space, we overlook the beauty of your presence. Open our souls to notice the amazement of your steadfast presence. May we see the holy beauty of each flower’s petal, each cloudy sunset, each rumble of thunder, and each weed in our lawns. Amen.
Assurance of God’s Grace Our God who gives us rebirth, resurrections, and renewals lavishes us with grace. May God’s mercy allow us to see how newness can transform our lives.
Reflection on Giving The Gift of Christmas is greater than what can be found in any wrapped box. Christmas has presented us with the Christ in our midst. As Jesus the Christ was the one who taught us how to love one another, we pass this Divine Love to our neighbors through our talents, treasures, and time. Whether Christmas or Easter, Pentecost or any ordinary day, we share our gifts with the church and community.
Blessing of the Gifts Enchanting God, Divine Joy, We take these days in the warmth of summertime to remember the birth of the Christ. We take time away from the consumerist holiday to celebrate the holy aspects of Christmas. May this day remind us of the mirth of Jesus’ birth and the love of Jesus which still ripples in our world. May we spend these next few months until Christmas with the joy of rebirth in our hearts, sharing that excitement with our neighbors around us. Amen.
Benediction Filled with the joy of this ordinary day, May we go forward celebrating the magnificent and ordinary, The fantastic and everyday, The mediocre and amazing, The astounding and common. God is in the shiny days and cloudy evenings, The starry nights and the foggy mornings. Let us find Divine Sparkle no matter the time or space As God is already there!
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(c) 2023 Rev. Michelle L. Torigian. Permission to use with attribution.
As we are the vine and branches, your voice call us to be the community, to follow your voice, to embrace the dreams your Spirit has instilled in our souls.
On this day, as well as each day of the school year, we celebrate the gifts of our teachers. You grant them energy to educate, wisdom to know how to lead , and to show students how to be members of their communities.
You grant them patience as they watch their students grow and help students understand ways to walk on life’s path- no matter the path they are on.
You grant them the spark of inspiration as they pass that encouragement and enthusiasm along to students.
You grant them peace as they listen and guide students in their toughest moments and comfort in lockdowns and other times of anxiety.
We give much thanks for the teachers in our classrooms, the administrators who guide them, the support staff who accompany them, and all who work in schools.
May your peace fill their hearts with joy, their classrooms with well-being for all, and the hallways with warmth and kindness.
Beginnings of tales are very exciting. Endings are quite often lovely… or at least there’s some closure. But the middle is where the chaos ensues.
There is sometimes conflict and often disarray in the middle of stories… And projects… And, especially, the sacred assignment of Holy Week.
God of all focus and all chaos, Through the storms of life you create rainbows. Through the Big Bang, you created the universe. Through the many docs and tabs open on my computer, You create a meaningful Holy Week.
So we are in the middle of this story together. You will bring forth the energy I need, The fortitude to continue to journey on, The strength to work one more hour.
As the sun rises on Sunday, The Holy Week story comes to a conclusion, And a new chapter begins- For me, For us, For the Christ.
Today, I had too much caffeine. My heart is fluttering. I am about to bounce off of the walls.
I overestimated the my body’s response to this morning’s cuppa joe.
God, I appear to be speaking a mile a minute. As my hands type, they shake.
I confess to allowing my body to be off balance. The choice I made were not exactly horrible, but slightly unhealthy.
But while I have this extra energy, May I serve the church and this world more faithfully. May spend my uber-focus time on what you need Before this afternoon’s big crash arrives And I’m left staring at instead of bouncing off of walls.
As the years pass, I’ve kept my mouth quite closed.
You have asked me to share the Good News, And I kept your love to myself.
You have asked me to share your message of justice and equity, And I worried about what others would think.
You have asked me to be to be the most authentic version of myself, To share the truest me with the world, But I kept that self hidden too many times.
It would have been lovely to speak my truth along the way- To those who downgraded me, To those who have doubted me, To those who tried to destroy my soul.
Yet as I learn about my worth, And continue the journey of healing and growing, My voice continues to be freed by the constraints of this world.
The song I sing in this new chapter Reflects a version of myself that has hidden in the depths of my spirit That once fled to the Sheol of my mind.
And now I stand in the warm sunlight with you, Spirit of Wonder- On top of the escarpment overlooking the lands I’ve previously walked. I know what needs to happen now As I warm my voice at dawn of this brand new day.
God of the sticks, the dry grounds, the damp tears, and the gritty ashes: Oh how we yearn for the spring to arrive. The days of the sweet mild breezes carrying the scents of your creation. The boldness of the sunrise which will awaken our souls Instead of the chilly winds swirling below the thick cloud cover.
But for now, God, we sit under the tree full of twigs and surrounded by ashes. We sit with the grief that comes from unbearable losses. We settle knowing that today may not go well, that tomorrow is not guaranteed- Yet hope still illuminates the sky in the distance.
So we live with that hope: The hope that the phoenix will rise from the ashes And Christ will rise from the tomb. We live with the hope that the twigs on the trees Will bear leaves when the time is right. We know that after the longest nights of our lives That the sun will rise again, And that you, Holy Comforter, Will follow us to the depths of Sheol if we flee.
Even when hardships encroach our space And afflictions invade our bodies, The hope found in the realm of God- The dirt-filled, ash smeared Tear-damp realm of God Is still hope. This is the hope that drives away despair, That warms our hearts, That give us moments of cheer. And in that we offer God our praise.
As we abide together in the middle of this week, the grayness has plunged from the skies to accompany me on earth. The fogs from above are wrapping themselves around my tired brain.
Focus! I tell myself again – FOCUS!
And yet, my skull is filled with haziness instead of the concentration that’s much desired.
God, I ask you again to help me focus. And help me stop criticizing myself for fogginess that’s taken over my brain. My body is human, my mind is human. May I realize that my humanity is needed and which you have created to be a superpower.
Michelle L. Torigian 