on this planet for the briefest of time,

—in cosmic terms,

trying to understand…

—where the totality of reality,

comes from.

—looking for patterns of information…

—to organize one’s perceptions ….

and experiences,

—-to understand the external world.

n. dill

“The Electronic Lightness of Learning”

“Knowledge Navigation in the 21^st Century”

(inspired by Philip Phoenix’s

“Ways of Knowing” & “Realms of Meaning”)

(paraphrased from Brian Greene –

author of “The Hidden Reality” & “The Elegant Universe”)

M3M: November 6, 2008   Trusting that God Will Provide

Opening:      #14  Blessed Be the Holy One
Prayer:         May We Be Filled   (see insert)  [I will bring copies of a chant written by Joan Brundage.]
Table:         #24  Fill Me With Bread
Sanctus:     #31   Holy, Holy, Holy One 1
Closing:     #71   We Are Children of the Fireball

A Reading from the Christian Gospel Matthew 14: 13-21 (The Message)

When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way by himself.  But unsuccessfully –  someone saw him and the word got around.  Soon a load of people from the nearby villages walked around the lake to where he was.  When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their sick.

Toward evening the disciples approached him. “We are out in the country and it’s getting late. Dismiss the people so they can go to the villages and get some supper.”

            But Jesus said, “There is no need to dismiss them.  You give them supper.”

            “All we have are five loaves of bread and two fish,” they said.

            Jesus said, “Bring them here.” Then he had the people sit on the grass.  He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples.  The disciples then gave the food to the congregation.  They all ate their fill.  They gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand were fed.”

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

People: Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Hindu Tradition                                      Hymns from the Rig-Veda, Translated by Jean LeMee, R.V.I.11.1-8    

Spirit-boundless as the ocean-

Charioteer of charioteers.

Lord of Strength and Lord of Bing,

Has been exalted by the hymns.

Spirit! Confirmed in your friendship,

We have no fear, O Lord of Might!

We glorify you with praises,

Invincible Lord of Victory!

Many are the gifts of the Spirit,

His blessing-never exhausted,

For he showers his worshippers

With fullness of knowledge and light.

Conqueror of cities, young seer,

Born with unlimited power,

The Spirit sustains every act,

And is acclaimed for His thunder.

Lord of the clouds, uncovering the

Miser’s hoard of light and knowledge,

The fearless gods are on your side,

Thrusting forward to the attack.

Singing your praise, O Mighty One!

I come full of grace to the water

And the workers of Truth stood by

Witnessing, O Lover of Song!

By your arm, Spirit, You defeat

The artful withering of Death.

May the Wise who witness Your act

Be inspirited by You, O Spirit.

To Spirit Who rules by His might

We have joyfully sung praises.

His blessings flow a thousandfold

And ever more abundantly. 

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

People: Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Continuing Revelation of God to People of Faith

Julian of Norwich (1342-1415), The Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love

Often our trust is not full.

We are not certain that God hears us

Because we consider ourselves w2orthless and nothing.

This is ridiculous

And the very cause of our weakness.

I have felt this way myself.

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

People: Thanks be to God.

OPENING: #43 My soul Magnified You 1
PRAYER: #41 My Spirit Rests in You Alone
TABLE: #57 Reveal Yourself to Us, O Christ
SANCTUS: #34 Holy, Holy, Holy One 4
CLOSING: #59 Rise Up, Rejoicing

A Reading from the Christian Gospel John 4:31-38

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
People: Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Native American Tradition Mary Fallahay, Soul Weavings, Bear Tribe Medicine Society, p. 23

Creator, Earth Mother, we thank you for our lives and this beautiful day!
Thank you for the bright sun and the rain we received last night.
Thank you for this circle of friends and the opportunity to be together.
We want to thank you especially at this time for the giveaway of their lives
made by the chickens, beets, carrots, grains, and lettuce.
We thank them for giving of their lives so we may continue our lives through this great blessing.
Please help us honor them through how we live our lives.

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
People: Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Continuing Revelation of God to People of Faith
Matthew Fox, The Reinvention of Work, p. 126

Meister Eckhart equates creativity with gratitude when he declares that “becoming fruitful as a result of the gift is the only gratitude for the gift.” God actually becomes “fruitful” within us in our work. Our work is a bearing of the divine fruit, a coming to fruition through God’s collaboration with us. Just as lovers express their gratitude for one another when they give birth to children, so too our creativity shows our gratitude. Authentic work comes from a deep place of gratitude. Indeed, work is about gratitude; it is the expression of our gratitude for being here. If we have no work it is likely that we have no way to express that gratitude.

What is this fruit that we bear? “The fruit is of good size. It is no less nor more than God’s self.” The fruit of our work is the bringing forth of Divinity. How often do we engage in such divine birthing? Is it once in a lifetime? Hardly. According to0 Eckhart, this work is more common than we imagine. “Every day the soul bears fruit a hundred times or a thousand times or countless times, giving birth and becoming fruitful out of the most noble foundation of all.” This “noble foundation” is the key to all our work, the source and origin of it all. Once again, we see why returning to our origins is so important for authentic work. For here is the origin of the divine Word as well. “Indeed, the soul bears out of the same foundation from which the Father begets his eternal Word.” There is only one work in the universe because there is only one origin, one foundation.

The key to carrying on this one work of the universe is returning to the one origin of the universe. To do this we must work from inside out. We must go within.

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.
People: Thanks be to God.

M3M  Sept. 25, 2008

MASS FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM

WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

OPENING CHANT:  NO. 23 -  “The earth does not belong to us

PRAYER CHANT: NO. 30 – “Heart’s Desiring”

TABLE CHANT:  NO. 21 – “Come to the Circle”

SANCTUS: NO. 32 – “Holy, Holy, Holy One” (2)

CLOSING CHANT: NO. 41 – “May All Beings Be at Peace”

OPENING PRAYER BY JOYCE RUPP

GREAT TEACHER

YOU DRAW ME TO YOUR HEART.

YOU REACH ME WITH YOUR LOVE.

YOU INSPIRE ME WITH YOU MESSAGE,

AND THEN YOU SEND ME OUT TO OTHERS.

MAY I LOVE WELL.

AS I GO FORTH FROM MY PRAYER, MAY I REFLECT THE RADIANCE OF YOUR GOODNESS.

AMEN.

READINGS

A reading from the Christian Gospel (Luke 9:12-17) 

The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions, for we are in a deserted place.

But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.”  They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish – unless we are to go and ….

Food for all these people.”  For there were about five thousand men.

And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”  They did so and made them all sit down.  And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.  And all ate and were filled.  What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Reading: Millennium Development Goals:

1.    Eradicate eztreme poverty and hunger.

2.    Achieve universal primary education.

3.    Promote gender equality and empower women.

4.    Reduce child mortality.

5.    Improve maternal health.

6.    Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

7.    Ensure environmental sustainability.

8.    Develop a global partnership for development.

The Arizona Diocesan Convention voted in October of 2007 that we should commite .7% of each church’s budget to MDGs.

A Reading from the Continuation of God to People of Faith, from Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.

“I you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways.” Haiji Ali said.  The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger.  The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest.  The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die.

Haji Ali taught me to share three cups of tea. To slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects.  He taught me that I had more to learn from the people I work with than I could ever hope to teach them.”…”Doctor Greg,” he said, “how can you know what the people need if you don’t ask them?”

By August guests arrived for the opening of the Korphe Women’s Vocational Center.  In the bak of Haji Ali’s home Korpe’s women gathered each afternoon, learning to use the four hand-cranked sewing machines that Mortenson had purchased.

“Balti already had a rich tradition of sewing and weaving,” said Mortenson.  “They just needed some help to revive the dying practice.  Hawa’s idea was such an easy way to empower women   vocational centers wherever we  built schools.”

What motivates me to do this?  The answer is simple:  when I look into the eyes of the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan, I see the eyes of my own children:  full of wonder — and hope that we each do our part to leave them a legacy of peach instead of the perpetual cycle of violence, war, terrorism, racism, exploitation, and bigotry that we have yet to conquer…..

Jake Greenberg, a thirteen year old from the suburbs of Philadelphia was so fired up to read about Mortenson’s work that he donated more than a thousand dollars of his Bar Mitzvah money to the Central Asia Institute and volunteered to come to Pakistan and help.  He said, “it makes no difference that I’m a Jew sending money to help Muslims.  We all need to work together to plant the seeks of peace.”

OPENING: #9 Awaken Me
PRAYER: #36 Holy one, Holy & Mighty1
TABLE: #21 Come to the Circle
SANCTUS: #32 Holy, Holy, Holy One 2
CLOSING: #73 We Are In God

A Reading from the Christian Gospel: Mark 8: 31-37
Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, “The nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make the Son of man suffer terribly. He will be rejected and killed, but three days later he will rise to life.” Then Jesus explained clearly what he meant. Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. But when Jesus turned and saw the disciples, he corrected Peter. He said to him, “Satan, get away from me! You are thinking like everyone else and not like God.” Jesus then told the crowd and the disciples to come closer, and he said, “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me and for the good news, you will save it. What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? What could you give to get back your soul?”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Taoist Tradition: Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching, #48

In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.
In the pursuit of TAO, every day something is dropped.

Less and less is done
until non-action is achieved.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

The world is ruled by letting things take their course.
It cannot be ruled by interfering.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Continuing Revelation of God to People of Faith: The Butterfly (Internet)

A man found the cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no further. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with its swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly.

What the man, in his kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle were necessary for the butterfly to experience. Getting through that tiny opening was God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly and into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

Feast of the Holy Cross

Chants: Opening, #12: Beloved, Whom I Long For

Prayer, #38: Let Go, Let Be

Table, #1: A Feast For All People

Sanctus #31: Holy, Holy, Holy One 1

Closing # 71: We Are Children of the Fireball

Antiphon: Answer me when I call, O God. Psalm 4

A Reading From the Christian Gospel

“ ‘Now my soul is troubled…Now is the judgment of this world…And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ Jesus said to them ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light. so that you may become the children of light.’ “

Hear What the Spirit is Saying to the Church.

Thanks Be to God.

A Reading From the Continuing Revelation of God to People of Faith:

The cross is made of stout beams, an intersection of railroad ties. It stands in a field of weeds that slopes down from the road. The field is abutted on one side by the old theater, where gas canisters were stored, also looted gold; where much later Carmelite nuns accomplished cloistered works of expiation, sparking fury; and where now a municipal archive is housed. On another side the field runs up against the brick wall, the eastern limit of the main camp….

The surprise, in the tangle of feelings and questions, when I was first snagged by it at the foot of the papal cross in sight of the starvation bunker, was that it mattered so much to me… I had arrived at Auschwitz…braced for ovens, mounds of shoes and human hair, railroad tracks, chimneys…but…the Cross- here was the surprise. … In coming to Auschwitz, I knew enough to be suspicious of emotional intensity, as if it mattered …I summoned detachment of another kind. In coming to the death camp, I had resolved to guard against conditioned responses, even as I felt them; the numbness, the choked-back grief, the supreme sentimentality of a self-satisfied Catholic guilt…but before the cross- something else took over… The Shoah (‘catastrophe’) throws many things into relief…it also highlights the imprisonment of even well-meaning Christians inside the categories with which we approach death and sin…Christian faith can seem to triumph over every evil except Christian triumphalism. When I found myself standing at the foot of that cross, on the transforming edge of a contemporary Golgotha…I reacted as I imagine a Jew might have. The cross here was simply wrong.

Constantine’s Sword by James Carroll

Hear What the Spirit is Saying to the Church

Thanks Be to God

A Reading From the Continuing Revelation of God to People of Faith:

Even so, I was just another Christian presuming to supply a Jewish reaction. But perhaps not. … I love the cross, the sign of my faith, yet finally the sight of it here made me, in the words of the Spiritual, tremble, tremble, tremble. Because of the resounding Jewish response, I saw the holy object as if it were a chimney. …So the ancient Christian symbol here, despite my knowledge that it was wrong, was a revelation. I was seeing the cross in its full and awful truth for the first time.

Constantine’s Sword by James Carroll

Hear What the Spirit is Saying to the Church

Thanks Be to God.

A Reading of the Continuing revelation of God to People of Faith:

Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth

Let the sea roar, and all that is in it.

Let the floods clap their hands;

Let the hills sing together for joy at the presence of the Lord,

For he is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the people with equity. Psalm 98

Hear what the Spirit is Saying to the Church

Thanks Be to God.

Antiphon: Answer me when I call, O God. Psalm 4

OPENING: #12 Beloved, Whom I Long For
PRAYER: #38 Let Go, Let Be
TABLE: #1 A Feast for All the People
SANCTUS: #31 Holy, Holy, holy One1
CLOSING: #71 We are Children of the Fireball

A Reading from the Christian Gospel: Luke 10: 30-36 The Message, paraphrase

Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half dead. Luckily a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled himself to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up, he also avoided the injured man. A Samaritan traveling the road found him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. The he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying “Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill. – I’ll pay you on my way back.’ What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by the robbers?”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Sufi Tradition: “Stop Being So Religious,” The Gift, Hafiz, Daniel Ladinsky, trans.; p. 119

What
Do sad people have in
Common?

It seems
They have built a shrine
To the past

And often go there
And do a strange wail and
Worship.

What is the beginning of
Happiness?

It is to stop being
So religious

Like

That.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Continuing Revelation of God to People of Faith: Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg, p. 56

The inclusive vision incarnated in Jesus’ table fellowship is reflected in the Jesus movement itself. It was an inclusive movement, negating the boundaries of the purity system. It included women, the untouchables, the poor, the maimed and the marginalized, as well as some people of stature who found his vision attractive. It is difficult for us who live in a world in which we take for granted an attitude (or at least as an ideal) of nondiscrimination to appreciate the radical character of this inclusiveness. It is only what we would expect from a reasonable decent person. But in a society ordered by a purity system, the inclusiveness of Jesus’ movement embodied a radically alternative social vision.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Christian Gospel: John 1: 29-41 The Message, paraphrase

The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I have been talking about, the One who comes after me but who is really ahead of me. I knew nothing about who he was – only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize his as the God Revealer That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.”

