THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, June 26, 2022, Third Sunday After Pentecost. Join us on Zoom at 4 pm. Note the time change. Contact me if you need a link. 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,
In our household, we enjoy a good Broadway musical tune. This song popped up, from Rogers and Hammstein’s “Carousel!”: “March March went out like a lion a whippin' up the water in the bay. Then April cried and stepped aside and along come pretty little May! May was full of promises but she didn't keep 'em quickly enough for some. And a crowd of doubtin' Thomases was predictin' that the summer'd never come,” followed by the chorus: June is bustin' out all over! All over the meadow and the hill buds're bustin' outa bushes and the rompin' river pushes ev'ry little wheel that wheels beside the mill…” Well, that’s exactly what happened this week in Portland, OR, and other cities where many of you live. Yeah!
The focus Scripture this Sunday is Luke 9:51-62. In this passage, Jesus and the disciples Peter, James, and John, had recently experienced what we call “the Transfiguration” on top of Mt. Tabor, and Jesus’ face was set to go to Jerusalem (v. 51). In other words, Luke’s Jesus was on his final pilgrimage of his life ministry, leaving Galilee and vicinity, and headed to Jerusalem, where he would face the courts, be sentenced to death, die on the cross, and rise again. So, time was short. The goal of this pilgrimage was set. Jesus’ face was set towards Jerusalem (v. 53). With that in the backdrop, Jesus’ response to the questions and situations at hand were set in the context of Jesus going to Jerusalem to meet his future. And his responses were short and to the point. For example, when he was kept out of a village by Samaritans, who were not friends of Jesus, Jesus does not wish them ill, but moves forward. He calls others to follow him, though the pilgrimage will not be an easy one. He cautions that while foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, that God’s son is on the move, and has nowhere to call home right now. “Follow me,” was his refrain. When someone wanted to follow but first bury the dead, his refrain was simple: Let the dead bury their own dead, follow me (v. 60). When still someone else wanted to say farewell to his kith and kin, Jesus simply urged this one to follow him. See a theme here? So, this Sunday, let’s talk about following Jesus, whose face is set to Jerusalem.
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The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! Mark this in your calendars. More details will be coming. This is a big anniversary for the Community of Pilgrims, and we look forward to celebrating it with one another, and with the world around us as we continue to serve and love God and serve and love your neighbor in creative and meaningful ways.
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Events!
June 26, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
July 3, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
July 10, Holy Holiday!
July 17, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom OR Rise Church! Stay Tuned! TBD!
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
We pray to the Creator of all creation:
· Vaccines now available for children under five years old, and prayers that they will take them.
· Karen's new Cochlear implants which are lighter, clearer, and technically more advanced.
· Randy's last radiation therapy treatment tomorrow and he is doing well.
· Juneteenth, now a national holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, TX, in 1865 who were the last to be freed.
· Pride and the Portland Pride Parade to celebrate diversity and keep fighting for equal rights.
· Chuck Stilson is back home following pacemaker surgery and able to join us today.
· Lorinda is healing.
· Kathrine Klein is able to join us today.
· Christian's sister Yarrow's numbers are improving.
We shared Prayers of Concern for
· Energy for Roberta teaching elementary school children in Vacation Bible School this week.
· Brett's former partner Dean has been diagnosed with leukemia, but his “strain” of leukemia is very mild and can be treated with daily medications.
· Lorinda's friends Connie and Louise who are both bedridden.
· People in war-torn countries including Ukraine, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, and Afghanistan.
· Farmers facing shortages and delivery issues.
· Mother Earth that we do our best to slow or reverse the trajectory we are on.
· Climate change increases flood risks such as the heavy rains which caused flooding in Yellowstone.
· Massive cattle die-off in the mid-West.
· Cessation of gun violence.
· Senators to make incremental changes in gun laws.
· Linda as she adjusts to her new home at The Ackerly.
· Improvement in the divisiveness in our world.
· Those drawn to fascism and authoritarians.
· Those living without shelter, food, or financial stability.
· Prayers for this nation with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen
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Poem
In-Between the Sun and Moon, By Padraig O’Tuama
In-between the sun and moon,
I sit and watch
and make some room
for letting light and twilight mingle,
shaping hope
and making single glances last eternity,
a little more,
extending love beyond the doors of welcoming,
while wedding all the parted people,
even sons to violent mothers,
and searching all the others finding light
where twilight lingers,
in-between the sun and moon.
Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander