Ways to Use Seasonsfusion

Ways to use SeasonsFUSION

By Donald Schmidt

church in Hanapepe, Hawaii, had to combine wor- So, where to begin? ship and Church school when their church build- The page About this Season of Creation, Pentecost 2 (p. 3) A ing was destroyed by a hurricane. When the new provides an introduction to the themes, mood and move- building was built, they found they had enjoyed the fusion ment of the season. Consider copying/reproducing this page so much they kept doing it. and distributing it to congregational members through the SeasonsFUSION seeks to capture a similar sense, and bulletin, church paper, or e-mail list. In addition, articles provide resources that support congregational life as we on pp. 4-5 introduce the Seasons’ art posters, and provide worship, live, learn and grow as disciples. information to enrich the theme/direction of the season. These resources can stretch some of our understandings Other articles, which enhance the weekly resources include: of worship, learning and serving, and seek quite literally to fuse them together. The resources are designed for time • Celebrating the Season of Creation by Norm Habel together, as well as apart, that is holistic, designed for all ...... page 6 ages, and invites us into creativity. They are also designed • Forest by Theodore Hiebert...... page 7 to be used along with your own ideas; SeasonsFUSION • Land by Lee Levitt-Olsen ...... page 8 will work best when a planning team is able to look at the • Wilderness/Outback by Norm Habel...page 9 materials and decide (and adapt) what will work best in • River by Sue Brittion...... page 10 your situation. • Scripture from My Heart to Yours by Sarah Agnew Who is FUSION designed for? ...... page 11 • Congregations who are looking for resources that Here are the resources you will find included integrate or fuse worship, learning, and service, for each week: and support the many ways they practice Chris- ❑❑ A Planning Page – this weekly calendar page tianity. notes liturgical and ecumenical observances for • Smaller congregationsUnproofed where age range and num- the week, as well as including the lectionary read- bers make age-level faith formation programs dif- ings at a glance. ficult to maintain and sustain. ❑❑ Biblical Background – a brief commentary on the • Small but vital congregations committed to faith readings for the day, and the theme direction formation and living their lives together in ways ❑❑ Reflecting on the Word – reflective and thought- that embody and nourish faith. provoking questions. You may find this useful • Congregations that look to lay worship/preaching for adult studies, youth discussion, lay worship teams and need some study helps. teams, young adults preparing alternative wor- • Congregations who want to experiment with re- ship, sermon seeds for clergy, and so on. shaping their lives together as a worshipping and ❑❑ Focus for Worship, Learning, and Serving that learning community. considers what is going on in the lives of those • Congregations who are looking for support for who will gather on this day, and how the theme growing faith and discipleship at home. might intersect and connect with their lives. • Congregations that…well, you fill in the blank! ❑❑ Worship Outline – 3 pages of worship resources designed with all ages in mind, providing a wide variety of different experiences each week. ❑❑ Poetry and Prose – Articles, stories, poetry, as well as saints and interfaith days.

❑❑ Bible Story used in church, growing faith and • Station directions formatted for printing and discipleship at home. This story works across all display ages, and is also available in MP3 on the Season of • Extra Resources folder that will include extra Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD. resource sheets, patterns, and so on ❑❑ Faith Stations – These can be used in a variety of • text files: worship outlines, articles, song lyrics ways. You might choose one, two or more to set for copying into bulletins and newsletters up in or around the worship space, so people re- ❑❑ Living the Seasons At Home. This 8-page booklet main within the worship space, which is especially provides a weekly engagement of the focus passage suitable for congregations where there are fewer from the lectionary you will probably hear at church children and young people. Some will want to of- on Sunday. Each week provides an opening conversa- fer them for children, youth, and others who leave tion that connects the theme with your life including worship for 20 minutes, usually during the sermon a brief introduction to the focus passage and a sum- time. They can also be used in mid-week settings, mary of the reading. Finally, suggestions are offered or in the worship service itself. These activities are to help you practice the Christian character lifted up designed to affirm and foster the way we live, learn by the theme and focus passage. and grow as disciples. ❑❑ Resource sheet – designed for use at one of the You can also access these things at www.seasonsonline.ca Stations. ■■ Spirit Sightings – weekly stories and questions ❑❑ Activity sheet to be used by the very young in for connecting SeasonsFUSION with events in church time, posted to the church website for the world. downloading, mailed or taken to families when ■■ Lectionary bookmarks. Go to Library and click visiting. on “Overview” ■■ Looking ahead – a guide to the upcoming sea- One way to use SeasonsFUSION might look like this: a sons. Go to Library and click on “Overview” planning team (probably looking at several weeks at a time) ■■ Resources for Reformation and All Saints’ Days decides which resources to use. As you explore the weekly ■■ A virtual resource booklet with craft ideas, re- scriptures you will note themes that apply to your church, cipes, patterns, and more. and then plan to use or adapt some of the worship resources to suit your needs. Recruiting a wide variety of laity to help Lastly, an evaluation form provides an excellent lead each week’s worship is key to making this resource feel opportunity to let us know what is working, what you like it “belongs” to the wholeUnproofed congregation. would like more of, and what is not helpful. In a new Next, decide which faith stations you wish to have. resource such as this hearing your thoughts and ideas is This will depend on your interests as well as the ages and crucial, so please take a moment to fill out the form each numbers of people likely to participate. season. Those who have left worship in the middle will be So, are you feeling a little overwhelmed by the wealth invited to rejoin the congregation for the end of worship of material before you? Don’t be. While SeasonsFUSION time; this helps tie the events together and provide a may seem like a lot to digest at first you will soon find ways cohesive sense of worshiping and learning together. to tailor the resources to fit the needs, hopes, and dreams of your congregation. Some additional resources that help support these materials: Like any church resource this material will work best ❑❑ Music Booklet with sheet music and pages with lyrics when you work as a church to make it truly your own. May only for copying. God be with you in this exciting journey! ❑❑ Data CD with: An editor of church resources for almost 20 years, Donald Schmidt was served • images for projection on the Seasons editorial team for several years. He currently works as a writer and pastor in Seattle, Washington. • “media” presentation (PowerPoint®) • Bible stories in MP3 format

Let the EnergyUnproofed Flow (Laissez circuler L’Energie) by Isabelle Mougeot. Copyright © Isabelle Mougeot/SODRAC 2009. Used by permission. he energy of God’s awesome, creative love flows Aqua, the blue-green colour of the planet Earth, gives through the two seasons of this unit of material. way to the green of the Season after Pentecost, which began T During the four weeks of September, we cele- on June 19, 2011. This is a season of discovery and growth in brate the Season of Creation. New to Seasons of the Spirit, relationship with the Creator and each other. In this second this season has been observedUnproofed by many for the past eleven half of the Season after Pentecost we will accompany years. While Season of Creation has its own set of lectionary the Hebrew people in their long journey through the readings, the readings are designed to provide a three-year wilderness toward a new land and new life. The season cycle that broadly corresponds to the pattern or plan of the ends with a focus on readings from the gospel of Matthew, Revised Common Lectionary, with each year centred on one and the encouragement of Jesus to live in such a way as to of the synoptic gospels: Matthew (Year A), Mark (Year B), reflect God’s vision and reign where all members of Earth’s and Luke (Year C). community live in harmonious relationship with God and The readings for the Season of Creation invite us to join in right relationship with one another. with all members of Earth’s community to “Celebrate Earth The season and church year concludes with Reign of as a sacred planet filled with God’s vibrant presence” (from Christ Sunday/Christ the King Sunday. Season of Creation charter). The Sundays of the first year in May the energy of God’s creative love flow in and the Season of Creation focus on the Forests, Land, Wilderness/ through us. Outback, and Rivers. The colour of the season is aqua.

Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 3 Season of Creation, Pentecost 2 Celebrating the Season of Creation, By Norm Habel

he Season of Creation is an exciting new So it was decided to name the Sundays in terms season of the church year, a season that immediately evoked a connection with Tthat is now being celebrated in creation. We chose titles such as Forest a number of countries around the Sunday, River Sunday, Ocean Sunday, world. Around the year 2000, the Our aim in The and Cosmos Sunday. Worshippers Season of Creation was being de- Season of Creation is around the world are free to modify veloped in Australia, especially a joint celebration in which or expand the Sundays with names through the Uniting Church. At we not only give thanks for that fit their creation contexts. It is the very same time, a parallel sea- creation but also celebrate with great to invite artists to transform son called the Time of Creation creation. Our goal is a mutual the place of worship into a forest, a was being developed in Europe ministry in which we are not only river, or the ocean. by the ECEN (European Chris- called to serve and sustain life, A set of readings for the Season tian Environmental Network). but recognize how creation of Creation has been prepared for Without knowledge of each other’s serves and sustains life. the proposed three-year lectionary work, both groups chose September cycle, corresponding to the liturgical as the appropriate time for celebrating sequence of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. with creation, following a Greek Orthodox Each set of readings has a focus not only on tradition of declaring September 1 the Day of the domain of creation given in the title of that Creation and St. Francis of Assisi Day, October 4, as a fitting Sunday but also on the spiritual agent or impulse involved closure. in the continuing process of creation, namely, the Spirit in creation, the Word in creation, and Wisdom in creation. Why a Season of Creation? There is a growing concern in Especially important for any Bible study, reflection, Christian communities about the ecological crisis and the or preaching from the readings for a given Sunday is a way we have been treating Earth. One of the most effective willingness to read texts from the perspective of Earth, ways to focus this concern, we believe, is through worship. whether that be a domain or living creatures of Earth. We By concentrating our worshipUnproofed on God’s creation and wor- have in the past, only read from the perspective of humans shipping with creation, we are more like to find ways to heal or God. But as Earth beings we are invited to read with a rather than exploit our planet. sensitivity to Earth or our Earth kin and seek to hear their Our aim in The Season of Creation is a joint celebration voices in the text. in which we not only give thanks for creation but also The Season of Creation is an opportunity to grow in celebrate with creation. Our goal is a mutual ministry in faith, not only as servants of Christ but also as children of which we are not only called to serve and sustain life, but Earth. Through worship in this season we can also reorient recognize how creation serves and sustains life. Our vision our faith so that we unite with Earth and our kin on Earth in is to celebrate Christ as personal redeemer and also as the praising the Creator, discerning the presence of the cosmic cosmic power at work renewing and healing a suffering Christ, and being genuine partners of the Spirit who groans creation. with creation and renews all life on our planet.

Norman Habel is Professorial Fellow at Flinders University, actively involved in social How best might we celebrate the Season of Creation? justice and ecojustice issues, initiator of The Earth Bible Series and Season of Creation Traditional ways of naming the Sundays of a season did (www.seasonofcreation.com), editor of Exploring Ecological Hermeneutics not seem appropriate in the face of our ecological crisis. and author of An Inconvenient Text.

Forest By Theodore Hiebert

ld-growth forests—the ancient, primary forests that fall of this urban forest not just as a physical fact but as an have suffered few if any intrusions by humans— emotional and psychic loss that impoverishes the entire cover over a fourth of the world’s land area. Half of neighbourhood. Othese forests are found in just four countries—Russia, Brazil, The problem we all face is that we’re losing our forests Canada, and the United States—while much of the rest of worldwide, and with them, all of the essential benefits they the world’s forests are in developing countries. These old- provide for our planet and for ourselves. More forest has growth forests are part of a much larger forest cover com- been cleared from 1850 to the present than in all previous posed of the rural and urban forests that we have planted history. Due to population growth and to deforestation, and that we encounter every day, the ones that populate our the amount of forest cover available to each person has fields and yards and line our streets. declined globally by 50% since 1960. And the results are While Earth’s primary forests are half a world away serious. Losing forests means losing all of the services from many of us, we experience their effects on our lives they provide: good soils, clean water, healthy air, and the intimately. They provide crucial services to ensure the health incredible diversity of plant and animal life they shelter. of the environment in which we live: they harbor most of According to present trends, a quarter of the earth’s species the world’s biodiversity, sheltering more than half of the of plants and animals will be lost in the next forty years, world’s known plant and animal species; they protect and a loss that it will take nature 10 million years to replicate. enrich soils and sustain water quality and quantity; and by Deforestation is also a major contributor to global warming, absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, they give the most serious environmental threat we face. Tropical us healthy air to breath and reduce global warming. Forests deforestation produces more global warming pollution also contribute to our economies: we use timber more than than the total emissions of every car, truck, plane, ship, and any other material for Unproofed construction worldwide; we can’t train on earth. do without paper—even in today’s electronic age—for The reading from Hebrew Scriptures for this Sunday communication and education; and for nearly three billion contains the Bible’s oldest ideas about the role of forests in the of us in the developing world, wood provides the main world. In the story of Eden – because of their magnificence, energy source for heating and cooking. their beauty, and their bountiful food; because, that is, of Forests also affect our spiritual health. While walking their physical and spiritual character – trees stand for all beneath the giant redwoods in the Muir Woods National the world’s plants and their essential place in our lives. The Monument in northern California, it is impossible for me reading from Christian Scriptures, while not mentioning to escape a deep sense of awe and of the presence and forests, contain a deep sense of Christian life as grounded nature of God in this world. Biblical authors must have felt in creation and the conviction that redemption means the something of this same awe when they describe the religious renewal of creation. experiences of their ancestors under the great oaks of the How can we recover the biblical sense of the Canaanite highlands (Gen 12:6-7, 13:18, 21:23). When great participation of creation in God’s activity to redeem the trees fall, we grieve. In Homewood, Illinois, my hometown, world? How can we see the world and the world’s forests arborists are cutting down 2,582 mature ash trees in the as God’s and as the source of our wholeness and health parkways along our streets, 241 in our neighbourhood once again? alone, because of damage done by the invasive emerald ash Theodore Hiebert is Francis A. McGaw Professor of Old Testament borer. Over 15,000 ash trees are coming down in Homewood at McCormick Theological Seminary. as a whole. We and our neighbors have experienced the

Past sacredness Creation as we know it begins with land. Land emerges from The world’s most ancient laws, still taught in Aborig- primordial waters (Genesis 1), living creatures emerge from inal Australia, protect the land and its inhabitants (not only land to serve its needs (Genesis 2), and return to the land in humans). Indigenous relationships with land balance obli- death. We are of the land, share its very being in an intimate gations and blessings. Displace the people, and identity relationship within the loving creativity of God. and land are lost together. The United Nations calls that genocide. Present realities Land Sunday in the Season of Creation reminds us of our Future possibilities kinship with land – because we so easily forget. Land Sunday can help Christians re-connect, re-member Present land use is disastrous. Humans will starve with- what has been dis-membered: our kinship with the living out expanding cropland, but we already overuse most land soil, with the creatures who share it, and with the wisdom suitable for agriculture, and cropland degrades many times of Elders in caring for it. Like other prophets, Jesus identified faster than replenishment. Deforestation accelerates erosion with am ha’aretz, the “people of the land.” Many who heard and renders soil barren or even toxic from chemical use. Jesus were dispossessed by Rome and Jewish collaborators. Topsoil losses are catastrophic and pollutants in the run- Their identity was stolen like the soil their ancestors tended. off poison oceans, rivers, aquifers. Climate change worsens Jesus gave them a grounded hope: these meek “shall inherit these effects. the earth” – because the meek understand earth as their Natural topsoil is alive, an interactive community of true lineage. organisms sustaining the minerals needed for growing Do our actions demonstrate common cause with the plants. The rich shallow loams of tropics and the stark red people of the land, or are we complicit in its theft and sands of deserts support living relationships: but our abuse degradation? Are we on the side of Jesus, or of Rome? of soil replaces that life,Unproofed which the winds blow away, with Whatever our past choices, we can reclaim our identity poisonous waste. as Earth creatures, as people of the land. We can hear Scripture is blunt: humans do not own the land; its rights earth’s cries again and respond in loving kinship. We can outweigh ours (Leviticus 25 – 26). We are “strangers and honour those who care for land, and nurture their wisdom. guests” (Hebrew gerim wa toshavim) with responsibilities We can confess to abusing the land from which God shaped to the land and all its creatures. The land is alive and loved us. We can hear earth’s voice in scripture and begin to ache by God. It cries out at misuse, and God listens. Our drive in answer. We can stand alongside Indigenous people and for possession violates God’s creation. oppose their dispossession. We can find ways to use soil It also dispossesses those who understand kinship with that preserve its health and ours. the land. Indigenous people honour interrelationship with And we can praise: sing out like land opening to rain country and with creatures. George Rosendale, a Rainbow and greening in due season; sing out to God’s creativity, Spirit elder states: binding us with earth in everlasting kinship; sing out in Inside me is spirit and land, both given to me by the hope that we are more than the wrong we have done. We Creator Spirit. There is a piece of land in me, and it keeps can praise, with all living creatures, the God who driving me back like a magnet to the land from which I still walks the land in the cool of evening and came. Because the land too is spiritual. calls us all by name to come along. Lee Levett-Olsen is principal of Nugalinya College, Darwin. His most recent recent work in the area of ecotheology includes a presentation at the International Society for Biblical Literature in Auckland, July 2008 and a short piece in Colloguium on related themes.

12th Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, September 4 – Saturday, September 10 • 2011 Proper 18 [23] Revised Common 4 Things to keep in mind this week… Season of Creation 1: Forest Sunday Lectionary (Yr A)

SUN Genesis 2:4b–22 Psalm 139:13–16 Acts 17:22–28 John 3:1–16

MON

Planning ahead… Liturgical colour: aqua TUES

Unproofed WED

If you have Internet access, visit 8 www.seasonsonline.ca to access Spirit Sightings for connections between current THUR events and the focus passage. September 2011 S M T W T F S Ecumenical

9 1 2 3

Prayer Calendar 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 FRI Albania, Bosnia- 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Herzegovina, Croatia, 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Macedonia, Slovenia, 25 26 27 28 29 30 Yugoslavia

August 2011 October 2011 10 S M T W T F S S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SAT 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 28 29 30 31 /30 /31 25 26 27 28 29

Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 15 Season of Creation • 2011 Biblical Background • September 4, 2011 Focus scripture Acts 17:22–28 Soil of life, our roots sink into you. Additional scriptures Water of life, our bodies thirst for you. Genesis 2:4b–22 Light of life, our branches reach to you. Psalm 139:13–16 Breath of life, our fullness opens to you. John 3:1–16 Mystery of life, our spirits rise in you. Amen. Forest Sunday September 4 • 2011 orest Sunday is the first of four Sundays in the Season and have our being. Second, God is not contained in shrines of Creation, a celebration of our interconnectedness made by human hands. Fwith God and all creation. Land, Wilderness/Outback, The God of whom Paul speaks is the creative force and River Sundays will follow. In addition to opening the that shapes the time, space, and boundary of all things. sacred text of our tradition – the Bible – we are invited to Note how Paul acknowledges that there are two kinds of open ourselves to the sacred text of creation, trusting that “nations:” one human with cultural, political, and historical God may be known to us as much in one small leaf as in one boundaries; the other, the more-than-human, with its dotted “i” in the text. seasons and cycles. It is not only human order that exists within the intimacy of God. All creation lives and moves Focus scripture: Acts 17:22–28 within that sacred reality and gives expression to it. In Acts the story begun in the gospel of Luke continues, For the poet of Psalm 139:13–16, the earth is more recounting how the first disciples moved out from Jerusa- than landscape: it is another womb in which our lives are lem to proclaim the good news of Jesus. Paul is a Jew and a intricately woven. The gospel writer John, another mystical Pharisee, who at one time persecuted Jesus’ followers, but poet, makes similar connections. In John 3:1–16, Jesus now is transformed by the Spirit to carry the message of Jesus speaks of an interweaving of the earthly and the divine, to many places in the Mediterranean world. concluding with a declaration that is at the heart of this In this reading, Paul is in the city of Athens, having season of creation: “For God so loved the world...” (v. 16). recently travelled the Roman road from Philippi to Nicodemus’s response to Jesus is not recorded by John, Thessalonica. We might imagine him paying attention to but we could well imagine the verses of the Psalm as his creation as he travelledUnproofed those roads. Intimately immersed response after their meeting: a new and more inclusive in creation every step of the way, was there one moment vision of God’s presence is forming. when in a flash of insight he got it: God is in all this beauty? Come to Genesis 2:4b–22 last and hear it as a powerful As Paul waits in Athens for Silas and Timothy (Acts summary of the intimate blending of human life with all 17:15–17), he speaks in the synagogue and marketplace creation. Here is the human one, a being formed from the about a new vision that is grounded in the living reality of wet soil in which the forests have their being, too! And Jesus the Christ. The Epicurean and Stoic philosophers of why are humans here? Verse 15 is clear: to till and keep the Athens want to know more about Paul’s new teaching that garden. Till is better translated as “serve.” That’s it: we’re “sounds rather strange” (v. 20). And so Paul stands before here to serve and to preserve. the Areopagus – the council of leaders in Athens – and first • • • • • speaks of an altar with the inscription “to an unknown God” God is the one in whom all creation lives and moves and (v. 23), which he noticed as he walked through the city. It has its being. When have you had a sense of sacred pres- was the custom to build such altars to avoid offending any ence in the forests of creation? When have you experienced god the Athenians did not know about. Using the altar as an understanding of yourself as “intricately woven in the a point of reference, Paul respectfully invites the listeners depths of the earth” (Psalm 139:15)? What practices help your to consider two things. First, this “unknown” God can be faith community to remain connected to the community of known intimately as the One in whom we live and move creation that God so loves?

16 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Reflection and Focus • September 4, 2011 Season of Creation • 2011 Reflecting on the Word Connecting with life as creatures that “live and move and have their being” The way that we think about this holy and awesome creation within God? affects how we live within it. This sensitivity is leading many n How might Acts 17:24 serve as motivation for congregations to observe four weeks in the church year as engagement in ecological concerns for you and the the Season of Creation. This year, the lectionary readings church? for these Sundays focus on four different expressions of life on planet Earth: forest, land, wilderness/outback, and river. John 3:8 and Psalm 139:15 To be human is to wonder about Recall a time you felt a close connection with some aspect the mysteries of life. Read John 3:8 and Psalm 139:15. Perhaps of creation. these writers were members of a community that lived in n What has this sense of connection with creation kinship with God’s creation differently than many do today. contributed to your life and well-being? n What might be learned about the mysteries of life by entering into a relationship of respectful seeking with There is a growing concern in Christian communities all God’s creation? What wisdom do elements such as about the ecological crisis and the way we have wind and forest have to offer in this search? been treating Earth. One of the most effective ways to focus this concern is through worship. By n What would you like to do differently in the way concentrating our worship on God’s creation and you live in kinship with all creation? What would worshipping with creation, we are more likely to be the gift for you in doing so? What would be the find ways to heal rather than exploit our planet. challenge? Which verses from today’s readings offer (From “Celebrating the Season of Creation,” p. 6.) encouragement for you to do so? On a scale of 1–10 with 1 being “absolutely agree” and 10 Connecting scripture and life being “absolutely disagree”: Reflect on Acts 17:23-25, considering the ways your city, n To what extent does this quote reflect your town, or village reflects the mysteries of living with God. personal beliefs? To what extent does it reflect your Go on an imaginary walk, identifying places in your congregation’s beliefs? community as you go. Unproofedn Scripture Which places show that yours is a community that lives in awe and wonder of the mysteries of life in creation? Acts 17:22–28 Paul offers a vision of all creation being in- Which places suggest otherwise? cluded in God. Hierarchies and boundaries created by humans fall away within such a vision. n What initiatives might your congregation take to n What might individuals and church do differently if enhance your community as a place that delights to live they truly respected the flora and fauna of the forest with God in the company of all creation?

