THIS SUNDAY: The Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022, Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost. On Zoom. Contact me if you need a Zoom 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,
Weirdly enough, I am sitting outside on our deck, writing this newsletter. It is almost 2 pm, and the weather is not too hot nor too cold. It is 81 degrees. There is a gentle breeze, and now and then I see a butterfly float by, or hummingbird zip by, in search of nectar. And it is August in Oregon. How weird yet wonderful. I hope this email newsletter finds you all well.
The Scriptural focus this week is the Gospel reading Luke 13:10-17. This is a healing story, in which Jesus heals a woman who has been bent over for some eighteen years. The miracle healing was that Jesus told her simply this: “You are set free from your ailment,” and with that, she was able to stand aright. Whatever was causing her to be bent or stooped over was now gone from her life. Of course, the other part of the story, and why Luke probably added it, was because Jesus cured this woman on the Sabbath day, a day of rest, when no work is to be done, and “healing” must’ve come under the heading of “work” for the leader of the synagogue. Jesus rightly points out that on the Sabbath day, people take their animals, like ox and donkey, from the manger home to a place where the animal could get water. Just a necessity of life. The underlying messages? Well, are we so wedded to the law, “Honor the Sabbath and keep in holy,” that we would do neglect others and possibly harm others? Yet there is also another message, which will be the focus this Sunday, which is the woman’s healing, from being stooped over to standing aright. How many of us feel stooped over, carrying a huge burden literally or figuratively, and need to be freed from this burden? Join us this week as we explore this passage in the context of our life.
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The Community of Pilgrims will celebrate our five-year anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022! The tentative plan, and our hope, is to meet at Rise Church on that day, in person for those in Portland, while also with those who are living in other parts of the country via Zoom. After all, you are all the Community of Pilgrims. Please 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 neighbor in creative and meaningful ways.
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Events!
Aug. 18, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
Aug. 25, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
Sept. 4, 4 pm, Gather and Devotion on Zoom.
Sept. 11, Holy Holiday
Sept. 18, 4 pm Gather and Devotion on Zoom and Rise Church to celebrate our Five-Year Anniversary as a Community of Pilgrims!
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Prayers of Celebration and Concern
We pray to the Creator of all creation:
Prayers of thanksgiving for:
· A respite in the hot weather pattern in this part of the world;
· The beauty of flora and fauna, flowers galore, and fresh berries;
· Access to good healthcare in a world in which it is scarce for many others;
· The space to feel blessed;
· The space and time to grieve when needed;
· The opportunity to freely gather as a community of faith;
· Friends, new and old;
· Ancient biblical stories that still speak afresh in our day and age;
· New job opportunities;
Prayers of concern for:
· Those places of continuous violence in the world;
· World leaders, that they serve the common good;
· Global climate change;
· Women’s reproductive rights;
· LGBTQIA2S+ rights;
· Voting rights;
· Gun control;
· Homelessness and houselessness in our cities and villages;
· The beginning of school, and for teachers, staff, and students alike;
· Those who have entered hospice or palliative care.
God in your love, attend our prayers. Amen
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Poem
God of the Living, by Jan Richardson
When the wall
Between the worlds
Is too firm,
Too close.
When it seems
All solidity
And sharp edges.
When every morning
You wake as if
Flattened against it,
Its forbidding presence
Fairly pressing the breath
From you
All over again.
Then may you be given
A glimpse
Of how weak the wall
And how strong what stirs on the other side,
Breathing with you
And blessing you
Still
Forever bound to you
But freeing you
Into this living,
Into this world
So much wider
Than you ever knew.
Buen Camino! Pastor Brett Webb-Mitchell and Karen Cornwell Fortlander