Recorded via Facebook Live on Easter morning.Video links: Introit: The Easter Song 2nd Chapter of Acts - www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-hLSR5F4Y0 Anthem: Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI6dsMeABpU Hymn: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzy7jFNUc3w Hymn: Lord of the Dance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdlsqfyxjvc Full bulletin below.  Easter Vigil - Dominic Windram
The hard frost of Lent Has gradually thawed. And we calmly await, The subtle miracle That gives significance To life's shadowy forms. This is a night of strife, That scans the centuries, When deliverance and despair Stake their claim on the psyche. O Lady of Mercy, Bless us in our brokenness, As we offer bread and flowers, As we discard the old, habitual ways. O Lady of Grace, Radiant heart of the Dawn, Accept our human flaws, May the spirit sanctify the flesh. In this dreamless, cosmetic age Of endless distractions, We are lost in labyrinths Looking for guidance. We tend to inspect the air For the scent of permanence. Thus we cling to time worn rituals: The flickering of a candle flame, To symbolize His Presence, Emerging from the veil of darkness; Pure water and fresh fire To caress the scars of Time. We must prepare ourselves For the moment that merges With teeming Eternity; When the frail, battered self Retreats and a clear world Of Being is born. When even in old bones The pith is gently stirred And purpose is rekindled. Easter is the year's ascension. For at the stroke of midnight, Spring time's revelation Will herald the coming Of a Greater Light.
John 19:28-30 It Is Finished
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. II It is the destruction of the world in our own lives that drives us half insane, and more than half. To destroy that which we were given in trust: how will we bear it? It is our own bodies that we give to be broken, our bodies existing before and after us in clod and cloud, worm and tree, that we, driving or driven, despise in our greed to live, our haste to die. To have lost, wantonly, the ancient forests, the vast grasslands is our madness, the presence in our very bodies of our grief. Berry, Wendell. This Day: Collected & New Sabbath Poems (p. 82). Counterpoint Press. Kindle Edition.
Christians today observe Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the Last Supper and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
What does Maundy mean? The Thursday before Easter is known as either Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday. Maundy is derived from the Latin word for "command," and refers to Jesus' commandment to the disciples to "Love one another as I have loved you." VIII Since, despite the stern demands of scientist and realist, we will always be supposing, let us suppose that Nature gave the world flowers and birdsong as a language, by which it might speak to discerning humans. And what must we say back? Not just thanks or praise, but acts of kindness bespeaking kinship with the creatures and with Nature, acts faithful as the woods that dwells in place time out of mind, self-denying as the parenthood of the birds, and like the flowers humble and beautiful. Berry, Wendell. This Day: Collected & New Sabbath Poems (p. 383). Counterpoint Press. Kindle Edition. Listen to today's featured music: This is My Song (Finlandia)
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Peace United Church of Christ St. Cloud, MN
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