Focus for Worship, Learning, and Serving This and the remaining Sundays in September are part of direct ties to industries that harvest or make by-products the alternative lectionary cycle known as the Season of Cre- of trees. Consider how you might set the space for these ation. The readings are, however, designed to correspond weeks in order to welcome more of creation into your broadly to the years of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the spaces. For example, attach branches to the ends of pews, Revised Common Lectionary. Each week in the season will create a wilderness/outback corner with sand and rocks, focus upon a particular aspect of creation (forest, land, wil- or play nature sounds as people gather. Look at the poster derness/outback, river). See the article “Celebrating the Sea- Let the Energy Flow. This image will be used throughout son of Creation” (p. 6) for more background on this season. the Season of Creation and may provide inspiration. Today is Forest Sunday. Consider ways in which How might celebrating the Season of Creation deepen forests and trees are experienced by your community. You your community’s relationship with the surrounding may live in a locale filled with trees, or you may have to environment? What possibilities exist for greater environ- journey far to see one. Your wider community may have mentalism in your life together and for individuals?

NOTE: All of these suggestions are mere starting points; adapt, delete and add according to your local needs. q Recruit volunteers needed for worship: several for the processional, two for the psalm reading. Music Suggestions q Choose an option for hearing Acts 17:22–28. For the Bible story, arrange for a storyteller to present the story In God We Live and Move Bruce Harding; Music Booklet, p. 1 “Awesome, Amazing God” on p. 22. For scriptures in dialogue, arrange for two readers Each Blade of Grass Keri Wehlander; Music Booklet, p. 6 q Bring items for setting the worship space as described We Thank You God under gather: aqua fabric, poster Let the Energy Flow (fixed Mandy Dyson; Music Booklet, p. 8 to aqua-coloured poster board and mounted on foam Cosmic Hymn of Praise board), and seedling trees, one for each family unit. Michael Managan; Music Booklet, p. 5 q Prepare the worship space to represent a forest (optional). And God Said Yes! q Prepare to project image Let the Energy Flow (on Season Norm Habel, Richard Koehneke; Seasons Songbook, vol. 1 of Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD), during the words of Called by Earth and Sky affirmation and opening the Word (optional). Pat Mayberry; Seasons Songbook, vol. 6 q Decide which stations you will set, and set stations as described on p. 23–24. UnproofedGather Process the seedling trees and mounted poster of Let the For rivers and lakes and all manner of waters: Energy Flow and display all on and around the worship table. quenching thirsts, cutting canyons, bestowing life – Call to worship (name rivers, lakes, and water sources for your community) Explain that during the call to worship people will be invited to call We rejoice with God in the rivers and waters. out the names of elements specific to your local context. List the cat� egories in the order of worship and provide a few moments for people We praise with the forests: to contemplate their responses before beginning the call to worship. trees soaring tall or spreading wide, bearing fruit and colouring autumn, For land and soil: making sacred space for creatures large and small – birthing crops, grounding our steps, (name trees and forest creatures and nearby forests) anchoring our homes and hopes – We rejoice with God in the forests. (name landscapes, landforms, and parks that are part of the local environment) Opening prayer We rejoice with God in the land. In holy presence we gather: We come with forest – For outback and wilderness: creatures and trees, flora and floor – harbouring wildness, as those who draw life from God. restoring awe, bearing mystery – We lift our voice with the voice of the forest, (name wilderness/outback areas and places where people might in praise that rises up from grace-bound roots. seek solitude in creation) We listen with the forest, and all creation, We rejoice with God for wind that stirs movements in the wilderness and outback. of God’s renewing of creation. We find God’s presence everywhere. Amen.

18 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Worship Outline • September 4, 2011 Prayer of confession Words of affirmation You are the One who made us all – Lift the mounted poster of Let the Energy Flow or project the who made us whole – image from the Season of Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD. so why do we live as though we are self-made, and in doing so, move to brokenness: Like the tree whose roots within ourselves, go beneath the surface, beyond our sight; with others, like that tree through which and with the world around us? water flows in and then out; so is the assurance of God’s love that holds us. You are the One who made us – It is love that goes deep, anchoring us securely. wonderfully and in mystery – It is love that flows freely, so why do we settle for something less than awe bearing life to and from us. for ourselves and others? Thanks be to God.

Restore in us your Spirit, that we may share life and breath with all creation. This we pray in the name of Christ, who spoke of such wonder, in the birth of Spirit’s new life. Amen.

Engage Opening the Word Psalm 139:13–16 Acts 17:22–28 Have two people interpret the psalm through liturgical Choose one of the following for hearing the focus scripture. movement such as the onesUnproofed suggested. Bible story Have a storyteller present the story “Awesome, Amazing God” on page 22. Verse 13: Turn toward each other and shape hands into one ball, opening up so thumbs touch thumbs and little fingers touch Scriptures in dialogue weave Acts 17:22–28 and Genesis 2: little fingers. 4–9 together by reading them in the following order (one will Verse 14: Turn back to back and raise hands upwards and bring read the Genesis passage, the other will read the Acts passage): down again. Verse 15: Turn to face each other and huddle together covering One: read Acts 17:22–23 clenched hands with bodies. Two: read Genesis 2:4–9 Verse 16: Bring hands slowly out to the side. One: read Acts 17:24–27 Two: read Genesis 2:18–22 Moving into the focus scripture One: read Acts 17:28 Project the image Let the Energy Flow from the Season of Cre� ation, Pentecost 2 Data CD or draw attention to the poster. After the focus scripture Focus attention on the large tree in the middle of the image. Invite children, young people, and all who wish to move Ask: to the stations. Others will remain seated for Proclaiming n What do you think of, or imagine, when you hear the the Word. word “forest”? n What does a forest look, smell, sound, and feel like? n What kinds of things might be found under a large rock or the stump of a tree?

Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 19 Worship Outline • September 4, 2011 Respond After Proclaiming the Word, you might invite those who and those who mourn breath’s ceasing. have not already done so to move to and around the stations, For the sake of healing, taking ten minutes or so with a chosen practice. for the gift of comforting, for companionship in all of our days, we pray: Sing or listen to the song “In God We Live and Move” (p. 1 in Sing “In God We Live and Move” Music Booklet, #21 on the Seasons Music CD, vol. 9, and available as an MP3 download) as people gather in the worship We pray for youth and elders, space once again. for bodies still stretching with growth, for minds still seeking wisdom. Prayers of the people For the sake of roots that stand firm, Sing “In God We Live and Move” (p. 1 in Music Booklet, # 21 on and love that branches out and returns again, we pray: the Seasons Music CD, vol 9, and available as an MP3 down- Sing “In God We Live and Move” load) after each line of prayer. We listen for your voice: Creator, and ever-creating, God, in wind that rustles leaves and new ideas; all creation draws life and breath from your Spirit in birthings bearing grace and midwifing hope. Sing “In God We Live and Move” For the sake of holy mystery encountered in community and creation, we pray: We remember those whose breath Sing “In God We Live and Move” is drawn with difficulty,

Bless Offer this blessing that comes from UnproofedPsalm 139 then invite people to You are wonderfully made, offer the blessing to those near them. Invite each family unit to take one of God’s wonderful works! a seedling tree from the worship space and plant them in honour of Forest Sunday. Sing “Each Blade of Grass” as people collect a Invite people to greet those near them with: seedling and leave the worship space. (Name), you are one of God’s wonderful works!

Invitation Prayer Open hearts and spirits to the Holy One Gracious God, ever-creating, who invites us to this meal. with all of creation we look to you. Taste the earth-borne gifts We look to you as the One that bare the communion of Christ’s presence. from whom all things have sparked: Grains drawn from soil, from sub-atomic particles to forested slopes, milled and mixed, from strands of DNA to the deepest ocean trenches. kneaded and baked, form the loaf of our common life. We look to you as the One Grapes plucked and pressed, in whom all life holds together: strained and aged, from the delicate balancing fill the cup of our common hope. of soil and water and oxygen and light, All these, all of us, to the delicate balancing fearfully and wonderfully made by God: of personalities and faith and values. All these, all of us, gathered to celebrate the mystery of presence We look to you as the One in this communion and in all of life. who fashions this table in multiple places but with singular purpose: to offer invite and gather all, to offer unlimited forgiveness, to offer vocation with Christ. UnproofedMay all creation be blessed in this meal a reminder of life shared with and for others, and of community fashioned, not on the basis of our differences, but by the truth that all are one in you. Amen.

Bring the song “In God We Live and Move” (p. 1 in the Music Paul’s words flew away on the wind. They twisted and Booklet, #21 on Seasons Music CD, vol. 9, and available as twirled on the breezes that circle our beautiful Earth, until an MP3 download) and be prepared to play it where indicated. they reached the wise old trees of the forests. They spoke Paul’s message in words that the creatures and plants of the aul was a wise teacher who travelled far and wide forests could understand. to many countries to teach people about God’s love P and to share the story of Jesus with anyone who “God has made the whole of creation,” explained the wise would listen. old trees. “From the oldest trees in the forest, to the tiny creatures that live in the soil. God made us all. When we One day, Paul was travelling to the city of Athens. The road look at the colours of butterfly’s wings, or see the newborn to Athens wound through some very beautiful countryside. trees push through the soil, we see God’s awesome power. Paul saw huge groves of olive trees and fields of wildflowers The toadstools on the fallen tree and the flash of colour in that hummed with the buzz of insects. Brightly coloured the parrot’s wings tell us about God who made everything.” butterflies fluttered from flower to flower, while overhead Then the wisest of trees began to sing, birds flew and swooped in large circles as they sang to one another. Play or sing “In God We Live and Move”

When Paul got to the city he walked around looking at all The whole of the forest took up the chant as they thought the interesting things. Paul could see that the people living in about God. Athens were very religious. There were many places around the city where the people would go to worship. There were “God is all around and deep inside,” they hummed. “God lots of statues with the names of different gods on them. In is with us. God is in us. God surrounds us. We live in God’s some places there were statuesUnproofed with signs on them that read, love. ” “To the god with no name.” The trees waved their branches and sang the words; all the “I know who that god is,” thought Paul excitedly. animals that lived in the forest heard the song and whis- pered it to one another. The birds caught the song and flew Paul went to a meeting place and began to teach about God away singing the words to the whole forest. and God’s love. Paul told the people that the god they said had no name was actually very close. That it was the same Play or sing “In God We Live and Move” God who had made the whole universe and everything in it. The song got louder and louder as every living thing in the “This God is far too big to be contained in a tiny statue,” forest took up the song and praised God who had made them proclaimed Paul. “When we look at the beauty of God’s cre- and the whole of creation. ation we can see God’s awesome power. When we look inside ourselves, we can see God’s love, which is deep inside and all around.”

A recording of this story is available in MP3 format in the “Audio Stories” folder on the Season of Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD.

Living, Learning, Growing as Disciples For your convenience these directions The following stations might be set up around your worship space or in other are formatted for printing and places around the church. Choose practices according to your space and num- available in the Stations folder on the Season of Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD, bers. If leaders will not be facilitating at these different stations, provide copies and in the “Stations” folder in the disk of the directions, or display the directions where the participants can see them. and web versions of SeasonsFUSION.

