THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Nov. 28, 2021, Gathering and Devotion on Zoom this Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent. If you have any questions, or are interested in a conversation, contact Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell (919) 444-9111; brettwebbmitchell@gmail.com and visit www.communityofpilgrims.com.
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Dear Community of Pilgrims!
To begin this newsletter, I hope that everyone not only had a good time with family and friends, but that there was space and time to speak or write or communicate a word of gratefulness. Of thankfulness. The Rev. Dr. Michael Barham loves to add a list of what he is grateful from time to time on Facebook, in which he reminds us that each day, in large and small ways, we have some things, someone, somewhere to be thankful for, thankful to God, if we look hard enough, or stand or sit still enough, amid the whirl of a day.
This first Sunday of Advent, the focus is on both Jeremiah 33:14-16 and Luke 21:26-36. While both passages have echoes of “the end of times,” what these passages point to is a God who has not given up on creation and God’s creatures, but is out to save them from themselves, come what may. We are, after all, our own worst enemies and harshest critics. As the poet Jan Richardson writes in her poem, “Blessing When the World is Ending” (posted at the end of this newsletter), “Look, the world is always ending somewhere.” But our sense of “the end “ is not God’s sense of “the end.” There is always the blessing, the hope, that is God’s gift to us. Richardson ends the poem with these words, “(The blessing) 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. The focus for this Sunday’s meditation/sermon will be on the blessing of a renewed hope. After all, if God is for us, it matters not who is against us. Join us this Sunday as we discuss renewing hope in our lives, with a big “thanks” to God in Christ.
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THANK YOU! Thank you for supporting us, The Community of Pilgrims in 2022. If you still haven’t sent us your Pledge form send it to Bill Kinsey, our Treasurer, via email (email address is part of this email.) Thank you, again, for supporting us.
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Events!
Nov. 28, 4:30 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom! First Sunday of Advent.
Dec. 5, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom! Second Sunday of Advent.
Dec. 12, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom! Third Sunday of Advent.
Dec. 19, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom! Fourth Sunday of Advent.
Dec. 24, 5 pm, Christmas Eve service at Portsmouth Trinity Lutheran Church.
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
We pray to the Creator of all creation:
· Celebrations for the granting of clemency to death row inmate Julius Jones.
· Kristen's co-worker Nicky who has retired to take care of her health in light of her recent diagnosis of breast cancer which has spread to lymph nodes.
· Dean and his family following the death of his mother from cancer yesterday.
· Christian's sister Yarrow who has metastatic breast cancer.
· All those with cancer.
· All those suffering from mental illnesses.
· Solace during this holiday time.
· Return to good health for co-worker's daughter Iris who has been diagnosed with COVID.
· The family of Jack Venables who recently died.
· Long-time friend Sheryl who died recently.
· Continued prayers for Philip Cuomo, friend of Arlena and Bill's, who has progressive lymphoma and recently moved into hospice.
· The congregation at East Woods Presbyterian Church which welcomes their Interim Pastor this Sunday.
· Taking better care of the environment.
· Peace in the world particularly places like Syria and Yemen which continue to be torn apart.
· Gratitude to be able to get to work with youth directly at Home Plate.
· Guidance and support for youth 18 to 25 years old, lost in the system.
· Safe travels for all those traveling over the holidays.
· Prayers for this world with the discovery of a new COVID variant.
· Prayers of celebration for Parker’s 29th birthday.
“God, in your love, attend our prayers.”
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Poem
Blessing When the World is Ending, by Jan Richardson
Look, 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 this
Than an ending.
Nothing 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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Buen Camino! Pastors Brett & Karen Cornwell Fortlander.