Dear Members and Friends:
Although a pandemic may separate us physically, it need not sever us from community. While we cannot be together in body at this time, we can be together in spirit. Let us then, set aside some time today to gather in spirit with one another and, through ritual and reflection, support one another by strengthening our resolve to remain faithful to our principles and maintain the bonds of community, friendship and love.
Below is an abbreviated worship service for use at home while limits on public gatherings are in place due to Covid-19. A new service will be posted and emailed each week until we can resume worship in the sanctuary at BUUC.
Today’s service was planned by Laurel Hemmer.
If you can, please join us on-line or telephone via Zoom, at 9:30 AM on Sunday. A separate email will have the details.
Announcements
Announcements are listed at the end of this document. If you have any announcements for the Zoom service, please type them into the Chat box or let the leader know you have an announcement.
Singing Bowl
Call to Worship
The call to worship today is taken in part from Senator Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech for her nomination for Vice President of the United States given at the Democratic National Convention. In her speech Kamala Harris said she is committed “to a vision passed on through generations of Americans . . . A vision of our nation as a beloved community - where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love. A country where we may not agree on every detail, but we are united by the fundamental belief that every human being is of infinite worth, deserving of compassion, dignity, and respect.” So I call you to this service today, whether virtually or in writing, at this moment or on your own time, knowing deep down in your soul that no matter what you look like, where you come from, or who you love, you are welcome to worship with us in our beloved community.
Chalice Lighting
Light a candle at home or in your mind’s eye mindful of people from our church community and around the world who, though physically separated, are gathered in spirit.
Recite aloud or in silence:
Little FlameBy Kathryn Estey
Little flame,
Light the tender kindling of our souls...
And soon a roaring blaze shall be
Of warmth and love and community.
From this little spark
May a fire of passion spread from heart to heart,
And light our way, sweet spirit.
And light our way.
Affirmation:
Reading
We cannot be saved by anyone, or anything, but each other
By Elizabeth Lerner Maclay
Source of all,
This is my third attempt at a prayer.
The first two revealed to me that I am angry,
which I didn’t realize until I just couldn’t bend those prayers into what I thought they should be.
What is wrong with us, how can we be so depraved and cruel, how is it we do not learn, how can we not have become better than this, how will we ever get better than this, why is it taking so long, why must so many people suffer while we still refuse to value each other, to free each other, to lift each other?
How is it that we are so beautiful and so ugly, so blessed and so cursed?
Refugees continue to flee for their lives to nations where they know nothing and no one, not even the language; people within these nations of refuge point fingers and name the refugees as the threat, as the problem, as the illness not the symptom, as the danger and not the victims.
So let me lay my anger aside, fold it carefully with my rageful hands and I will take it out later, rant and rend it later, give it to you, Source of All, if you are there to receive it, later.
But now, let us pray our grief for all those who have died in fear and horror.
Let us pray our hope for those whose lives hang in the balance now,
even as we breathe in this moment, may they recover, may they live.
Let us pray for those who have just lost someone they love, may they be held in their grief.
Let us pray for those on a boat that is tossing in an ever colder sea today or tomorrow.
Let us pray for those crossing a ever colder desert today or tomorrow.
We pray that they all survive, every single one, every person in peril, every child, every youth, every soul, every parent and grandparent, every soul, every desperate soul.
And may we understand that our prayers are not enough, may our own growing awareness of their courage and desperation become action, action that helps them be met with safety and warmth and respect, recognized as our own, of our own making, of our own family.
May we not pray for intervention, salvation, completion, redemption, those tired prayers that assume saving is someone else’s work, only God’s work. May we instead understand that we cannot be saved by or for anyone, or anything, but each other.
Each other is what we are given and all that will save us.
This planet is all we have and all that will save us.
Our own honor is all we have and all that will save us.
Each others’ humanity is all we have and all that will save us.
All that we are, all we will be known for, all we will be judged by, all that will intervene for us, save us, complete us, redeem us is us. Us.
Us.
Alright.