Digging deeper Materials: Bibles, pencils, copies of The practice of study and reflection today’s resource sheet “Paul and the Directions Athenians,” p. 25 Today’s Bible story is about a leader in the early church named Paul. Setting the space: Provide a table and n Use today’s resource sheet “Paul and the Athenians” to discover more about chairs. Make a copy of the directions Paul and the Athenians. and place where all can see. n Review the section “Religion in Ancient Greece.” What do you know about these Greek gods?

Bible story Materials: recording of today’s story The practice of storytelling “Awesome, Amazing God,” (available Directions in MP3 format in the “Audio Stories” 1. Listen to a story about our awesome, amazing God. folder on the Seasons of Creation, Paul’s words twisted and twirled on the breezes that circle our beautiful Earth, Pentecost 2 Data CD, player or players, until they reached the wise old trees of the forests, and the wise old trees spoke soft cushions, drawing pads, coloured in ways that the creatures and plants of the forest could understand. pencils, earth tone coloured scarves 2. Wonder about how the wise old tree might move as it hears Paul’s message? Setting the space: Spread a blanket How might a forest creature move as the wise old tree tells Paul’s message? on the floor and scatter several soft How might a whole forest of trees move when celebrating and praising God? cushions on it. Place the Unproofedscarves close 3. Use the scarves and pretend you are parts of the forest. by. Make a copy of the directions and place where all can see.

Making music Materials: rhythm instruments The practice of maintaining connections with God, others, and nature Setting the space: Provide a space Directions where people can gather in a circle. Ecology is the study of nature and the connections within it. Have a leader to guide the group. Use rhythm instruments to explore the connections in nature, and wonder about human impact on the environment. Have people to choose rhythm instruments and sit in a circle. Use a drum to begin beating a simple rhythm and have the group join until they are playing as a unified whole. After a moment, signal all to stop. Note how all the rhythms joined together to make a wonderfully rich sound. Repeat the experience. This time, signal for particular instruments to stop for a brief time such as the bells or the shakers. Note the change in sounds when certain instruments disappear. Ask: n Where do you see the elements of creation contributing to one another’s well-being, such as leaves creating oxygen for animals?

n What are some things we can do to maintain and sustain for the rhythm of life in nature around us

Materials: plastic lids, permanent mark- The practice of creativity ers, scissors, small nails, yarn, variety of Directions small natural items (seed pods, acorns, God breathes life into our interconnected communities. pine cones, feathers) 1. Use a nail to make a hole in the middle of a plastic lid. Setting the space: Provide a table 2. With a permanent marker, draw a spiral that starts a little way from the hole and chairs. Display natural items in the and extends out to the rim. Cut along the line. middle of the table. Make a copy of the 3. Thread a piece of yarn through the hole in the middle. Secure with a knot. directions and place where all can see. 4. Punch holes at the end of the spirals. Option: pre-cut the spirals. 5. Attach small forest objects to the bottom of spirals with yarn. 6. Hang spirals where they will catch the breeze and spin gently as re- minders that the whole of creation has its being in God.

Learning about forests Materials: computers with Internet ca- The practice of sharing God’s story with others pabilities Directions Setting the space: Provide a table, We can celebrate our life together by getting to know more about forests and the chairs, computers, and access to the ways we might maintain our connections to all creation. Internet. Make copy of directions and 1. Go to www.seasonsonline.ca, click on Links; Season of Creation, Pentecost 2, place where all can see. 2011; September 4, 2011; FUSION 1. From the information there, what would you like to tell others about forests and the ways we are connected to the forests? How and where might you share this information? For example, prepare a PowerPoint®, design a poster on the computer for printing and displaying, emailing or including in the church bulletin, or on the church website.

Audit your church Materials: paper or poster board, The practice of living simply and sustainably markers, pencils UnproofedDirections Setting the space: Provide a table and What do you notice about the paper use of your community? chairs. Make a copy of the directions and 1. Create a chart that lists each paper product on one column, with space to record place where all can see. how much of each product is used weekly in another column. 2. Determine, with the people at this station, who will count and record the products used. For example, members of the group could take responsibility for different weeks. 3. Make plans to report the findings to the church council or board at the end of the month, also offering your suggestions of ways to curb the use of paper products?

Tree markers Materials: wide craft sticks, adhesive, The practice of nurture permanent markers, pipe cleaners Directions Setting the space: Provide a table and God’s love is all around and, wherever love is, it is meant to be shared. chairs. 1. Make tree markers by gluing craft sticks into a “T” shape (see illustration). 2. Decorate the markers. 3. Adopt a special tree near the church or your home and place a marker by the tree. 4. Think about ways you might they get to know your special tree and care for it?

24 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Resource Sheet • September 4 – 10, 2011 PAULAND THE ATHENIANS he Bible passage today is part of a larger story. To The Stoic philosophers thought that the whole uni- understand what was happening (and why) we verse was a divine being and that the gods were dif- Tneed to do some detective work. Good detec- ferent names of the one cosmic or overall God. They tives always do background research. First, let’s go to encouraged people to live in harmony with the forces the book of Acts and see what clues it offers. of nature. The main goal of life for Epicurean philosophers was to find true happiness. They believed that finding in- • ner peace and avoiding pain was the pathway to true ✎ Paul was waiting for his co-workers Timothy and happiness. Silas to join him in Athens. What did Paul do while he was waiting? See Acts 17:17. was The Areopagus a council of leaders, who met in the • open air on the Hill ✎ Who else wanted to talk with Paul? of Mars in Athens See Acts 17:18 UnproofedReligion in Ancient Greece • • The religion in Ancient Greece was polytheistic, ✎ Where did they bring Paul, and why? which means they worshipped many gods and See Acts 17:19-20. goddesses. • These gods and goddesses included: Zeus, the god of thunder; Poseidon, god of the sea and earthquakes; Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty; Ares, the god of war and bloodlust; and • Dionysus the god of wine and madness. ✎ Why were they interested in what Paul had to • The ancient Greeks worshipped these gods at say? See Acts 17:21. altars throughout the city. Usually each altar was devoted to one particular god. As there were many gods, there were many altars. • It was also customary to build an altar “to an unknown god” to avoid offending any god not • known to them.

Note: Some Bibles say that Paul “argued” with the people. However, the conversation would have been more of a formal discussion, a kind of debate…. after 17:17 in the first dot point (the dot is actually a pencil)

God’s Love Here, There, and Everywhere

Unproofed

Listen to the forest the whispering of the trees clapping hands and windy voice speaks to you and me: Love is here! Love is there! Use the space above to draw a picture of the forest. What Love is everywhere! shapes, textures, and shades do you find in the forest? What plants and animals? God’s love is in all of these places.

13th Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, September 11 – Saturday, September 17 • 2011 Proper 19 [24] Revised Common 11 Things to keep in mind this week… Season of Creation 2: Land Sunday Lectionary (Yr A)

SUN Genesis 3:14–19; 4:8–16 Psalm 139:7–12 Romans 5:12–17 Matthew 12:38–40

MON

Planning ahead… Liturgical colour: aqua TUES

Holy Cross Day

Unproofed WED

If you have Internet access, visit 15 www.seasonsonline.ca to access Spirit Sightings for connections between current THUR events and the focus passage. September 2011 S M T W T F S

Ecumenical

16 1 2 3

Prayer Calendar 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FRI Bulgaria, Hungary, 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Romania 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

August 2011 October 2011 17 S M T W T F S S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SAT 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 28 29 30 31 /30 /31 25 26 27 28 29

Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 27 Season of Creation • 2011 Biblical Background • September 11, 2011 Focus scripture Psalm 139:7–12 In soil bringing seeds to life, in rocks Additional scriptures holding the mysteries of time, in prairies Genesis 3:14–19; 4:8–16 alive with wind-blown grain, in moun- Romans 5:12–17 tains holding hearts on high: You, Holy Matthew 12:38–40 One, are present. You are the life of all life, and all creation is blessed. Amen. Land Sunday

ook at this amazing Earth! It’s not just God’s sacred that question. God confronts Cain after he has killed his garden; it’s our daily immersion into the truth that brother Abel in a jealous rage: “Listen, your brother’s LGod is with us in all things, including the land on blood is crying out to me from the ground...the ground which we live. When we listen to the land with deep respect, has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from we know more of God’s wisdom and ways. God’s good land, your hand” (v. 10). Our choices have consequences for the with all its sacredness and scars, still loves and cares for us. land. Sacred ground can become scarred ground, whether by shedding blood or by poisoning the soil. Will we hear Focus scripture: Psalm 139:7–12 the voice of the land or will we keep pouring the blood of The psalmist, in keeping with the worldview of the time, human violence into its mouth, so that we do not have to thought of the cosmos as being in the shape of a huge domed hear land’s wisdom? stadium. The flat land was held up by pillars and beneath Matthew 12:38–40 is a response to scarred land and the land was an underworld known as Sheol. The dome struggling humanity. The gospel writer’s images of Jonah separated the sky from heaven, the dwelling place of God. going into the belly of the whale and Jesus going into the This ancient understanding of geography is reflected in the heart of the earth call up ancient wisdom that says the psalm: “If I ascend to heaven...if I descend to Sheol...if I settle way through our troubles is to go into them. The way to at the farthest limits of the sea.” a resurrected relationship with the suffering land is to go Human understanding of reality is constantly evolving. into a more intimate relationship with it. We may think that We might think that we have the ultimate understanding of there is nothing there but a void, but the psalmist reminds the universe, but we are connected to the psalmist in our us “even the darkness is not dark” (139:11) to God. When limited understanding Unproofedof all that is. We are also joined by we give ourselves to intimacy with creation, we also open our appreciation of the mysterious, all-pervasive presence ourselves to the experience of God’s transforming love. of the divine in creation. The questions of this psalmist In Romans 5:12–17, Paul speaks of God’s abundant might also be questions of today: “Where can I flee from saving grace – a free gift for all, including the land. How your presence? Where can I go from your spirit?” will we share grace with the land? Perhaps the land is Notice how the psalmist’s attention to geography waiting with bated breath for our response. draws our modern attention to the vast silent partner in this • • • • • drama: the land. Would it be possible for us to hear from The psalmist stood on the land, looked up to the heavens, and the “silent” voice in the biblical text, the land? If we allow saw a great dome covering the land. We stand on the land, the voice of land to speak through this psalm, what might look up, and see a dot of light where the Hubble Telescope we hear? The logic of the psalmist is clear; there is no place is searching into deep space. We stand on the land with the we can flee, not even into the depth of soil itself, where the psalmist across several thousand years of human story and creative love of God will not find us. Hearing from land can affirm a divine reality from which there is no hiding. When open the possibility of a relationship between humankind we truly listen in the presence of God’s Spirit, might we also and land that is mutually healing and holy. hear the land crying out for justice? What does it look like when that relationship is fractured? The writer of Genesis 3:14–19; 4:8–16 touches

