Finding Meaning in a Time of Chaos
Dear Friends,
The most common question people ask me lately is "Where is, all of this chaos headed?" While I can't predict the future, our spiritual tradition does give us some unique insights into making sense of the current state of chaos and the possibility of what might be coming next.
Sunday, I'll talk about one of our tradition's unique teachings concerning spiritual evolution. I hope what I share offers some peace of mind as we all navigate increasingly chaotic times.
Please do send in your sermon topic and music suggestions.
See you soon on zoom,
Rev. Rich Tafel
SUNDAY SERVICES
September 19th at 5 pm
Sunday Services begin again on September 12th at 5 PM EST. Please mark your calendars. Here's the new Zoom sign-on to be used every week.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87156235899?pwd=d3ZCNnk5aEFUcFR4RmYyb3k0a0UwQT09
Meeting ID: 871 5623 5899
Passcode: 301750
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,87156235899# US (Washington DC)
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ANNUAL BOARD MEETING
October 5, 2021
We had hoped to hold our annual board meeting in September, however, our bylaws call for it to be held in October. So, we've moved the date to October 5th from 4 PM to 6 PM EST on zoom and in person. During this meeting, we will share the church budget for 2021 and get a state of the church report. We'll also be seeking feedback on ways we can be a better community. This is open to all members who have contributed in the previous year.
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Sunday Service Order
Light a Candle
Open the Word
Greetings and Check-In
Take a Deep Breath
Invocation
Lord, we come before you today and we thank You for all the blessings that You have given us. Many times our lives are so full of busywork that we neglect our relationship with You, for that we are sorry. Continue to pull us to Yourself, guide us in our journey, and hold us close to you until the day we come home to be with You forever. Be with us now as we gather in Your name, may we feel your presence among us. In your holy name, we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Confession
O Holy One, we have strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against Your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. Holy One, have mercy upon us and forgive our sins. Amen
Scripture Readings
The Patches and the Wineskins
36He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will tear the new garment as well, and the patch from the new will not match the old.
37And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38Instead, new wine is poured into new wineskins. 39And no one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”
Swedenborg Insights:
Before anything can be brought back into order, it is quite normal for it to be brought first into a kind of confusion, a virtual chaos. In this way, things that fit together badly are severed from each other; and when they have been severed, then the Lord can re-arrange them in a better order.
SERMON
Offering
Please give generously to our ministry
(Be Careful to Remove the Tip Feature)
Community Prayer with Lord's Prayer
(congregation responds, "Lord hear our prayer.")
Benediction
Now may the peace that passes all understanding be with you all this day and forevermore.
AMEN
Discussion with Q&A
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THE CHC FORUM ~ READING GROUP DISCUSSION
Topic: The CHC Forum ~ Reading Group Discussion
Time: Sep 13, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Every week on Mon, until Oct 25, 2021, 7 occurrence(s)
Sep 13, 2021 07:00 PM
Sep 20, 2021 07:00 PM
Sep 27, 2021 07:00 PM
Oct 4, 2021 07:00 PM
Oct 11, 2021 07:00 PM
Oct 18, 2021 07:00 PM
Oct 25, 2021 07:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 822 9139 1276
Passcode: 721501
+19294362866,,82291391276#,,,,*721501# US (New York)
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(photo of Malcolm Peck with Rev. Jane Siebert) |
Five Occurrences and Aida
Last Sunday we discussed mystical experiences that changed our lives and gave us insight into the meaning of these events. Malcolm Peck shared his story below:
In the days just before and after Aida’s passing, on November 10, 2018, several events transpired, each remarkable in itself and, taken together, seemingly extraordinary. In order, they occurred thus:
1. We had scheduled and paid for the styling of Aida’s hair by her favorite stylist, 35 miles away in Annapolis, MD. When it became clear that Aida could not be taken to Annapolis, I asked if someone could come to our house. A young lady kindly volunteered to do so, asking me if Friday of the same week or Tuesday in the following week would be best. At that point, we thought that Aida would be with us for another two weeks or so. Arbitrarily, I suggested Friday. Aida passed away on the following day, and looked as beautiful in death as in life, thanks in large part to the generous act of the hairstylist.
2. When Aida came home from the hospital, John took for framing a photograph of
Aida, taken at her nurse's capping ceremony in October 1959 at the University of the Philippines. Among all the pictures taken of her, it was the favorite of all three of us. We had long planned to frame it and hang it in the house. The framers told John that such a job ordinarily required eight days; it could sometimes be done in two; almost never could it be turned around in a single day. John returned the next day and found that the print had been handsomely framed. He took it home to show Aida, who nodded her approval and died later that same day.
3. On the cruise in the Mediterranean, with John taking his mother’s place in her remembrance, we docked at Marseille. Across from our Viking ship was another cruise ship, with its name spelled out in vivid capital letters— AIDA. (Photo attached below.)
4. During the last evening of the cruise, John and I listened to a cellist and violinist playing classical music in the main lounge of the ship. John asked if they would play the “Meditation” from the opera “Thaïs,” by Massenet, one of Aida’s favorites. They replied that it was not in their repertoire, but volunteered to play the Bach-Gounod “Ave Maria,” Aida’s favorite sacred music, which had been beautifully sung by a Filipino-American tenor of our acquaintance at her funeral mass. As soon as the strains of the music filled the lounge, the loud chatter at the bar ceased, as everyone listened in respectful silence, then applauded.
5. After docking at Barcelona, we took a train to the lovely French city of Nîmes, where we ate supper at a superb restaurant named Les Alizés. Salads were listed at the top of the menu; the first one was Aida Salad.
I do not presume to suggest what this concatenation of events means but I have the strong sense that it must be something profound.
Malcolm C. Peck
New Year’s Eve, 2018
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"How to
Heal Our Divides"
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The book "How to Heal Our Divides: A Practical Guide" has been published with a short chapter by Rev. Tafel offering a strategy for the future of the church. This chapter focuses on our church's effort to teach spiritual entrepreneurship.
We are planning a book party this fall to celebrate. I purchased a few copies, so if you want one just send me your address and make a donation to the church.
https://www.amazon.com/How-Heal-Our-Divides-Practical/dp/B0948LPPFS
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SERMONS
You can see past sermons here:
https://holycitydc.org/category/sermon/
You can now watch past sermons here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0eIuRvg7zOeXcXwsMct29w
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