Alright.
Amen.
Joys and Concerns
If participating on Facebook: As you feel so moved, post a joy or concern you are holding this week. Remember this is a public forum so please exercise discretion, respect confidentially and refrain from moralizing.
If participating as on ZOOM recipient: You may raise your hand and wait to be called on or post your joy and concern in the chat box
If participating as an email recipient: As you feel so moved, speak aloud a joy or concern you are holding, mindful you are not alone, but one among many with joys and concerns seeking expression.
Moment of Silent Meditation/Prayer
Take a moment to be still and listen to the wisdom of your heart and /or pray or chant words meaningful to you or in your own words.
Sermon
The book American Dirt was released earlier this year. It caused quite a stir. I would turn on the news and hear the title “American Dirt” followed by words such as “controversial,” “death threats,” and “cancelled book tour.” I didn’t have time to find out what the big deal was. It was a book. The author had a right to write it. It was flying off the shelves. I had other things to read. Then this summer my book club decided to read American Dirt. So I asked Kirk what he knew about the controversies. See, all the negative press had turned me off. In general, Kirk said what he had heard was people didn’t like that a white woman had written a book about the Immigrant experience from Mexico. Well that pushed my buttons too. As a social worker I took offense. To me it was similar to people claiming you couldn’t help someone who had been horribly abused if you had not been horribly abused. Or you couldn’t do addiction work if you hadn’t experienced addiction. I do truly understand that sometimes connections can be made when you’ve had similar experiences. The way I approached parents in counseling after having a child of my own was different than before I had a child and my knowledge of parenting was greater. However, if a person wanted to write a work of fiction on immigration I did not believe she had to be an immigrant. So I decided to read the book. Before I go on, I do want to be clear that the author, Jeanine Cummins, is NOT a white woman. She is bi-racial and identifies as Puerto Rican. She also wrote the book because her now husband was an immigrant. The way I see it, she had something to say and a reason to say it.
As I read the book, despite it being a work of fiction, I learned a great deal. Cummins did years of research prior to writing the book. The events she wrote about were events that mirrored real life. The immigrant trains, the abuse to women and children, the cartels being ruthless, the gun violence, the greed, the corruption . . . .the deep seated belief that there was no other option besides trying to get to America. I did not know people riding the trains to freedom were sometimes mugged or kidnapped, I did not know how cold deserts got at night. I did not think about how you may need to flee a situation and would not have time to get money, a passport, or your birth certificate. Once again I was reminded that I have so much to learn in this lifetime and there are so many people that need and deserve help.
When I began looking for readings to inspire me for this service the very first one to catch my eye was today’s reading. The title grabbed me. “We cannot be saved by anyone, or anything, but each other.” Throughout the current presidency I have felt like we have all needed to be saved. From lies, hate, divisiveness, power, and greed, . . . .I could go on and on. I have longed for a road map to show us how to move forward. I have tried so hard to become more active - I am not a born activist yet I am learning that even small acts are necessary. I am learning not only to sign petitions, I am also learning to email politicians and yes pick up the phone and call them. I’m learning that I need to find the strength to speak about politics not only with those who are like minded yet also with those who are not. I’m learning that even though I live thousands of miles from the Mexican border that immigrants are also being treated unfairly in Massachusetts. And I have learned that I cannot NOT act even though it is definitely out of my comfort zone TO act.
And when I read this prayer the very first time, and did not fully grasp yet that it was about refugees, I cried once again for George Floyd when I read the words, “What is wrong with us, how can we be so depraved and cruel, how is it we do not learn, how have we not become better than this . . . ?” When George Floyd was murdered in such an inhumane way a shift happened deep in my soul and I knew I had to not only find the courage to speak up for social issues, I had to learn how to speak up even louder for racial justice. And in order to do this I will have to learn more about racism, and white fragility, and white supremacy, and how I can do better.