Reflecting on the Word life experience, what might you add to the psalmist’s Connecting with life words? It could be said that place is space with a story. Consider a n What makes this a psalm “for all times”? particular place or piece of land that is prominent in your life. Poet Wendell Berry’s writes, n What stories do you know of this place? “Creation is thus God’s presence in creatures. …our n To what extent do those stories connect you to that destruction of nature is not just bad stewardship, ground? In what ways do you keep these ties to that or stupid economics, or a betrayal of family land and place alive? responsibility; it is the most horrid blasphemy.” (By Wendell Berry from Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, Poster View the poster Moses. Assume Moses’ pose as de- © 1994 Wendell Berry, Pantheon Press.) picted by the sculptor. Pretend to be Moses and say: I look at n How does the psalmist’s assertion of God’s presence the land and I think about the burdens that it bears. I wonder everywhere connect to Berry’s view of destruction of about my connection with this land… nature as blasphemy? n What kind of relationship do your and your community have with the land? n In what ways might the scarring of land be a flight from God (Psalm 139) or even denial of God (Berry)? Scripture Psalm 139:7–12 The psalmist lived and wrote in a time when Connecting scripture and life scholars thought of the visible cosmos as a domed roof over During the Season of Creation, we are invited to reflect on the earth, as did all ancient Israelites. In this view of the how whatever happens to the creation, including the land, cosmos, the domed roof is referred to as the firmament. This also happens to us. In the readings for today, we catch vault is a solid structure that sits on pillars. Above the firma- glimpses of what it means to be assured of God’s presence ment is the water that God separated from the seas at the with us in the land. time of the creation (see Genesis 1). This water becomes rain n How can we – as individuals and as church – stay which falls to the earth through floodgates that have doors grounded in the assurance of God’s presence as we which open whenever God wants to send rain or snow. Be- Unproofedgrow with earth’s community through rhythms of pain neath the earth is the underworld, or Sheol, the place of the and healing? dead. As you read Psalm 139:7–12, reflect on these questions: n What suggests that the psalmist was writing from an n What price is humankind paying today for violation of ancient understanding of the cosmos? the land? n What does the psalmist say about God’s presence in n How might you make God’s presence known to a piece creation? To what extent does your life experience of scarred land? affirm the psalmist’s viewpoint? Considering your

Focus for Worship, Learning, and Serving

We celebrate Land Sunday and pause to listen to what the hand experiences of land, you may want to consider land might have to say about God’s abiding presence. As ways beyond those suggested to help people connect surely as the land is always present in many forms, so with the land. Welcome land into each space setting with God wants to be with us. How do the individuals in your photographs of landscapes, soil samples, rocks, and other congregation experience “land” in their daily lives? Some gifts from the land. live in the midst of open country and green spaces. Others On Land Sunday, we are reminded that what impacts are surrounded by asphalt and concrete. Still others are land also impacts God. Hearing from the land creates the connected to the land with vocations such as farming, possibility for mutual healing. In what ways does your landscaping, forestry, or logging or delight in the land church actively encourage and participate in affirmations by jumping in puddles, making mud pies, and rolling and partnering with God’s redeeming purposes when it down grassy banks. comes to the use and reclamation of land, particularly For churches that are somewhat removed from first that which has been scarred?

NOTE: All of these suggestions are mere starting points; adapt, delete and add according to your local needs. q Recruit volunteers needed for worship: children and others for the processional, three for the prayer of con- Music Suggestions fession, words of affirmation, and three for the scripture In God We Live and Move readings. Bruce Harding; Music Booklet, p. 1 q Choose an option for hearing Psalm 139:7–12. For the The Peace of the Earth Bible story, Arrange for a storyteller to present the story Traditional; Music Booklet, p. 9 “You Are There” on p. 34. For the PowerPoint® pres- Cosmic Hymn of Praise entation, prepare to project <”Title”> on the Season of Michael Mangan; Music Booklet, p. 5 Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD. Spirit Blowing through Creation q Bring items for setting the worship space as described Marty Haugen; Seasons Songbook, vol. 8 under opening prayer: aqua fabric, poster Let the Energy O God, You Search Me Flow fixed to aqua-coloured poster board and mounted Bernadette Farrell; Seasons Songbook, vol. 7 on foam board, and containers of soil. Lo, I Am with You q Display photographs of land and landscapes as de- Iona Community; Seasons Songbook, vol. 6 scribed under gather. Alternatively prepare a slide show of photographs. q Bring small rocks or stones. q Decide which stations you will set, and set stations as described on p. 35–36. Unproofed Gather Gather photographs of land and landscapes from your re- to break open the gift of God’s presence. gion, and others from more distant locations that would be (name places where sacred presence is experienced) recognizable to most or some in your community. Include a mix of land that is sacred and scarred. Display near an Come into worship, trusting and anticipating entrance of the worship space where a majority of people those places where God may yet bring you. will be able to see it easily as they gather. (name landscapes you hope to see one day)

Come into worship, companioned Or you might prepare a slide show of these photographs and by these lands of origin and revelation and hope. project it as people prepare for worship. Call to worship Opening prayer Play “In God We Live and Move” (p. 1 in the Music Booklet, Explain that during the call to worship, people will be invited to call #21 on the Seasons Music CD, vol. 9, and available as an MP3 out the names for elements specific to your local context. download) as the mounted poster, Let the Energy Flow, is proc� essed. Display the poster on the table. Have children and others Come into worship, remembering the land bring in the containers of soil. Lift up one or more container with and the place where you drew your first breath. each line of the prayer as indicated and display them on the table. (name places of birth and family origin) Begin with an acknowledgement the traditional custodians who first inhabited the land where your community is located. Then Come into worship, acknowledging the lands proceed with the spoken prayer. and places which have and continue

In holy presence we gather: Three: I am land, crying out, We come with the land – stained by the shedding of blood. pebbles strewn, (lift container of soil) All: What have we done to the land, sweeping fields, (lift container of soil) O God, what have we done to you? craggy mountains, (lift container of soil) Two: I am land, crying out, torn apart by hatreds. time-worn valleys – (lift container of soil) Three: I am land, crying out, as those who draw life from God. used up and discarded without thought for the future. All: What have we done to the land, We lift our voice with the voice of the land: O God, what have we done to you? seeking from God what makes for life, One: What do we hear when listening to the land? crying out for the violence that has been done, All: I am land, crying out… longing and working for creation’s redemption. (people are invited to be the voice of the scarred land crying out.) We listen with the land for vibrations of God’s presence, Words of affirmation grounding all in the deep assurance One: God hears the cry of land – that God is and will be in this place. and God hears the cries we raise. Two: Let us cry out for an end to the violence – Prayer of confession done to the earth, done to one another. Provide silence at the end of this prayer for people to answer Three: Let us cry out – and let us work for – the final question either aloud or silently. Encourage them to a renewed commitment to Earth’s healing. begin with the phrase, “I am land, crying out…” All: God forgive us… God empower us… One: What does God hear when listening to the land? God help us… Two: I am land, crying out, soiled by pollution. for the sake of the land. UnproofedEngage Opening the Word Moving into the focus scripture Genesis 3:14–19; 4:8–16; Psalm 139:7–12; Invite people to choose a stone or rock and hold it gently. Ask: Romans 5:12–17 n If your rock could speak, what stories would it tell? Have three readers offer the passages in dialogue with one Psalm 139:7–12 another. Choose from the following for hearing the focus story.

