- Missions Meets on September 20th after Church.
- CROP Walk October 4th in Whately. Join us in walking, donating, and accepting donations!
- Look for a Harvest Supper to arrive in October…
- Morning Walks are now on Thursdays at 10am (instead of Friday).
- Holly Fair: November 28th.
Visit our Calendar of Events to explore our upcoming dates and times
All are Welcome. If you are uncomfortable with the word God, please feel welcome to insert your own word for the divine or Mystery in your life (Universe/Grace/Spirit/Divine).
These Reflections are written to be read aloud, please forgive any writing errors. You can find the recording HERE (usually late Sunday morning).
SUNDAY REFLECTION:
A social media friend posted this week that when a cluster of people pass around the same time, it means that they have chosen to leave rather than face a time of hardship to come.
I felt sadness. A sadness that we are always expecting the worst, and looking for what could go wrong, instead of what might go right and what we might do right. Seeking what’s bad, and who is wrong, instead of what is Good; instead of seeking the light bearers and being the light bearers of possibility.
I feel like each person that leaves goes with a blaze of light. Maybe it’s like glitter. It’s so sticky that it’s impossible to fully clean up. Just when you think you’ve got it all under control, it keeps sneaking up and sparkling from the darkest of corners.
And when a cluster goes…there’s a burst of light that cannot be ignored.
It’s like all this sparkling suddenly bursts brightly at the memory of Good lives. And all this glitter comes in different colors. There’s the hot pink or the soft green or the vibrant red. But really, they aren’t separate. The glitter gets all over, even if you were only trying to pick up the blue glitter.
Gloria Steinen is said to have loved the idea of lights lit on the mountains to guide the way to the other side. Maybe we’re reminded to light our lights and to shine the way.
When people pass through our lives, we reflect, admire, and Remember. It’s so easy to get lost. Especially in the dark. We need to light more lights, shine more flashlights on the glitter, and let it get all over us! As messy and chaotic as it seems.
Remembering reminds us that there is a legacy that never ends. Each first Sunday we practice this through the ritual of Communion. This Communion connects us to one another. Those who take communion with us, those who have taken communion with us, those who will take communion after us. It connects us all the way back…to the Last Supper. The first Table. To all people, in all times.
It is a Remembering.
Loss awakens Memory and Remembering.
And those around us are like Mirrors into our lives. Reflecting who we are, how we see the world, and who we choose to be in this world.
Are we seeking Good, joy, beauty, inspiration…?
Are we seeking the bad, the negative, the wrong, things to judge…?
Both take practice, intention, and work…
Death, loss, and lights help us to remember the legacy of those we admire and to pick up the work as our own work. Death and loss can remind us to look around us and seek those among us who have already picked up the work.
We can focus on what is never quick enough, done perfectly enough, what’s being done the all “wrong ways” or by the “wrong people”. We can focus on what could be better, instead of what is good enough or…what is in progress….
We are part of that progress.
None of these people who have passed were perfect. None of these people “fixed” anything certainly not alone. But they were part of the light and the progress.
And they practiced…creating ripples.
They spread their own type of glitter for us to be covered with, to collect, and sprinkle everywhere.
I think Dolly Parton is such a great example of how we can get distracted by what’s on the surface. Distracted by what is loud and obvious.
I’m pretty sure most of us, in our own way, have judged Dolly Parton. She had that big bleach blonde hair.. Accentuated her body with skin tight clothes, rhinestones, glitter, and loads of makeup! It was so easy to judge, and boy, did we do it!
Often in the name of being helpful. “She’s got so much potential.” “What a waste.” “What example is she setting?” “No one will take her seriously.”
Lives are “mirrors”. It was never about her. It was always about us, showing us how we respond to what is on the surface without putting in the effort to look deeper. Of making assumptions and quick assumptions, without listening to the whole story. How quickly we close doors on one another.
I love that she modeled herself on who she saw as the most beautiful woman in her home town. Dolly grew up incredibly poor…there wasn’t makeup to be had or new clothes to be worn. There was a woman in town with bleach blonde hair and skin tight clothes and Dolly wanted to look like her…
Little Dolly was told, “that woman is trash” and she thought: “That’s what I want to be when I grow up. Trash.” It’s so beautiful.
Young ones are so good at seeing something more in one another.
What is beautiful?
It’s something deeper than the surface of makeup and clothes and hair.
Dolly was pretty smart. She knew she’d be judged and she chose what she would be judged for. Then she could focus on what mattered most. Laughter, she used to say: “it costs a lot of money to look this cheap.” Her music…her gifts…learning…teaching…spreading joy…giving…
And, boy, did she give!
Her home town had an astronomical drop out rate. Her father couldn’t read. So, she went back home and did her best to make sure her community graduated from high school. She made sure every kid who needed a book got a book–and that bridged beyond her community and into the world! She called this the Imagination Library and it still exists today. Giving a free book every month to kids who need it.
She planted seeds of education, knowing that education is the keystone to life. When kids graduated from the Imagination Library, she sent them a note that said:
“Dream big dreams, learn everything you can learn, and care for all those who care for you. You do all of these things and you can be anyone you want to be.”
She worked, not just at her work, but she worked at Joy. At gratitude. At being faithful. At bringing joy and laughter and inspiration.
It doesn’t come naturally. To any of us. We have to work at what matters most.
Dolly shared a post earlier this year. I hadn’t known she was sick. She put on her makeup and hair and spread joy and hope. She said she’d been going through a challenging time, but the good news is that she’s got good doctors, good people around her, and she’s doing well.
Even through illness, she was focused on the positive. Gratitude and Joy, even when it’s the hardest.
And that’s what she spread. Seeds of kindness.
Speaking of real beauty: for all of the things that Dolly could have been remembered for, her singing, her songwriting, her awards, her acting…notice these past weeks…
She is remembered most for being kind.
We can all choose to be remembered for kindness.
It’s easy to say that all these amazing people we have just lost were gifted with greater, bigger, or better gifts than the rest of us.
But we can all choose a life of kindness. We can all choose to share our little work of Good. We may not be poets, essayists, novelists, leaders, innovators, activists, songwriters, but we can all be kind. We can all encourage. We can all dream. We can all plant seed because…
“…the seeds you plant in your community can grow across the world.” (Dolly Parton)
Community Church of North Orange & Tully 