"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” missing verse But with the woes of sin and strife The world has suffered long; Beneath the angel-strain have rolled Two thousand years of wrong; And man, at war with… — Edmund Hamilton Sears, written in the context of the social strife that plagued the country during the approaching Civil War
When power reaps death from countless
killing fields, and every war sows the seeds
of the next, those in the Great Shepherd’s
flock resist the bloodletting lure.
Let the mournful rejoice in the Lamb who
rules, for the Tendering Day draws near!
Both lion and lamb are inheritors of the
coming peaceful kingdom, but
the latter’s sleep is the sweeter.
Let mutual love continue.
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them.
Read more › Call to worship
The season of Lent is upon us. Listen for your instructions!
Now is the time to flee Pharaoh’s national security state for the insecurity of the wilderness.
Now is the time to listen for the Word whose hearing bypasses the ears of princes and high priests but is heard only in the wilderness.
Read more ›Oh people of Promise, let your eyes arise to the
hills above the hollows, where a cleft is prepared
and your sustenance is proffered.
God will not let your foot be moved. Heaven’s
Sheltering Wing neither sleeps nor slumbers.
The MercyFull One is your keeper. The tree
of righteousness towers above you.
Kyrie eleison.
Lord have mercy.
Jesus said: “The one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”*
Read more ›By wind’s pillar of cloud, by flame’s column of fire, do we live and move toward journey’s unseen home.
We are coming from slavery, yet with bones grown accustomed to imperial protection.
Whose memory shall we privilege; whose purpose confirm?
Read more ›In that region there were shepherds, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Keeping watch. In darkest night.
Then an angel stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around, and they were terrified.
Read more ›Narrator: Shortly before he turned toward Jerusalem, where he knew a confrontation would erupt, Jesus told his disciples, “If you want to become my followers, deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.”
First voice: Is it OK if I’m just a believer and not a follower?
Second voice: Such negativity! Why didn’t Jesus accentuate the positive?
Read more ›Into this House of Memory we gather with our young to bless them on their way. As with the Israelites, it is a journey of many stages. Hear these instructions, sons and daughters of promise:
The road to Freedom lies outside the border and bond of empire.
The escape begins in the shivering dark of urgent haste, creeping past sentries, no bounty for provision, no destination save that spoken by the wind. And you will have cause to ask:
Read more ›As he came near and saw Jerusalem, Jesus wept.
As do we.
When he comes near Washington, and Ferguson, and Asheville, Jesus weeps.
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