Bible story Have a storyteller present the story “You Are One: Read Psalm 139:7 There” on page 34. Two: Read Genesis 3:14–19 Three: Read Romans 5:12–14 PowerPoint® presentation Project the Power Point® pres- Two: Read Genesis 4:8–14 entation of <> on the Season of Creation, Pentecost 2, One: Read Psalm 139:8–10 Data CD. Two: Read Genesis 4:15–16 Three: Read Romans 5:15–17 After the focus scripture One: Read Psalm 139:11–12 Invite children, young people, and all who wish to move to the stations. Others will remain seated for proclaiming the WordRespond After Proclaiming the Word, you might invite those who Sing or listen to the song “In God We Live and Move” (p. 1 have not already done so to move to and around the stations, in Music Booklet, #21 on Seasons Music CD, vol. 9, and avail- taking ten minutes or so with chosen practice. able as an MP3 download) as people gather in the worship space once again.Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 31 Worship Outline • September 11, 2011 Prayers of the people Hear our prayers, O God, for all who work to protect Earth Introduction against the ravages of natural disaster, or greed-driven indif- We come to this time of prayer as those who live in memory ference, or acts of violence in warfare without regard for what and hope of the story of creation, where God draws us up becomes of Earth beneath the weapons and the destruction from the soil into life. With that memory in mind, we come and the chemicals. Stir in us a willingness to speak and act now to pray to the God who works re-creation and redemp- beyond the safety of study groups for the sake of your good tion from the ground up. creation.Prayer Hear our prayers, O God, for the faithfulness of the church. Hear our prayers, O God, for all grieved by death – whether For the church, too, is caretaker of the land we hold – even a loved one held dear, or strangers we have never met who as we are called to be harbingers of the land and realm you have perished in conflicts or natural disasters. We pray for promise. May our practices of and relationships with land, comfort and strength as remains are returned to the Earth as individuals and congregations, be in keeping with the in hopes that life will be drawn up from the Earth as you values of your commonwealth. have in Christ. Hear our prayer, O God, for eyes and spirits open to your Hear our prayers, O God, for all who wander across many presence – especially in the places where we may feel you lands in search of home. For refugees fleeing war or famine; distant or removed, even in the places where we might try for the homeless, cast off by loss of job, or struggles with to flee from you. Even in those shadowed lands, you accom- mental illness. May our prayers for such ones be joined in pany us upon the way. You bring healing. You wait upon us. commitment to minister to and with them. You love us with a love that will not let us go. Bless Draw attention to the containers of soil on the worship table. ��Im� May we walk gently agine together a loving, caring place for each kind of soil to find a and be close enough home. Invite volunteers to find a homeUnproofed for the soil this week. Have to hear you when you speak. the volunteers hold the containers as this blessing for the land, and May you drink in the rain all creation, is shared. and be nurtured by the critters within you. May the sun and wind befriend you and may you be held forever in God.Special Day CommentarySeptember 14 – Holy Cross Day Several traditions are connected with this observance. One focuses on St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. While Helena was overseeing some evacuations in Jerusalem she found what was believed to be Jesus’ cross. On September 14, 335, a basilica was dedicated on the site of Jesus’ tomb, the Shrine of the Holy Sepulchre. Other traditions claim that Constantine himself found the cross. 32 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Poetry and Prose • September 11, 2011 Connecting with Creation: Feeling at Home A spiritual reflection arth is our planet home, the place chosen for us to live with God, our sacred site in all Ecreation. The task is to find rites or forms of meditation that help us to connect with Earth and experience it as a true home rather than just a Be Still and Feel the Presence stopover en route to heaven. One spiritual exercise that proves meaningful 1. Be still and feel the presence of God, to some people involves taking a trip into the The presence pulsing, pulsing through country and finding a hill that has a view of the Earth, countryside. Select a space on the hill that can become sacred for this occasion and perhaps Be still and feel the pulse of God. other occasions. Alternatively, a circle of rocks, soil or sand, plants may be formed to represent 2. Be still and hear the Spirit of God, a sacred centre on the hill. Participants may also wish to take a sprig of rosemary or some other The Spirit breathing, breathing through symbol to help stir memories of past connections Earth, with Earth as close andUnproofed special. Be still and hear the breath of God. From this site participants name all they can see that belongs to their home: various kinds of trees, plants, wildflowers, birds, hills, rocks, 3. Be still, behold the glory of God, clouds, animals and so on. Memories associated with any of these may be shared to strengthen the The glory filling, filling this Earth. feeling of being at home. We each ask ourselves, Be still, behold the face of God. ‘How am I connected with the land at my feet or the living creatures I see around me?’ Words: C Norman Habel 2004, www.seasonofcreation.com. A closing rite may involve participants Used by permission. Melody: Be Still and Know that I am God (composer unknown). running their hands through the soil or sand in the circle to make the connection tangible. As they do this they may wish to repeat the words of Psalm 139: “I was made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of Earth.” Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 33 Bible Story • September 11, 2011 You Are There (based on Psalm 139:7–12) am land. In the very beginning Creator took Your love holds me tight. some stardust and formed me. I was shaped When my forests are ripped away, you are there; Iinto beautiful high mountains and dry deserts; When my beauty is covered with rubbish, you are magnificent beaches and rocky canyons; fertile there. farmlands and soggy wetlands. If my earth is dug up, with no thought to my earth friends who live there. I was made with care and love and, when I was I cry, formed, Creator smiled and said, “This land is but even there your love will find me. beautiful, this land is good!” If I say, “Surely smoke from the factories shall cover me (Encourage people to repeat the phrase, “This land is and stop the sun from shining through,” beautiful, this land is good!”) even the choking smoke is not too dark for you; You find me underneath the buildings, and the Creator brought us (indicate others and then yourself) roads, and the factories together to care for one another. God intended for and your love gives me hope. us to live in peace and harmony. You would care for me and in return I would care for you. But human- And there is hope, for Creator moves through me kind forgot. They took from me and forgot to give and whispers words of encouragement. Slowly, back. They destroyed and forgot to heal. They for- slowly things are changing. All over the world got to care. Today I am hurting badly. people are working with Creator to bring healing. UnproofedGradually you are remembering to live in peace (Pause momentarily and invite people to think about the with me. You are remembering to care. Children hurt the land feels.) plant trees and teach the grown ups about recyc- ling. Teenagers pick up rubbish and raise money to But even though I am sad and hurting I know that save forests. Brave grown ups work to stop factories Creator is still with me. If you are very quiet and from covering me with choking smoke. Scientists still and listen very carefully, you can hear me sing are learning how to clean up the chemicals that a song to Creator (put your finger to your lips and make have poisoned my earth. Whenever this happens a shushing sound). Can you hear the words? (Pause) Creator moves to bring healing. Listen to the song. Creator God you are always with me. And then I am glad.A recording of this story is available in MP3 format in the “Audio Stories” folder on the Season of Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD. 34 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Stations • September 11, 2011Living, Learning, Growing as Disciples For your convenience these directions The following stations might be set up around your worship space or in other are formatted for printing and available in the “Stations” folder on the Season of places around the church. Choose practices according to your space and num- Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD, and in the bers. If leaders will not be facilitating at these different stations, provide copies “Stations” folder on the disk and web of the directions, or display the directions where the participants can see them. versions of SeasonsFUSION.Digging deeper Materials: Bibles, pencils, illustration The practice of study and reflection of the how the biblical writers viewed Directions the universe in the “Extra Resources” Today’s Bible reading comes from the book of Psalms. At the time the psalms were folder on Season of Creation, Pentecost written, the Hebrew people had a very different idea of the world and the universe. 2 Data CD, and in the “Extra Resources” They did not have telescopes or venture into space. Rather their perspective was folder on the disk and web versions of primarily based on experience and imagination. SeasonsFUSION) 1. Look at the illustration of how the biblical writers viewed the universe. What do Setting the space: Provide a table and you notice? Where in the diagram did the psalmist live? chairs. Make copies of the directions and place where all can see. For the psalmist, the heavens, the farthest limits of the sea, and the dwelling place of the dead were all places really far from where the psalmist lived. 2. Think, or talk about the following: n What do you think it would be like in these places? n Who does the psalmist say would be in all these far-away places? n How does the psalmist try to show how big is God’s creation? 1. Write a summary of Psalm 139:7–12 in a short text message. You might work with a partner. 2. You might share your messages with the full congregation during worship, in the worship bulletin, or church newsletter.Bible story Materials: recording of Unproofed today’s story The practice of storytelling “You Are There” (available in MP3 for- Directions mat in the “Audio Stories” folder on the As the land is always around us, so God’s presence is always and everywhere. Season of Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD), 1. Listen to the story “You Are There.” recording of “I Feel God Around Me” 2. Listen to the song “I Feel God Around Me.” (# 20 on Seasons Music CD, Vo. 9, also 3. Think about the song of the land in today’s story. In what places did the land available as an MP3 download, player show God’s presence? or players, soft cushions, and blankets. 4. What new verses might the land sing? Setting the space: Spread blankets on the floor and scatter several soft cushions on them. Make a copy of the directions and place where all can see.Looking at soil Materials: varieties of soil, copies of The practice of enquiry “The Lowdown on Dirt” on p. 37, glass Directions jar with lid, spoons, water, paper towels, We can be surprised by the wonders of God, and signs of God’s presence that is magnifying glasses, strainers, newsprint always and everywhere when we are attentive to and focus on elements of the land Setting the space: Provide a table and that was made in love and care. chairs. Make a copy of the directions 1. Take a closer look at the different soils and discover just what’s in that dirt. and place where all can see. 2. Try some of the soil explorations on the resource sheet. Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 35 Stations • September 11, 2011 Engaging art Materials: poster Canyon Walls, The practice of kindness, care, and healing moulding clay, soapy water and towels Directions for clean-up The psalmist reminds us that God’s sacred presence is always with us. Setting the space: Provide a table and 1. Look at the poster Canyon Walls. What do you think about when you look at this chairs. Make a copy of the directions picture? and place where all can see. As the sculptor shaped this piece for beauty, Earth exists in great beauty. But sometimes the land is harmed through or by human actions. Imagine how the land might feel when harm comes to it. 1. Think about the following: n What words would you use to describe those feelings? n What might the land in our community want to say to us? Land can be harmed by our actions or we can work with the land to bring healing. 1. Take a lump of clay and work with it as you think about the shape of Earth when touched by hands of healing rather than destruction, and imagine what restored land might look like. Poetry writing Materials: pencils, paper The practice of testimony Setting the space: Provide a table and Directions chairs. Make a copy of the directions The psalmist used poetry or song to announce that God’s presence is everywhere we go. and place where all can see. 1. Write your own poem or song of affirmation by using by copying the poem structure below and completing the statements to create your own poems of affirmation. How can I get away from you? Or where can I run away from you? If I (complete the statement) you are there. If I (complete the statement) you are there. If I (complete the statement) Unproofedyou are even there. There is no place I can run where you are not.Game Materials: Earth ball, CD or MP3 play- The practice of living in harmony er, CD or MP3 recording, such as Each Directions Blade of Grass (p. 6 of Music Booklet, Unity is living in together in harmony. How might we live in harmony with the land? #16 on Seasons Music CD, vol. 9, and 1. Sit in a circle with someone holding the Earth ball. This ball is a reminder of the available as an MP3 download beautiful planet Earth with all its different landscapes. Setting the space: Space so all can sit 1. Pass the ball around the circle. in a circle and throw a ball. Make a copy 1. When the music stops, the person who has the ball will hold it carefully as the of the directions and place where all group thinks of one way we can care for the land. can see. Have someone lead the group by starting and stopping the music. 1. After an idea is named, the person holding the ball lifts it in the air and says, “That’s a great way to live in harmony with the land!” 1. Turn the music on and continue passing the ball around the circle. After several rounds, review the ideas suggested during the activity. Something to think about, or discuss with a partner. n How might our church work with land to bring healing? n How might each one of us work with land to bring healing?36 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Resource Sheet • September 11 – 17, 2011Materials: Waterproof table covering, glass jar with lid, spoon, soil, water, paper Dirt discovery towels, and magnifying glass.Directions: Place the waterproof table covering on the table. Half fill a jar with dirt. Add water nearly to the top of the jar. Put the lid on tightly. Shake the jar hard as you count to 50 and then set it down. Let the jar stand until the dirt and water settle. The soil will settle into layers. You might do the next experiment while you are waiting. Look carefully at the layers in the jar. How many layers are there? Look closely at the different layers and see what is in them. Use a spoon to skim off the objects floating in the water. Place them on a paper towel. Use a magnifying glass to look at them. What can you see? Ask an adult to help you carefully pour off the water on the top and scoop out the grains of the next level onto another paper Unproofedtowel. Do the same if there is another level. After each layer has been placed onto towels, look at them with the magnifying glass. What can you see?Take a Closer LookMaterials: Strainers, magnifying glasses, spoons, newsprint, and soil.Directions: Look at the soil through a magnifying glass. What can you see? Use the strainer to sift the soil onto the newsprint and examine what is left in the strainer. You may find all kinds of things such as small stones, berries, twigs, moss, seeds, and pieces of bird feathers. List all the things you discover. Look at the sifted soil through a magnifying glass. How does it look different? Touch the soil and rub it between your fingers, listen to the sound as it moves on the newsprint, and smell it. What happens when you press some soil between your fingers?Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 37 Activity • September 11 – 17, 2011 Loving the Land God’s love is always with us and we can show this love to the land. Follow the path from the top of the page to the bottom. How are the people along the way sharing God’s love with the land?StartGod’s love is always with us and we can show this love to the land. Follow the path from the top of theUnproofed page to the bottom. How are the people along the way sharing God’s love with the land?Finish38 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Planning16th Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, October 2 – Saturday, October 8, 2011 Proper 22 [27], Revised Common 2 Things to keep in mind this week… World(wide) Communion Sunday Lectionary (Yr A)SUN Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20 Psalm 19 Philippians 3:4b–14Matthew 21:33–46 3MON Seasons of the Spirit is based on semi- continuous readings of the St. Francis of Assisi Revised Common Lectionary.4Planning ahead… Liturgical colour: green TUES5Unproofed WEDIf you have Internet access, visit 6 www.seasonsonline.ca to access Spirit Sightings for connections between current THUR events and the focus passage. October 2011 S M T W T F S Ecumenical 7 1Prayer Calendar 2 3 4 5 6 7 8FRI Afghanistan, 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Turkmenistan, 23 24 Uzbekistan Yom Kippur (Judaism) /30 /31 25 26 27 28 29 September 2011 November 2011 8 S M T W T F S S M T W T F S1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 SAT 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 25 26 27 28 29 30 27 28 29 30Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 63 SeasonPentecost after 2 • Pentecost 2011 Biblical Background • October 2, 2011 Focus scripture Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20 Holy God, immerse us in the river of your Additional scriptures word and ways, and carry us on a jour- Psalm 19 ney of growth as a community of your Philippians 3:4b–14 people. Increase our resolve to heed your Matthew 21:33–46 loving wisdom and to rejoice in your promise of new life as we do. Amen. God’s Loving Wisdom od’s word in the ten commandments reveals the cornerstone of Israelite society. All were called to obey these dynamics of living life abundantly and shapes the concrete expressions of God’s wisdom and will, regardless Gcommunity of God’s beloved people. Such wise laws of occupation or social class. In the Hebrew Scriptures, “the expand our understanding of God’s intent for community. law” also refers to all of the cultural knowledge that one Such wise laws invite us to delight in one another as we are generation passes on to another. Later, the term torah is formed by God’s loving wisdom. used to refer to the Law – encompassing the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures – combined with the Talmud, commentaries on God’s law. Focus scripture: Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20 Verses 18–20 tell how the Hebrew people tremble in Today’s reading picks up the story of the Hebrews’ escape fear at creation’s witness to God’s holy power – “thunder from Egypt, where they had been held as slaves. Moses, the and lightning, sound of the <a href="/tags/Trumpet/" rel="tag">trumpet</a>, and the mountain leader appointed by God, is leading them through the wil- smoking.” They plead with Moses to be their mediator, to derness of the Sinai region to God’s land of promise. As relay the words of God to them and to carry their words to we enter the focus verses, we find Moses and the Hebrew God. Moses accepts this role. people at Mount Sinai, where Moses is affirmed as God’s The poet of Psalm 19 extols the Creator’s “ordinances” spokesperson. Exodus 19 sets the stage for God’s delivery as “more to be desired are they than gold...sweeter also than of the ten commandments. honey.” God’s loving wisdom sustains the community of The original form and Hebrew language in Exodus 20 creation and brings joy and purpose to all who live within suggest that the commandmentsUnproofed first may have been simply it. a list of ten words – murder, idolatry, adultery, and so on. In Philippians 3:4b–14, Paul claims the wisdom and These words were shorthand for a rule of life to guide the joy of being grounded in Christ. When Paul speaks of people of Israel along their journey to becoming the nation “confidence in the flesh,” he refers to those things that that was promised to Abraham. give people “credit” in the world’s eyes. In his accounting The ten commandments summarize God’s rule for life. metaphor, Paul counts these as loss. There can be only one In the first commandment we are told to acknowledge God item on the credit side: Christ. as God alone, and are called to honour our relationship Jesus’ parable in Matthew 21:33–46 seems a word of with God. In the commandment regarding Sabbath, we sobering wisdom. Rather than accepting the challenge of are told to match the rhythm of our lives with God’s own such wisdom, the leaders turn on Jesus. They find no joy in rhythm. In the remaining commandments, God’s loving God’s wisdom, embodied in Jesus the Christ. wisdom lays out how to live so that our relationships with • • • • • other people reflect God’s relationship with us. Today’s readings offer a glimpse of a world where all pat- Protestant theologian Martin Luther (1483-1546) terns of human living are grounded in God’s loving wisdom. taught that every negative in this list implies a positive. As we continue to flourish as a community of God’s people, For example, “do not kill” implies “support the living.” such wisdom shapes our life together. As you journey to- The commandments offer a vision of the world that God ward fuller participation in God’s purpose – as an individual promises to bring to fulfillment. and as a church – what is the role of the ten commandments The ten commandments are sometimes referred to in in your life? scripture as God’s law or the Law of Moses. They form the 64 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Reflection and Focus • October 2, 2011 SeasonPentecost after Pentecost 2 • 2011 Reflecting on the Word Connecting with life Connecting scripture and life Expect people to have a variety of opinions about the ten God’s people in every age strive to understand how God’s commandments, depending on their early experiences with word shapes the ways we live in relationship with God and these verses. Some may feel that they are negative words with our neighbour. The original form and Hebrew language from a judgmental God. Others will celebrate them as gifts in Exodus 20 suggest that the commandments first may have of God’s wisdom to help their lives work better. been simply a list of ten words, sort of a summary of rules n Who taught you about the ten commandments? How for living. Create a list of ten words that are life-giving for were they presented? you – that summarize your own personal rule of life. n To what degree has your appreciation of the n What do you notice about these words? What might be commandments changed over the years? missing from your list? n In what ways has your understanding of the meaning of n Would a similar list for your community be much the the Commandments changed? same or quite different? Why? Scripture n What enables you to embody that which is life-giving in the midst of challenges and resistance? Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20 The ten commandments are the heart of what is referred to as the Law of Moses in scripture. n What do these commandments say to you about what God considers as important for human beings as they live in community with God and one another? Poster Take a quiet moment to view the n To what extent do you agree with what the psalmist poster Midsummer Night in Harlem. Look for says about God’s law in Psalm 19:7–10? details in the image that suggest a strong n Of what are the Israelites afraid in verses 18–20? How and healthy community. Mark each with a do you understand Moses’ response? What in Moses’ “picture frame” cut from a sticky note. words is comforting? What is challenging? Wonder how the placement of these n To what extent do youUnproofed agree with those who say that frames might change or remain the same God’s wisdom in the ten commandments is judgmental? if you were looking for details that suggest The Hebrew verb translated as “shall not” in the ten com- how to live out God’s wisdom in the ten mandments also might mean “you must not” or “you will commandments. not.” This ambiguity opens a window to consider the ten commandments as a description of God’s vision for our lives, as well as a description of how to live. n If you think of the ten commandments as God’s vision, which commandment seems most important to you? Why? Focus for Worship, Learning, and Serving During a casual, Sunday evening meal, two families As we move from the Season of Creation into the engaged in a lively discussion about laws. For example, Season after Pentecost, we begin a five week series from should children be required to wear bicycle helmets? Do the exodus narrative. Psalm 19 invites us to use the you need to come to a complete stop at a stop sign when ordered workings of creation as a helpful bridge from one no other traffic is on the road? Should people be allowed season into the other as the psalmist reveals how creation to smoke cigarettes around their own children? The differ- reveals God’s wise ways. These loving ways of wisdom ences in how each person, young or old, experienced rules set down in the ten commandments will give shape to became more obvious as the conversation continued. What human community and enable all creation to flourish. might appear at first glance as necessary structure for an How can you use spirited liturgy, music, and ordered society can be perceived as legalism at best and movement to enliven what has potential to be a rigid list oppressive totalitarianism at worst by some. of rules?Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 65 Worship Outline • October 2, 2011 God’s Loving Wisdom Prepare NOTE: All of these suggestions are mere starting points; adapt, delete and add according to your local needs. q Recruit volunteers needed for worship: one or two to unfurl the fabric during the opening prayer, four for the Music Suggestions prayer of confession and words of assurance, several for the psalm reading, one or two to help with the prayers As Long As We Follow/Na Nzelea Na Lola Joseph Kabemba; Music Booklet, p. 4 of the people. q Cosmic Hymn of Praise Choose an option for hearing Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20. Michael Mangan; Music Booklet, p. 5 For the Bible story, arrange for a storyteller present the Each Blade of Grass story “God’s Loving Way” on p. 70. and bring prepared Keri Wehlander; Music Booklet, p. 6 paper hearts. For the choral reading, invite 10 people Sing Out of different ages. Make copies of the choral reading on Marty Haugen; Seasons Songbook, vol. 8 p. 69. Glory to God q Set the worship table with green fabric, poster Midsum� John Murray, Cecily Sheehy; Seasons Songbook, vol. 5 mer Night in Harlem mounted on foam board, blue fabric from September 25 service. q Bring coloured construction paper (approximately half a sheet for each person) for the prayers of the people. q Decide which stations you will set, and set stations as described on p. 71–72. UnproofedGather Place green fabric on the communion table or another table we are faithful at times and frail at others. in the front of the worship space. Display the mounted poster May life-giving ways on the table. Place the blue fabric on the table and partially be opened for us and within us. unroll it. This will be unfurled during the opening prayer. (Unfurl the blue fabric.)Call to worship Some know what it is to struggle, Sing “Cosmic Hymn of Praise” (p. 5 in the Music Booklet, #1 on to be broken but not crushed, the Seasons Music CD, vol. 9, and available as an MP3 download) to despair yet be held by unseen love. after the spoken call to worship. May life-giving ways be opened for us and within us. The sun rises without fail (Unfurl the blue fabric.) bringing a new day to Earth and we rise to embrace this time of worship. As a river carries life within its flowing currents, Flowers, trees, grasses, and plants may we encounter, this day, the Spirit of the One flourish and give praise with unfolding leaves, in whom is life and love for all. waving blades, and fragrant offerings. May life-giving ways May we join them and praise the Creator with our being. be opened for us and within us. (Unfurl the blue fabric.) Opening prayer Unfurl the blue fabric in stages after each stanza so it stretch- Prayer of confession es down the centre aisle by the end of the prayer. Before they became the ten commandments, the Israelites probably knew them as ten words that served as a rule of life. This prayer We gather as those who wonder and wander; option reflects the power of words to create heartfelt responses that we participate and pull back; give shape to community. 66 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Worship Outline • October 2, 2011Arrange to have four people stand in the four corners of the worship Words of affirmation space. The readers will take turns saying one of the words from Have the four people who read the words for the prayer of confession each of the lists of words of contemplation below. Follow each word continue reading the words below slowly, but without the extended with ample silence. Explain that rather than speaking a prayer with space for silent prayer. prescribed sentences and thoughts, we will hear single words. Invite those gathered to be attentive to the thoughts and feelings that arise Hear now these life-giving words: with each word and allow these responses to guide a silent prayer of confession. receive, welcome, reconcile, enfold; restore, conserve, beautify, care; Words for contemplation attend, share, compassion, love; distance, separation, division, brokenhearted; forgiven, forgiven, forgiven, forgiven. (give ample pause between each word) May these words take root within us harm, neglect, pollution, extinction; and become the living reality (give ample pause between each word) among and through us. disregard, ignore, injustice, impoverish. (give ample pause between each word) Engage Opening the word Moving into the focus scripture Psalm 19 Talk about rules we are asked to follow at home, church, Invite a small group of people to perform an interpretive school, or in our neighbourhoods such as no sweets before movement such as the suggested movements below while meals, brushing teeth before bed, or looking both ways be- the verses from Psalm 19 are read. fore we cross the street. After each rule, ask: Unproofedn How many others have a similar rule? The heavens are telling the glory of God; n Who or what taught them this rule? (swing arms from one side to the other) n What might happen if no one followed this rule? and the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork. (lift arms up and wiggle fingers) Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20 Language is not spoken and words are not heard Choose one of the following for hearing the focus story. (cover mouth with hands) Bible story Have a storyteller present the story God’s Loving but their voice of praise is heard in creation. Way on p. 70. (raise the right hand up followed by the left) The sun comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding bed Choral reading Recruit ten people of differing ages to stand running its circuit from the East to the West. from where they are seated in the worship space and speak (form a circle with the arms, swoop in an arch) a line from the choral reading found on p. 69. The law of God is perfect, reviving the soul (place hands on chest and sweep out one at a time) After the focus scripture more to be desired than gold or silver. Invite children, young people, and all who wish to move (raise hands in the air and turn body in a circle) to the stations. Others will remain seated for Proclaiming the Word.Respond After Proclaiming the Word, you might invite those who Sing or listen to the song “As Long As We Follow/Na Nzela have not already done so to move to and around the stations, No Lola” (p. 4 in Music Booklet, #17 on the Seasons Music CD, taking ten minutes or so with a chosen practice. vol. 9, also available as an MP3 download) as people gather in the worship space once again.Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 67 Worship Outline • October 2, 2011 Prayers of the people Provide coloured construction paper (approximately half a sheet) What is the shape of this flourishing? What vision comes for each person. Use the words below to invite those gathered to use to your mind when you imagine all creation living in the their fingers to rip, fold, and give shape to a vision of what it might loving wisdom of God? Use the paper provided to create a look like for the world to flourish in God’s love. Place the completed reflection of this vision. Rip the paper, fold it, give shape to shapes on the blue fabric or on the worship table so they are not an it. (Give directions for where they are to place their shapes when obstruction. Have people available to help collect the shapes of those they are ready.) who would like to participate from their seats. Offer the prayer in conclusion. Play meditative music throughout. Prayer May the vision of a world flourishing in love Invitation spark our imaginations. The Exodus commandments provide loving wisdom that May this vision become the whisper gives shape to communities of the faithful. When our re- of the Spirit within us, lationships reflect God’s relationship with us, all creation giving shape to greater flourishes in love. faithfulness, compassion, and justice. Bless Go with ways of wisdom for the Go with ways of wisdom for Go in the wisdom of Christ Holy One: community: that enables all creation to flourish in the faithfulness, mutuality, ways of love: loyalty, honour, forgiving, reverence, generosity, healing, stillness, truthfulness, restoring, respect. contentment. creating, Unproofedlife. Special Days CommentaryOctober 2 – World(wide) Communion October 8 – Yom Kippur Sunday Yom Kippur (literally “Day of Atonement”) This day is observed in many parts of the world, although is the most holy and sombre day of the year, not by all churches. Some denominations produce special and is first mentioned in the Bible in Leviticus 23:26–32. On worship and learning resources for this day, and some ecu- this day Jews abstain from eating, drinking, wearing leather menical agencies encourage churches to acknowledge the (a sign of comfort) and even sexual relations in order to focus fact that on this day perhaps more than any other, Christians not on physical needs, but on spiritual ones. The holiday begins around the world are – symbolically – gathered at a com- with everyone being absolved of all of the ambitious vows mon table. made in the past year which people were unable to fulfill on account of human frailties. On Yom Kippur everyone has the October 4 – St. Francis of Assisi opportunity for teshuvah or returning to the divine way of liv- Generally known as a lover of birds, animals, and ing. We are obligated to seek forgiveness from God and from creation in general – statues of St. Francis fre- those we have hurt. This last is often the more difficult of the quently appear in gardens – Francis of Assisi was two, because God is obligated to forgive us, but people are not. also a strong champion of the poor and outcast of We recite litanies of sins we have committed, always his time and society. The son of a wealthy Italian saying “we have sinned” rather than “I,” perhaps to remind fabric merchant, Francis underwent a deep spirit- us that we are always part of the community and respon- ual transformation and lived a humble, peaceful sible for communal transgressions, no matter how we life, rebuilding the ruins of church buildings as places of pursue the benefits individually. worship and refuge. Rabbi Adam Morris lives in Denver, Colorado, USA, and serves as a consultant to the Seasons of the Spirit editorial team. He also answers questions posed to “Ask the Rabbi” at www.seasonsonline.ca 68 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Poetry and Prose •October 2, 2011 Choral Reading Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20Recruit ten people of differing ages to stand from where they are Read: Exodus 20:14 seated in the worship space and speak a line from the choral reading. Seven: Jesus said, “Everyone who looks at another with lust and disrespect has already committed adultery in their Read: Exodus 20:1–3 heart.” One: Jesus said, “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” Read: Exodus 20:15 Eight: Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, Read: Exodus 20:4 and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened Two: Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart for you.” will be also.” Read: Exodus 20:16 Read: Exodus 20:7 Nine: Jesus said, “With the judgment you make you will be Three: Jesus said, “Do not swear but let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ judged, and the measure you give will be the measure and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’ Anything more than that comes you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s from the evil one.” eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” Read: Exodus 20:8–9 Read: Exodus 20:17 Four: Jesus said: (Read Matthew 5:3–9)Read: Exodus 20:12 Ten: Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will Five: Jesus said, “In everything do to others as you would eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what have them do to you.” you will wear. But strive first for the kingdom of God.” Read: Exodus 20:18–20 Read: Exodus 20:13 Six: Jesus said, “If you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment. So when you come to worship, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you,Unproofed leave and first be reconciled.”Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 69 Bible Story • October 2, 2011 God’s Loving Way (based on Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20)Bring 10 paper hearts. In each heart write one number, one through to ten or many years, the people of Israel lived as slaves of Day, after day, the people became more and more unhappy. the Egyptian people. The Egyptian leader, Pharaoh, Fmade them work for long hours every day, building Moses was a loving leader and wanted to help the people. roads and temples and statues. What could Moses do? (pause) Moses decided to climb a mountain and pray to God, “Please help us, God. The people The People of Israel wanted to rest, but Pharaoh said, “No!” have forgotten how to live in loving ways.”The people wanted to be free, but Pharaoh said, “No!” God was with Moses in a special way in the quietness of the mountain. When Moses returned to the camp below, The people prayed to God for freedom, and God said, “Yes!” he had ten loving ideas for how the Hebrews could live as God sent someone named Moses to lead the people out of free people. Egypt toward their new home in freedom. Now the people were curious. What were these loving ways? The people were travelling across a big, hot desert. Moth- ers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and And then Moses told the people of how God imagined this uncles, girls and boys. world to be. (Spread the numbered hearts and have someone pick a heart from the pile. Read the corresponding rule.) The sun hurt their eyes. (Everyone rub eyes.) 1. Remember God is love. The sand hurt their feet. (Rub feet.) 2. There is only one loving God. 3. Say God’s name with love. They were thirsty. (Hang out tongue.) 4. Take time to rest and pray to God. They were tired. (Close Unproofedeyes.) 5. Parents and children, love and care for one another. 6. Respect all living things. After a long while, the people forgot how to live in loving 7. Keep your promises to one another. ways. 8. Respect what belongs to one another. Sometimes they pushed and shouted. 9. Tell the truth about others. 10. Be content with the good things of your own life. Sometimes they took food that belonged to others. Sometimes the children didn’t listen to their parents and the The people looked at each other and smiled. And then they parents didn’t listen to their children. prayed, “Thank you, God, for keeping your promise and bringing us back together again. Your way is full of love.” Sometimes they did not stop to take time to be with God. A recording of this story is available in MP3 format in the “Audio Stories” folder on the Season of Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD. 70 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Stations • October 2, 2011Living, Learning, Growing as Disciples For your convenience these directions The following stations might be set up around your worship space or in other are formatted for printing and available places in the church building. Choose practices according to your space and num- in the “Stations” folder on the Season of Creation, Pentecost 2 Data CD. Also in the bers. If leaders will not be facilitating at these different practices, provide copies “Stations” folder on the disk and web of the directions, or display the directions where the participants can see them. versions of SeasonsFUSIONBible Story Materials: recording of the story” The practice of storytelling God’s Loving Way,” (available in MP3 Directions format in the “Audio Stories” folder God shows us many loving ways to live in love and peace. on the Season of Creation, Pentecost 2, q Listen to the story “God’s Loving Way.” Data CD, player or players, soft cush- 1. Collect a heart shape ions, blankets, and at least twenty 2. Think of ways we show God’s love. paper hearts, ten with numbers one 3. Write or draw one way we show God’s love? through ten written on them, pencils 4. Tell a partner about it. Setting the space: Spread blankets on the floor and scatter cushions on them. 5. Display your heart shapes where all can see. Make a copy of the directions and place where all can see.Puzzle Materials: Bibles, pencils, copies of The practice of Earth care “Ten Ways to Love Earth” on p.73, news- Directions print, markers The book of Exodus contains many stories about the people of Israel who made Setting the space: Provide a table and the long journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom. Today’s story tells about when chairs. Make a copy of the directions the people learned more about living in God’s loving ways. The church often calls and place where all can see. these ways the ten commandments. 1. Read Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9, 12–20 and the ten loving ways revealed to Moses. Unproofed2. Take a copy of the resource sheet, “Ten Ways to Love Earth” and complete the puzzle. 3. Work with a partner to imagine other loving ideas such as ten ways to be a good friend, ten ways to be a good sport, or ten ways to live together as a family. 4. Choose one loving idea, make a heading on a sheet of newsprint and write down ten ideas. 5. Display newsprint sheets. Loving Ways Banner Materials: copy of the ten loving ways The practice sharing God’s story with others from resource sheet “God’s Loving Directions Way” on p. 70, newsprint, large piece God gave Moses the ten commandments to help the people live in loving ways of bright fabric, dowel, rod, squares of with one another. bright fabric (20 cm/8 in), fabric mark- 1. Read the ten loving ways from today’s story “God’s Loving Way.” ers, fabric glue or glue gun (Fold the top 2. Try to summarize each commandment into a few words such as, remember God; of the banner fabric under about 3 cm/ keep promises; share? 1 in, stitch it so it forms a casing, and 3. Write the suggestions on newsprint. insert a dowel or rod to hang it. Setting the space: Provide a table and 4. Choose a fabric square and a word or phrase from the list. chairs. Make a copy of the directions 5. Decorate the square with a symbol that represents your chosen word or phrase. and place where all can see. 6. Glue each square to the banner. 7. Label the banner “Our Loving Ways” and display for all to see. Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 71 Stations • October 2 • 2011 Community mural Materials: poster Midsummer Night in The practice of sacred imagination Harlem, large sheet of paper, pencils, Directions crayons, markers God gave Moses the ten commandments to help people imagine living more fairly Setting the space: Provide a table and with each other, but sometimes it helps to be reminded of loving ways. chairs. Make a copy of the directions 1. Look together at the poster Midsummer Night in Harlem. and place where all can see. n In this painting, where do you imagine that people are treating each other fairly? 2. Lay a large sheet of paper on a table. 3. Use pencils, crayons, and markers to create a mural that is filled with scenes of what you imagine your community might be like when people live in God’s way and treat each other fairly. They can be individual scenes or a connected picture as in Midsummer Night in Harlem. 4. Before you begin to draw, think of what might happen in your community to show this way of living. For example, children of all ethnic backgrounds and abilities would play happily on the playground. 1. Together decide on a title for your imagined community. 2. Reflect on this quote. “Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming at- traction.” (Albert Einstein)Tableau Materials: copy of the ten loving ways The practice of sharing God’s story with others from today’s story “God’s Loving Way” Directions “p. 70,” written on newsprint The commandments helped shape the people of Israel grow as a community who Setting the space: Provide space for loved God. movement. Make a copy of the direc- 1. Read the ten loving ways from the Exodus story one at a time. tions and place where all can see. 2. In pairs, or in small groups, make a shape or statue of what each loving way might look like. Unproofed3. Hold the pose so all can see, or prepare to show the full congregation. Music making Materials: recording of “As Long as The practice of singing our lives We Follow/Na Nzela No Lola” (p. 4 in Directions the Music Booklet, #17 on the Seasons When we live in God’s ways, we shape the world with love. Music CD vol. 9, also available as an MP3 1. Move around the path as the music plays “As Long as We Follow/Na Nzela No download), player, prepared path, slips Lola.” Sing as you go. of paper with a situation such as at 2. Stop when the music stops. home, at school, at work, with friends, 3. Whoever is standing on the “X” will draw a slip of paper from the basket and or on the sport field, written on them (you will need to repeat situations), share an idea of a loving way for the situation named on the paper. basket, newsprint, marker 4. Write each loving way on the newsprint. Continue until the slips of paper are gone. Setting the space: Lay pieces of re- cycled paper on the floor in a curvy, circular path around the space. Draw a large “X” on one of the pieces of paper. Make a copy of the directions and place where all can see. Arrange to have someone lead by stopping and starting the music.72 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Resource Sheet • October 2 – 8, 2011Ten Ways to Love EarthUse the code below to match the numbers below the lines to a letter from the alphabet. Write the matching letter on the line above the 1. Plant ______as gifts to loved ones. number to make a word. Read the ten ways 20 18 5 5 19 to love Earth. When have you loved Earth in one of these ways? What else would you add to this list? 2. Turn off the ______when not in use. 12 9 7 8 20 19 Code: 1 – A 2 – B 3 – C 3. Get to know ______around you. 14 1 20 21 18 5 4 – D 5 – E 6 – F 7 – G 8 – H 9 – I 4. Use ______carefully. 10 – J 11 – K 12 – L 23 1 20 5 18 13 – M 14 – N 15 – O 16 – P 17 – Q 18 – R 5. ______or ride your bike when possible. 23 1 12 11 19 – S 20 – T Unproofed21 – U 22 – V 23 – W 24 – X 6. Reduce the amount of stuff you ______. 25 – Y 26 – Z 2 21 257. ______what you can. Prayer: 18 5 3 25 3 12 5 Write the letters from the circles in the sentences on the lines below to complete the 8. Reuse ______things in new ways. prayer below. 15 12 4May we live ______9. ______outgrown toys and clothes away. 7 9 22 5 ______of ______. 10. Play ______when you can. 15 21 20 19 9 4 5Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 73 Activity • October 2– 8, 2011 God gave Moses many loving that ways show to people. the doing What help these are children loving ways? aboutyou what here. could do. yourself Think Draw God’s Loving WaysUnproofed Unproofed74 Seasons of the Spirit™ SeasonsFUSION Season of Creation • Pentecost 2 2011 Copyright © Wood Lake Publishing Inc. 2011 </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.6.1/jquery.min.js" crossorigin="anonymous" referrerpolicy="no-referrer"></script> <script> var docId = '51aa29804b07648d01c9cf09e546a7c6'; var endPage = 1; var totalPage = 42; var pfLoading = false; window.addEventListener('scroll', function () { if (pfLoading) return; var $now = $('.article-imgview .pf').eq(endPage - 1); if (document.documentElement.scrollTop + $(window).height() > $now.offset().top) { pfLoading = true; endPage++; if (endPage > totalPage) return; var imgEle = new Image(); var imgsrc = "//data.docslib.org/img/51aa29804b07648d01c9cf09e546a7c6-" + endPage + (endPage > 3 ? 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