Circling back to the reading, the title grabbed my attention yet as I have mentioned I had no idea the prayer was regarding refugees and would make me think of immigration in our country. And in that moment I wanted to share with you this prayer, I wanted to speak about American Dirt, a powerful story worth reading and digesting, I wanted to share with you my desire to keep learning and my understanding that I have so much to learn in regards to social and racial justice and what can be done about it, and my plea to each of you that you also have so much to learn and we can learn together. We can grow together and question together and push each other to speak up and to act. We can point out to one another when there are steps we can take to help bring our world closer to one that is truly racially and socially just. We can accept we may not always agree on the steps to be taken and respect where each one of us is on the spectrum of activism. When we make mistakes, we can forgive each other and gently and lovingly help each other be better. Yet make no mistake I truly believe Elizabeth Lerner Maclay’s words: “may we understand that our prayers are not enough . . . we cannot be saved by anyone or anything but each other.”
May it be so. Blessed be.
Question(s) for reflection:
What is your response to the reading? Did it touch/move or disturb you?
In what way is the reading relevant to your life experience past or present?
What might you take from this reading into the week ahead?
Extinguishing the chalice
Recite aloud or in silence
We Are One by Amy Zucker Morgenstern
Never has it been more true than now:
We extinguish this flame,
But the sparks within us remain alight.
From each of us, in our supposed solitude,
The signals buzz and hum, sparkling through space one to another,
Connecting us invisibly
But palpably.
We are one.
And from every window,
Our light shines.
Blow out the candle you lit physically or in your mind’s eye.
Benediction
Recite aloud or in silence:
Peace be my companion
Have courage
Hold onto what is good
Return to no person evil for evil
Strengthen the fainthearted
Support the weak
Help the suffering
Honor all beings
Amen and Blessed Be
Benediction Response: “Peace Be Unto This Congregation”
Announcements
Choir Zoom meeting 7-8pm or 8:30pm each Thursday. Contact Music Director Lila M. Farrar at lilamfarrar@gmail.com
Although a pandemic may separate us physically, it need not sever us from community. While we cannot be together in body at this time, we can be together in spirit. Let us then, set aside some time today to gather in spirit with one another and, through ritual and reflection, support one another by strengthening our resolve to remain faithful to our principles and maintain the bonds of community, friendship and love.
Below is an abbreviated worship service for use at home while limits on public gatherings are in place due to Covid-19. A new service will be posted and emailed each week until we can resume worship in the sanctuary at BUUC.
Today’s service was planned by Laurel Hemmer.
If you can, please join us on-line or telephone via Zoom, at 9:30 AM on Sunday. A separate email will have the details.
Announcements
Announcements are listed at the end of this document. If you have any announcements for the Zoom service, please type them into the Chat box or let the leader know you have an announcement.
Singing Bowl
Call to Worship
The call to worship today is taken in part from Senator Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech for her nomination for Vice President of the United States given at the Democratic National Convention. In her speech Kamala Harris said she is committed “to a vision passed on through generations of Americans . . . A vision of our nation as a beloved community - where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love. A country where we may not agree on every detail, but we are united by the fundamental belief that every human being is of infinite worth, deserving of compassion, dignity, and respect.” So I call you to this service today, whether virtually or in writing, at this moment or on your own time, knowing deep down in your soul that no matter what you look like, where you come from, or who you love, you are welcome to worship with us in our beloved community.
Chalice Lighting
Light a candle at home or in your mind’s eye mindful of people from our church community and around the world who, though physically separated, are gathered in spirit.
Recite aloud or in silence:
Little FlameBy Kathryn Estey
Little flame,
Light the tender kindling of our souls...
And soon a roaring blaze shall be
Of warmth and love and community.
From this little spark
May a fire of passion spread from heart to heart,
And light our way, sweet spirit.
And light our way.
Affirmation:
- Together: We unite in an atmosphere of care and support to foster spiritual health and growth.
- Together: We focus on sharing our ideas and histories, with warmth, hope, loving friendship and an open mind.
- Together: We nurture stability for our daily lives and seek motivation to reach out to the larger community.
Reading
We cannot be saved by anyone, or anything, but each other
By Elizabeth Lerner Maclay
Source of all,
This is my third attempt at a prayer.
The first two revealed to me that I am angry,
which I didn’t realize until I just couldn’t bend those prayers into what I thought they should be.
What is wrong with us, how can we be so depraved and cruel, how is it we do not learn, how can we not have become better than this, how will we ever get better than this, why is it taking so long, why must so many people suffer while we still refuse to value each other, to free each other, to lift each other?
How is it that we are so beautiful and so ugly, so blessed and so cursed?
Refugees continue to flee for their lives to nations where they know nothing and no one, not even the language; people within these nations of refuge point fingers and name the refugees as the threat, as the problem, as the illness not the symptom, as the danger and not the victims.
So let me lay my anger aside, fold it carefully with my rageful hands and I will take it out later, rant and rend it later, give it to you, Source of All, if you are there to receive it, later.
But now, let us pray our grief for all those who have died in fear and horror.
Let us pray our hope for those whose lives hang in the balance now,
even as we breathe in this moment, may they recover, may they live.
Let us pray for those who have just lost someone they love, may they be held in their grief.
Let us pray for those on a boat that is tossing in an ever colder sea today or tomorrow.
Let us pray for those crossing a ever colder desert today or tomorrow.
We pray that they all survive, every single one, every person in peril, every child, every youth, every soul, every parent and grandparent, every soul, every desperate soul.
And may we understand that our prayers are not enough, may our own growing awareness of their courage and desperation become action, action that helps them be met with safety and warmth and respect, recognized as our own, of our own making, of our own family.
May we not pray for intervention, salvation, completion, redemption, those tired prayers that assume saving is someone else’s work, only God’s work. May we instead understand that we cannot be saved by or for anyone, or anything, but each other.
Each other is what we are given and all that will save us.
This planet is all we have and all that will save us.
Our own honor is all we have and all that will save us.
Each others’ humanity is all we have and all that will save us.
All that we are, all we will be known for, all we will be judged by, all that will intervene for us, save us, complete us, redeem us is us. Us.
Us.
Alright.
Alright.
Amen.
Joys and Concerns
If participating on Facebook: As you feel so moved, post a joy or concern you are holding this week. Remember this is a public forum so please exercise discretion, respect confidentially and refrain from moralizing.
If participating as on ZOOM recipient: You may raise your hand and wait to be called on or post your joy and concern in the chat box
If participating as an email recipient: As you feel so moved, speak aloud a joy or concern you are holding, mindful you are not alone, but one among many with joys and concerns seeking expression.
Moment of Silent Meditation/Prayer
Take a moment to be still and listen to the wisdom of your heart and /or pray or chant words meaningful to you or in your own words.
Sermon
The book American Dirt was released earlier this year. It caused quite a stir. I would turn on the news and hear the title “American Dirt” followed by words such as “controversial,” “death threats,” and “cancelled book tour.” I didn’t have time to find out what the big deal was. It was a book. The author had a right to write it. It was flying off the shelves. I had other things to read. Then this summer my book club decided to read American Dirt. So I asked Kirk what he knew about the controversies. See, all the negative press had turned me off. In general, Kirk said what he had heard was people didn’t like that a white woman had written a book about the Immigrant experience from Mexico. Well that pushed my buttons too. As a social worker I took offense. To me it was similar to people claiming you couldn’t help someone who had been horribly abused if you had not been horribly abused. Or you couldn’t do addiction work if you hadn’t experienced addiction. I do truly understand that sometimes connections can be made when you’ve had similar experiences. The way I approached parents in counseling after having a child of my own was different than before I had a child and my knowledge of parenting was greater. However, if a person wanted to write a work of fiction on immigration I did not believe she had to be an immigrant. So I decided to read the book. Before I go on, I do want to be clear that the author, Jeanine Cummins, is NOT a white woman. She is bi-racial and identifies as Puerto Rican. She also wrote the book because her now husband was an immigrant. The way I see it, she had something to say and a reason to say it.
