This Sunday we remember and celebrate the 4th of July holiday through our hymns and prayers. We’ll sing “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” by Katherine Bates. This is a grand, tender hymn. Katherine wrote this while on Pike’s Peak in Colorado, amazed at the wonder and beauty of this land—and all the promise it held. It’s good to sing in that spirit on this holiday. (And, later in July, Tora and I will get to see Pike’s Peak on our big train trip that will take us to Denver and Colorado Springs, where we’ll meet my new great-niece–another ‘Julia’ for the family. I’ll certainly be enjoying spacious skies this month!) We’ll also sing “Eternal Father, Strong to Save”, the Navy hymn, reminding us that God is with us, our country, and world, in the storms of life. We’ll also sing “Diverse in Culture, Nation, Race” that will lift up my sermon theme. To help us with this singing we’ll have a guest, Paul Celebi, a 2015 graduate of PHS who is attending Oberlin College and its excellent music school.
During worship we will dedicate our Music Director Search Committee, an eight member group led by Cindy Dickinson, voted in at Church Council this past week. We’ll be working away over the summer seeking candidates and discerning our path. May God guide our steps.
This is Communion Sunday and we will be fed for the journey of faith, wherever it takes you this summer. Our Scriptures will guide us on this path as they call us to follow something larger than ourselves—larger than what Paul calls ‘the flesh’. The Gospel, Luke 10:1-11 is a description of Jesus sending the disciples out two by two to deepen and expand the ministry they share. Jesus tells them to leave all their ‘stuff’ behind so they are free to be instruments of peace. In Galatians 5:13-25 Paul challenges the early church to move beyond self-interest and self-absorption—which is what ‘the flesh’ is—and find their way into the pathway of love. I’m calling my Communion Meditation “Finding the Path”. I’ll begin with a backpacking moment my daughter, Lia–short for Julia, by the way—and I had when she was in high school. It was an encounter with a bunch of mosquitos that became a religious experience—you’ll definitely have to come and hear how that works!
In addition to singing about the beauty of this land, sharing in Communion, and hearing about mosquitos, we’ll pray for one another and our wider world. Keep in prayer the family of Joy Crawford Killfoile, whose funeral I conducted on Friday, and Ruth Austin as she gets ready for upcoming surgery, and for our country that, together, we find a path that leads to justice, dignity, and hope for all. Have a blessed 4th!
Welcome Paul Celebi
We welcome Paul Celebi as our guest pianist. A 2015 graduate of Pittsfield High School, Paul studied piano at Berkshire Music School and now attends Oberlin College. Paul will be with us again on July 24, July 31, and August 21.