8 Pentecost/Year C
July 31, 2022
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23; Psalm 49:1-11; Luke 12:13-21
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks/months here at St Peter’s and in Sitka…The frenzy of the world coming alive here in Sitka began in the spring season, as it usually does… but this year…it’s been even more evident…after a quieter couple of years because of the COVID pandemic…
This year’s spring has paved a way for an extremely busy summer season here in Sitka, and everywhere…visitors are arriving by the thousands; summer camps, music festivals, and other programs are up and running and welcoming full audiences…People are out on the water, and out on the trails…taking advantage of all the gifts the summer season has to offer us…
And this summer, not only for us here at St Peter’s, families and friends are coming together again to celebrate the lives of their loved ones who have died in the past couple of years, but were unable to hold services near the time of their transition from this world to the next…
We’ve had several services here since May…and as you may have heard me mention before…I love getting together to celebrate the lives of those we have loved and lost…
A few of the reasons: For one…it reminds us to stop, and be present to the people around us…another reason…we learn so many valuable lessons about love, life and work; and what’s most important to remember about this precious life we are given…through the wonderful stories shared about their loved ones at the services…
Their stories often remind us, that all the toil and work under the sun, and the storing up of treasures for themselves and in this world…is not what has made their lives meaningful and purposeful…It’s not about building bigger barns to store up all their worldly goods…
Their stories often remind us that it was their time with God in the quiet moments of stillness and prayer, their faith and hope centered on the One, we know as Jesus, who guided them throughout their lives, in a way of love that helped them to see that it was their faith and trust in a loving God, and the relationships they built and treasured with family and friends and those in their communities…is what mattered most of all…
Their lives have been a witness to us, to enjoy and treasure the gift of Sabbath time…to regularly set aside time in silence with God… to help us connect and focus on what matters most in this precious life we are given…loving God, and one another…
I invite you now to pause with me for a few moments of quiet reflection as I share a story with you…about silence…
Read: Silence, by Jerome W Berryman, illustrated by Lois Kilberg
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK
Hymn after the story: Still, still with thee - Harriet Beecher Stowe (1812-1896)
Still, still with thee, when purple morning breaketh,
when the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
fairer than morning, lovelier than the daylight,
dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with thee.
Alone with thee, amid the mystic shadows,
the solemn hush of nature newly born;
alone with thee in breathless adoration,
in the calm dew and freshness of the morn.
When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,
its closing eye looks up to thee in prayer;
sweet the repose beneath thy wings over shading,
but sweeter still to wake and find thee there.
So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,
when the soul waketh, and life’s shadows flee;
O in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning,
shall rise the glorious thought, I am with thee.