Online Devotional – Page 11 – Lakewood United Church of Christ

Corona Sabbath 20 HEALING

20200725_104415 These weeks when we cannot gather in person for Sunday worship, Lakewood United Church of Christ is providing brief weekly sabbath programs for you to listen to on your own or with others in your social isolation group. They will be posted on Friday so that you can schedule your sabbath time to suit your schedule and your spiritual inclinations. We hope these programs are of spiritual support to you in these difficult times.

grounded. So these Summer Sundays will focus on key concepts in Christianity that provide grounding. So, welcome to “Grounded.” This post focuses on healing.

There is a scripture reading offered by Chip Cosper and a meditation by Pastor Kim Wells as well as music offered by Music Director Hilton Kean Jones.

You are invited to find a quiet space, inside or outside. Light a candle. Take a look around you. Breathe. Life-giving breath. Be present.

You may begin by offering this reading:

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

–The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

(poem submitted by Sue Sherwood)
When you are ready, start the video below.

(For written text of the above video click HERE.)
As you listen to the music from Hilton which follows, you are invited to notice the thoughts and feelings and that arise for you.

Before closing, today’s Corona Sabbath presents a video of scenes from the life of the Lakewood UCC community created by Yoko and Randy with music performed by them.

After viewing the video, you are invited to offer the following closing –

O mover of miracles within me
Pour the healing waters of compassion
On the wounded body of humanity
And make it whole, make it whole!

–Ancient Sanskrit Prayer

Breathe. Breathe again. Be filled. With a desire for wholeness. Extinguish your candle and engage whatever may come with a sense of peace and a desire grow and serve.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

A Just Peace Church
An Open and Affirming Church
A Creation Justice Church
2601 54th Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33712-4700
(727) 867-7961‎
see the Contact page for
map, personnel, and email addresses

The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal, is to:

Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives and in our world;
Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people;
Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

QUICK LINKS TO OUR RECENT POSTS DURING THE CORONA CRISIS:
Online Devotionals: https://lakewooducc.org/category/online-devotional/
Sermon Texts: https://lakewooducc.org/category/posts/sermon-texts/
For above links, please note “Older Posts” button near bottom of page.
Music: https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/sets/music-at-lakewood

Corona Sabbath 19 TRUST

These weeks when we cannot gather in person for Sunday worship, Lakewood United Church of Christ is providing brief weekly sabbath programs for you to listen to on your own or with others in your social isolation group. They will be posted on Friday so that you can schedule your sabbath time to suit your schedule and your spiritual inclinations. We hope these programs are of spiritual support to you in these difficult times.

During these summer weeks, the theme being used in “Grounded.” Some of us feel that shelter-in-place feels like being grounded. Some would normally have travel plans and feel grounded. With the many challenges facing our society, it is important to feel grounded. So these Summer Sundays will focus on key concepts in Christianity that provide grounding. So, welcome to “Grounded.” This post focuses on trust.

There is a scripture reading offered by Earl Waters and a meditation by Pastor Kim Wells as well as music offered by Music Director Hilton Kean Jones.

You are invited to find a quiet space, inside or outside. Light a candle. Take a look around you. Breathe. Life-giving breath. Be present.

You may begin with this reading:

Mother
Pillar of Fire
In this darkening desert
Help me follow you
Across the burning sands
Of my hopelessness and despair
To the country where your splendor reigns
And all the rocks and rivers chant your name.
–Romanus Melodus, 6th c.

When you are ready, start the video below.

(For written text of the above video click HERE.)

As you listen to the music from Hilton which follows, you are invited to notice the thoughts and feelings and that arise for you.

After viewing the video, you are invited to offer the following closing –

Lord,You have always given
bread for the coming day;
and though I am poor,
today I believe.

Lord, You have always given
strength for the coming day;
and though I am weak,
today I believe.

Lord, You have always given
peace for the coming day;
and though of anxious heart,
today I believe.

Lord, You have always kept
me safe in trials;
and now, tried as I am,
today I believe.

Lord, You have always marked the road for the coming day;
and though it may be hidden,
today I believe.

Lord, You have always lightened
this darkness of mine;
and though the night is here,
today I believe.

Lord, You have always spoken
when time was ripe;
and though You be silent now,
today I believe.

From Celtic Daily Prayer, Book Two, Farther Up and Farther In
the Northumbria Community

Breathe. Breathe again. Be filled. With trust. Extinguish your candle and engage whatever may come with a sense of peace and a desire grow and serve.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

A Just Peace Church
An Open and Affirming Church
A Creation Justice Church
2601 54th Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33712-4700
(727) 867-7961‎
see the Contact page for
map, personnel, and email addresses

The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal, is to:

Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives and in our world;
Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people;
Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

Corona Sabbath 18 GRATITUDE

There is a scripture reading offered by Claire Stiles and a brief meditation by Pastor Kim Wells as well as music offered by Music Director Hilton Kean Jones and guest musician, Ian Blair-Catala.

You are invited to find a quiet space, inside or outside. Light a candle. Take a look around you. Breathe. Life-giving breath. Be present.

You may begin by offering this reading:

I move through my day-to-day life with a sense of appreciation and gratitude that comes from knowing how fortunate I truly am and how unearned all that I am thankful for really is. To have this perspective in my everyday consciousness is in itself a gift, for it leads to feeling “graced,” or blessed, each time.

–Jean Shinoda Bolen

You are invited to sing, “For the Beauty of the Earth,” hymn 28, in the New Century Hymnal, as accompanied by Hilton Kean Jones in the video below, just like at church!

This next video includes a scripture lesson read by Claire Stiles and a reflection by Rev. Kim Wells.

(For written text of the above video click HERE.)
As you listen to the music from Hilton which follows, you are invited to notice the thoughts and feelings and that arise for you.

After viewing the video, you are invited to offer the following closing –

We return thanks to our mother,
the Earth, which sustains us.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams
which supply us with water.
We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines
for the cure of our diseases.
We return thanks to the corn, and to her sisters,
the beans and squashes, which give us life.
We return thanks to the bushes and trees,
which provide us with fruit.
We return thanks to the wind,
which, moving the air, has banished diseases.
We return thanks to the Moon and the stars,
which have given us their light when the Sun was gone.
We return thanks to our grandfather He-no,
who has protected us from witches and reptiles.
We return thanks to the Sun,
that he has looked upon the Earth with a beneficent eye.
We return thanks to the Great Spirit,
in whom is embodied all goodness,
and who directs all things for the good of all.

After an Iroquois song, 19th century

The following music video is a guest appearance by Lakewood UCC parishioner, Ian Blair-Catala, the famous Beatles song, Hey Jude. Thank you Ian for your contribution.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

A Just Peace Church
An Open and Affirming Church
A Creation Justice Church
2601 54th Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33712-4700
(727) 867-7961‎
see the Contact page for
map, personnel, and email addresses

The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal, is to:

Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives and in our world;
Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people;
Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

Corona Sabbath 17 TRANSFORMATION

There is a scripture reading offered by Barbara Donohue and a brief meditation by Pastor Kim Wells as well as music offered by Music Director Hilton Kean Jones.

You are invited to find a quiet space, inside or outside. Light a candle. Take a look around you. Breathe. Life-giving breath. Be present.

You may begin by offering this reading:

Out beyond ideas
of
Wrong-doing and Right-doing
There is a Field
I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that
grass
the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase
each other
doesn’t make any sense.

–Rumi, from The Illustrated Rumi, translator Coleman Barks
This poem was submitted by Emily Bell.

When you are ready, start the video below.

(For written text of the above video click HERE.)

As you listen to the music from Hilton which follows, you are invited to notice the thoughts and feelings and that arise for you.

After viewing the video, you are invited to offer the following closing –

We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes,but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers and sisters.

–Martin Luther King Jr., 20th century, adapted

Breathe. Breathe again. Be filled. With life-giving breath. Extinguish your candle and engage whatever may come with a sense of peace and a desire grow and serve.

detail of the Black Lives Matter mural painted on the street in front of the Carter Woodson Museum in St. Petersburg

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

A Just Peace Church
An Open and Affirming Church
A Creation Justice Church
2601 54th Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33712-4700
(727) 867-7961‎
see the Contact page for
map, personnel, and email addresses

The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal, is to:

Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives and in our world;
Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people;
Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

Corona Sabbath 16 COMFORT

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. . . I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.” –Anne Frank, 1929-1945

There is a scripture reading offered by Jim Andrews and a brief meditation by Pastor Kim Wells as well as music offered by Music Director Hilton Kean Jones. This week there is special music from Bill Parsons.

As an opening for today’s devotional, you are invited to watch the following video and sing along on the medley of familiar hymns it presents.

You are now invited to find a quiet space, inside or outside. Light a candle. Take a look around you. Breathe. Life-giving breath. Be present.

You may begin by offering this reading:

The world will give you that once in awhile, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.

–Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

When you are ready, start the video below.

(For written text of the above video click HERE.)

Today’s guest musical offering is In the Garden, performed by founding church member and retired professor of Russian studies at Eckerd College, William Parsons.

In conclusion, as you listen to the music from Hilton which follows, you are invited to notice the thoughts and feelings and that arise for you.

After viewing the video, you are invited to offer the following closing:

The things that matter most in our lives are not fantastic or grand. They are the moments when we touch one another, when we are there in the most attentive and caring way.

–Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart

Breathe. Breathe again. Be filled. With comfort and assurance. Extinguish your candle and engage whatever may come with a sense of peace and a desire to serve.

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

A Just Peace Church
An Open and Affirming Church
A Creation Justice Church
2601 54th Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33712-4700
(727) 867-7961‎
see the Contact page for
map, personnel, and email addresses

The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal, is to:

Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives and in our world;
Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people;
Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.