The most recent gathering of FaithJustice & Fellowship took place on 10/21/09. We were thrilled to have some new faces and are blessed to have them with us! Our fellowship started with a tasty chicken soup, courtesy of friend and CFJ "adjunct staff member", Meg Duffy. We then moved into the Chapel for Evening Prayer with our prayer leader, Martha Dudich. Our prayer started with this introduction and reading:
"Jesus declared to Nicodemus, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless that one is born again."
'How can a person be born who is old?' Nicodemus inquired.'Surely I cannot enter a second time into my mother's womb to be born!'
Jesus answered, 'The one who is born of water and Spirit will enter the kingdom of God. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You watch its movement, you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. . . God gives the Spirit without limit."
Martha then offered the following reflection:
"I often look to the calendar as an aid in my prayer life. While the headlines can usually be enough to jumpstart my morning devotion, I will also often peek at a pair of almanacs I keep with my spiritual readings and journal, and if I’ve got the time to boot up the computer, I’ll check www.on-this-day.com for historical facts, famous birthdays, a daily quote and, right up my alley, some quirky piece of musical trivia. Undoubtedly we’ll all sleep better tonight knowing that the can-can was first performed in Paris on October 21, 1858. On this day in 1917, the first US soldiers entered WWI combat, while in 1927 construction began on the George Washington Bridge. And on October 21, 1980 the Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series. (From my mouth to God’s ears, they should get it in again this year!) You’d think the fact that Thomas Edison invented the electric light on this day in 1879 would certainly give me prayer fodder, motivating me to reflect upon ways I carry Christ’s light, or those times I am blind to it in others. But it was another bit of wacky wisdom that adjusted my daily compass when I read that in Gloucester, England today is H.C. Booth Day.
It seems that in 1901, the mechanical engineer Hubert Cecil Booth was sitting on his front porch at sunset watching a cloud of dust created as the nearby railway carriages were being cleaned with compressed air. Observing this, he wondered aloud to no one, “What if we could reverse the wind?” with the idea that instead of blowing the dust, it could be pulled up. Within a month, Booth had invented the vacuum cleaner (patented, in one of God’s little jokes, on my birthday, prompting its annual drag around my house, whether it is necessary or not!)
Perhaps there are times you, as I, feel the wind is blowing dust and debris that clouds our vision, distorts the direction we think we should be moving in. H.C. Booth Day invites us to consider reversing the wind. The Spirit of God, that Holy Wind, is ever with us and, as the Gospel assures, without limit. What might we want reversed? What debris – what wreckage, what rubbish – needs to be vacuumed from our work, our worship, our world? Can we dare to imagine what might be different, Divine Wind blowing where it pleases, carrying new considerations, fresh outlooks and varied points of view? May we abandon ourselves to the breath of the Spirit that we might, as the GODSPELL song encourages, “see more clearly, love more dearly, follow more nearly” – on this day October 21, 2009 and all the days we are given."
It seems that in 1901, the mechanical engineer Hubert Cecil Booth was sitting on his front porch at sunset watching a cloud of dust created as the nearby railway carriages were being cleaned with compressed air. Observing this, he wondered aloud to no one, “What if we could reverse the wind?” with the idea that instead of blowing the dust, it could be pulled up. Within a month, Booth had invented the vacuum cleaner (patented, in one of God’s little jokes, on my birthday, prompting its annual drag around my house, whether it is necessary or not!)
Perhaps there are times you, as I, feel the wind is blowing dust and debris that clouds our vision, distorts the direction we think we should be moving in. H.C. Booth Day invites us to consider reversing the wind. The Spirit of God, that Holy Wind, is ever with us and, as the Gospel assures, without limit. What might we want reversed? What debris – what wreckage, what rubbish – needs to be vacuumed from our work, our worship, our world? Can we dare to imagine what might be different, Divine Wind blowing where it pleases, carrying new considerations, fresh outlooks and varied points of view? May we abandon ourselves to the breath of the Spirit that we might, as the GODSPELL song encourages, “see more clearly, love more dearly, follow more nearly” – on this day October 21, 2009 and all the days we are given."
After prayer, we gathered for coffee and conversation, with a renewed sense of spirit and renewed in the Spirit.
Please consider joining us next week, Wednesday, October 28th in our effort to build a community of faith and justice. We welcome you and your friends. Dinner is at 6:30 PM, prayer at 7:15 PM.
If you'd like to be on the weekly email, please contact us at mail@faithjustice.org. Simple include your name and email address and you'll be all set. Hope to see you soon!
Please consider joining us next week, Wednesday, October 28th in our effort to build a community of faith and justice. We welcome you and your friends. Dinner is at 6:30 PM, prayer at 7:15 PM.
If you'd like to be on the weekly email, please contact us at mail@faithjustice.org. Simple include your name and email address and you'll be all set. Hope to see you soon!
