Special Family Service today
Genesis 1 (from Desmond Tutu Childrens Storybook Bible); Matthew 6:25-34
We listened to the beautiful and beloved Creation story, as told to us in Desmond Tutu’s Children’s storybook bible. We listened to the beautiful and beloved scripture from Matthew, that is often read on Thanksgiving Day, and is often a go to – when one needs to be reminded to not let worry consume you…and to take one day at a time…
To take one day at a time…to stop, pause, notice…and remember…that it is God who gives us life…and in the gifts given in creation…we can’t help but be reminded of this Good News for all of Gods people…
God loves to delight us and surprise us, and give us reasons to be joyful!
And God sends us signs and reminders of this every day. Especially, when we can stop worrying for a moment…stop, pause, and take a look at the beautiful world that is right outside our doorstep.
A good friend I knew, back in Nevada, had a wonderful gift for reminding us to do just that. In a conversation that I had with a mutual friend, the day after her death, I was reminded of this special gift of hers. She shared a story about when she was leaving the facility where our friend spent her final days. She noticed the flowers and the shrubs, and how beautiful they were, and she remembered that our friend loved to share her love and knowledge about flowers, and shrubs, and birds…and knew them all by name….
….and that she would always pause and make sure to point them out, wherever they were, and call their attention to them…perhaps reminding them and all of us…to stop worrying for a moment…look at what God has created and how he cares for them…the birds of the air…the lilies of the field…the grass of the field…look at this beauty in the world that He has created for us to enjoy…look at the beauty of His created world…that has been entrusted to our care…look, pay attention to their cycles of life and death, and resurrection….
Day after day, year after year…they have so much to teach us about the love of God, for all of creation…the birds, the trees, the oceans, the rivers, the stars, the animals (the elephant and giraffes, cats and mice, and bees and bugs)…and yes…we…his beloved children…who He has created all of this for….
We just need to pause, notice, and remember this…
We need not worry…
For it is God who gives us life… and in the gifts given in creation…and in Jesus, we can’t help but be reminded that it is abundant life, we have been given…
On the Seventh Day, God laughed and rested, and enjoyed his glorious creation. (from Desmond Tutu Childrens Storybook Bible)
May we pause today, rest in God, laugh with God and rejoice with God, by honoring God with our care of creation and celebrating with God, this glorious creation that reminds us of the abundant gift of life given to us, in Christ Jesus.
Let us pray: All things bright and beautiful – H405
All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all. Amen
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska