Sunday, December 24, 2017

Poetry for the Eve of Christmas: Madeleine L'Engle




The Risk of Birth
This is no time for a child to be born,
With the earth betrayed by war & hate
And a comet slashing the sky to warn
That time runs out & the sun burns late.

That was no time for a child to be born,
In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;
Honour & truth were trampled by scorn-
Yet here did the Saviour make his home.

When is the time for love to be born?
The inn is full on the planet earth,
And by a comet the sky is torn-
Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.


Sunday, December 17, 2017

Poetry In Advent: Joy




A Sunday for Joy
A Sunday to remember Mary,
Theotokos,
God-bearer,
Mother of God in Christ.


"My soul magnifies the Lord, 
 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. 
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
 He has shown strength with his arm; 
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy
 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, 
to Abraham and to his descendants forever." 

-- Luke 1: 46b - 55



'Magnificat'
Words and music: John Michael Talbot
Played and sung by Steve Bell

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Poetry in Advent: Steve Bell

Reflecting on the person and work of St. Nicholas of Myra -- whose feast day was December 6, and the man whose legend evolved into the one we call "Santa Claus" -- singer-song-writer Steve Bell recorded this song:



KINDNESS*

Christ has no body here but ours
No hands, no feet here on earth but ours
Ours the eyes through which He looks
On the world with kindness.

Ours are the hands through which He works
Ours are the feet on which He moves
Ours the voices through which He speaks
To this world with kindness.

Through our touch, our smile,
our listening ear
Embodied in us, Jesus is living here.
Let us go now, inspirited
Into this world with kindness.

*Written by Brian McLaren, recorded by Steve Bell; lyrics adapted from the poem  "Christ Has No Body" by Teresa of Avila.


 

Saturday, December 2, 2017

Christmas Sing-along!



All Welcome!

Get your Jingle Bells on and join us
for an hour of Very Merry Songs and Carols!

Saturday, December 16, 2017
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Refreshments to follow!

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Poetry in Ordinary Time: For All the Saints


The Church Militant and the Church Triumphant
Fresco by Andrea de la Firenze,
in Santa Maria Novella, c. AD 1365

All Saints Day is the second day in the triduum of Allhallowtide. The first is All Hallow's Eve (Hallowe'en, October 31) and the third, All Souls (November 2).  While Hallowe'en (or Halloween) has become a cultural celebration -- at least in North America -- All Saints (or All Hallows) Day and All Souls are observed in various ways (or not at all) by Christians around the world. 

A little research (okay; Wikipedia) reveals that All Saints and All Souls observances are based in the belief that "...there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven (the "Church triumphant") and the living (the "Church militant") -- hence the illustration above, from a 14th century fresco.

Today's poem by Malcolm Guite remembers the quieter saints among us here in the "Church militant"...in our local parishes...and is taken from his book, Sounding the Seasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Christian Year (Canterbury Press, London, 2012).


A Last Beatitude

And blessed are the ones we overlook;
The faithful observers on the coffee rota,
The ones who hold no candle, bell or book
But keep the books and tally up the quota,
The gentle souls who come to 'do the flowers',
The quiet ones who organize the fete,
Church sitters who give up their weekday hours,
Doorkeepers who may open heaven's gate,
God knows the depths that often go unspoken
Amongst the shy, the quiet, and the kind,
Or the slow healing of a heart long broken,
Placing each flower so for a year's mind.
Invisible on earth, without a voice,
In heaven their angels glory and rejoice.



Sunday, October 29, 2017

The Cookies are Coming! The Cookies are Coming!


Yes, it's time to gear up for holiday baking...and for those who are short on time, inclination or skill...St. Cyprian's is once again offering its home-made goodies.

It's the Annual



When? Saturday, November 4, 2017
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Where?  St. Cyprian's Parish Hall
5005 C&E Trail, Lacombe, Alberta

Featuring
Our Annual
Cookie Sale Extraordinaire!

Box your own!
Get there early for the best selection!



Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Poetry in Ordinary Time: The Power of a Hymn

This past Sunday, it was my turn to prepare and lead the Prayers of the People.  To do this, I generally review the lectionary for the day, and also refer back to a template of prayers I keep on file, amending them accordingly.  This time wasn't any different.  As Monday was being marked as "World Food Day", I made sure to include a prayer that seemed suitable.

Then we sang the Gradual Hymn -- #442 in our Book of Common Praise (published, 1998): "Great God, Your Love has Called Us Here".  The words just 'got' to me as we sang, and I knew I had to use it to begin the Prayers.