As I read the book, despite it being a work of fiction, I learned a great deal. Cummins did years of research prior to writing the book. The events she wrote about were events that mirrored real life. The immigrant trains, the abuse to women and children, the cartels being ruthless, the gun violence, the greed, the corruption . . . .the deep seated belief that there was no other option besides trying to get to America. I did not know people riding the trains to freedom were sometimes mugged or kidnapped, I did not know how cold deserts got at night. I did not think about how you may need to flee a situation and would not have time to get money, a passport, or your birth certificate. Once again I was reminded that I have so much to learn in this lifetime and there are so many people that need and deserve help.
When I began looking for readings to inspire me for this service the very first one to catch my eye was today’s reading. The title grabbed me. “We cannot be saved by anyone, or anything, but each other.” Throughout the current presidency I have felt like we have all needed to be saved. From lies, hate, divisiveness, power, and greed, . . . .I could go on and on. I have longed for a road map to show us how to move forward. I have tried so hard to become more active - I am not a born activist yet I am learning that even small acts are necessary. I am learning not only to sign petitions, I am also learning to email politicians and yes pick up the phone and call them. I’m learning that I need to find the strength to speak about politics not only with those who are like minded yet also with those who are not. I’m learning that even though I live thousands of miles from the Mexican border that immigrants are also being treated unfairly in Massachusetts. And I have learned that I cannot NOT act even though it is definitely out of my comfort zone TO act.
And when I read this prayer the very first time, and did not fully grasp yet that it was about refugees, I cried once again for George Floyd when I read the words, “What is wrong with us, how can we be so depraved and cruel, how is it we do not learn, how have we not become better than this . . . ?” When George Floyd was murdered in such an inhumane way a shift happened deep in my soul and I knew I had to not only find the courage to speak up for social issues, I had to learn how to speak up even louder for racial justice. And in order to do this I will have to learn more about racism, and white fragility, and white supremacy, and how I can do better.
Circling back to the reading, the title grabbed my attention yet as I have mentioned I had no idea the prayer was regarding refugees and would make me think of immigration in our country. And in that moment I wanted to share with you this prayer, I wanted to speak about American Dirt, a powerful story worth reading and digesting, I wanted to share with you my desire to keep learning and my understanding that I have so much to learn in regards to social and racial justice and what can be done about it, and my plea to each of you that you also have so much to learn and we can learn together. We can grow together and question together and push each other to speak up and to act. We can point out to one another when there are steps we can take to help bring our world closer to one that is truly racially and socially just. We can accept we may not always agree on the steps to be taken and respect where each one of us is on the spectrum of activism. When we make mistakes, we can forgive each other and gently and lovingly help each other be better. Yet make no mistake I truly believe Elizabeth Lerner Maclay’s words: “may we understand that our prayers are not enough . . . we cannot be saved by anyone or anything but each other.”
May it be so. Blessed be.
Question(s) for reflection:
What is your response to the reading? Did it touch/move or disturb you?
In what way is the reading relevant to your life experience past or present?
What might you take from this reading into the week ahead?
Extinguishing the chalice
Recite aloud or in silence
We Are One by Amy Zucker Morgenstern
Never has it been more true than now:
We extinguish this flame,
But the sparks within us remain alight.
From each of us, in our supposed solitude,
The signals buzz and hum, sparkling through space one to another,
Connecting us invisibly
But palpably.
We are one.
And from every window,
Our light shines.
Blow out the candle you lit physically or in your mind’s eye.
Benediction
Recite aloud or in silence:
Peace be my companion
Have courage
Hold onto what is good
Return to no person evil for evil
Strengthen the fainthearted
Support the weak
Help the suffering
Honor all beings
Amen and Blessed Be
Benediction Response: “Peace Be Unto This Congregation”
Announcements
Choir Zoom meeting 7-8pm or 8:30pm each Thursday. Contact Music Director Lila M. Farrar at lilamfarrar@gmail.com