John clinched his witness with this: “I watched the Spirit like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat , I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, “The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” “That’s exactly what I saw happen, and I am telling you there is no question about it: This is the Son of God.”

The next day John was at his post with two disciples, who were watching. He looked up, saw Jesus walking near by and said, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb.” The two disciples heard him and went after Jesus. Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, “What are you after?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), where re you staying?” he replied, “Come and see for yourself.” They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother Simon, telling him, “We’ve found the Messiah” (that is, Christ).”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Jewish Tradition: “A Teacher’s Blessing: Berakhot 17a Eyes remade for Wonder P. 217, Lawrence Kushner

May you live to see your world fulfilled. May your destiny be for worlds still to come, and may you trust in generations past and yet to come.

May your heart be filled with intuition and your words be filled with insight. May songs of praise ever be upon your tongue and your vision be on a straight path before you. May your eyes shine with the light of holy words and your face reflect the brightness of the heavens. May your lips ever speak wisdom and your fulfillment be in righteousness.

Even as you yearn to hear the words of the Holy Ancient One of Old.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Continuing Revelation of God to People of Faith: Teachers, Spirituality and Healing: Spiritual Practices for Human Being”

Whether they are called sages, masters, elders, crones, rebbes, gurus, shaikhs, ministers, or priests, teachers play an important part in our spiritual unfolding. They instruct directly and indirectly through stories, parables, koans, sermons, lectures, and personal example. They recommend readings in sacred texts, assign exercises and tasks to be accomplished, demonstrate devotional acts, and challenge us to reach the sacred fullness of our potential.

Of course, eventually, in the spiritual life, there comes a point when we realize that everything we encounter and everyone we meet is a teacher. We can even learn from seemingly negative experiences such as difficulties, personal warps, enemies, suffering, illness, and death. The first step in this practice, then is to choose to see all life as a classroom filled with spiritual lessons. Be a lifelong learner who walks in humility and with receptivity.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

Opening #52 One in Whom We Live
Prayer #47 My Spirit Rests in You Alone
Table #24 Fill Me With Bread
Sanctus #31 Holy, Holy, Holy One 1
Closing Dance and Sing

A Reading from the Christian Gospel: Mark 6: 45-52 The Message, paraphrase

As soon as the meal was finished, Jesus insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead across to Bethsaida while he dismissed the congregation. After sending them off, he climbed a mountain to pray. Late at night the boat was far out at sea, Jesus was still by himself on land. He could see his men struggling with the oars, the wind having come up against them. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and screamed, scared out of their wits. Jesus was quick to comfort them, “Courage! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.” As soon as he climbed into the boat, the wind died down. They were stunned shaking their heads, wondering what was going on. They didn’t understand what he had done at the supper. None of this had yet penetrated into their hearts.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Oral Tradition of Africa: Anonymous: Teaching Eagles to Fly in The Witness 04/1997

Perched by a great king’s throne was an eagle. Each day she would soar through the clouds. The people would look up with pride. But one year the kingdom was overthrown. The people were enslaved and the eagle captured. Before her death, she laid three eggs which were placed in a chicken yard. When they hatched, all the chickens laughed. “Oh my! Big old heads! Stubby little necks! What ugly chickens!” The eagles began to droop. A year passed. Then a captured eagle was tossed into the barnyard. He was hurt but flapped his wings incessantly. The chickens laughed. “What are you doing, you dumb, ugly chicken? Chickens can’t fly.” “I am not dumb or ugly and I am not a chicken,” responded the eagle. “Eagles were born to soar.” A few roosters were incensed by this chicken’s bad attitude, and pecked at the eagle until he was bloodied. But one morning the chickens found the great eagle perched atop the barnyard fence. A young eagle who believed himself a chicken said quietly, “Please come down from there or you’ll get us all in trouble.” “My brothers, come with me,” said the great eagle with power and authority. Two of the young eagles rose to the air. The last young eagle, however, still hugged his big wings close to his sides. The great eagle knew that this brother’s young spirit had been corrupted before it could grow strong. “I will pray for you, my brother,” the great eagle said. “Your real destiny is in the skies.”

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

A Reading from the Continuing Revelation of God to People of Faith: Julian of Norwich quoted in Matthew Fox, Original Blessing, P. 82

Often our trust is not full. We are not certain that God hears us because we consider ourselves worthless and as nothing. This is ridiculous and the very cause of our weakness. I have felt this way myself.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.