After the service, a fellow parishioner complimented me. "I really like that poem you read at the start of the prayers," he said.  Thanking him, I also startled him by saying, "It was just the hymn.  The one we'd just sung."  He went away muttering that he'd have to pay more attention next time. 

And that got me thinking.  I'm a singer; I'm part of the music team in this parish -- as I have been part of music teams and choirs on and off since I was a young girl.  I am also a "word" person...someone who enjoys reading and writing -- and that includes poetry.  Although I've never been particularly good at Lectio Divina, there have been many times in the course of my life that words in a book, song or poem have 'jumped out' at me, and followed me around for hours, if not days.  Sunday was one of those times, and it seemed right to share those words -- hoping that someone else would 'hear' them too, so connected they seemed to be to the messages in the readings, and the homily.

Often, though, when it comes to hymns, we may be so focused on getting the tune, the timing and/or the lyrics "right" that we don't really pay attention to what those words mean: to whit, the startled response of my fellow-parishioner when I said "It was just the hymn."  And despite my sensitivity to and fondness for words, I'm just as guilty of this sort of oversight as anyone.

So perhaps, next time you're singing along with the radio, or with your church community...try to focus on the lyrics.  What you 'hear' might just surprise you with sorrow, inspiration, joy, and wonder.   And then you might find yourself asking, with the composer of yet another hymn, "How can I keep from singing?"

For those of you who missed it on Sunday, here's the 'poem' I read from the hymnal...

1 Great God, your love has called us here
as we, by love, for love were made.
Your living likeness still we bear,
though marred, dishonoured, disobeyed.
We come, with all our heart and mind
your call to hear, your love to find.
2 We come with self-inflicted pains
of broken trust and chosen wrong;
half-free, half-bound by inner chains;
by social forces swept along,
by powers and systems close confined;
yet seeking hope for humankind.
3 Great God, in Christ you call our name
and then receive us as your own
not through some merit, right, or claim,
but by your gracious love alone.
We strain to glimpse your mercy seat
and find you kneeling at our feet.
4 Then take the towel, and break the bread,
and humble us, and call us friends.
Suffer and serve till all are fed,
and show how grandly love intends
to work till all creation sings,
to fill all worlds, to crown all things.
5 Great God, in Christ you set us free
your life to live, your joy to share.
Give us your Spirit's liberty
to turn from guilt and dull despair
and offer all that faith can do
while love is making all things new.
Lyrics: Brian Wren (1936 -- )
Tune: "St. Petersburg" - Dmitri Bortniansky (1751-1825)

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Poetry in Ordinary Time: Thanksgiving

In 2010, British poet Malcolm Guite posted a poem he'd written "for all his North American friends" following a visit to Canada...and I share it with you now.


Thanksgiving*

Thanksgiving starts with thanks for mere survival,
Just to have made it through another year
With everyone still breathing. But we share
So much beyond the outer roads we travel;
Our interweavings on a deeper level,
The modes of life embodied souls can share,
The unguessed blessings of our being here,
The warp and weft that no one can unravel.
So I give thanks for our deep coinherence
Inwoven in the web of God’s own grace,
Pulling us through the grave and gate of death.
I thank him for the truth behind appearance,
I thank him for his light in every face,
I thank him for you all, with every breath.


*To listen to Mr. Guite read this aloud, click HERE.  Note that, as do many Brits, he refers to us a "American"...meaning North American.  Happy Thanksgiving!





The Annual Fall Dinner is Coming!



When?  Thursday, October 19, 2017
Time?  Serving starts at 5:30 p.m.
Menu?  Roast beef with all the trimmings!
A selection of home-made pies for dessert!
Tickets?  $15.00 per person
Contact Helen Wright for yours!


Tuesday, October 3, 2017

More than Ever...



Today marks the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi...to whom this prayer is attributed. In light of recent events, and a year that has seen much turmoil and unrest, may these words resonate...not only on our lips but in our lives.

Sunday, September 3, 2017

It's September...and That Means...


Sundae Sunday 
is 
Coming!



Sunday, September 10, 2017

Welcome back everyone from summer travels with a build-your-own-sundae party after the 10:00 a.m. service.  

Remember that adults planning to over-indulge 
must be accompanied by a child!  
😉



Thursday, August 17, 2017

Poetry in Ordinary Time: Ellen Bass

Another 'thank you' to Parker Palmer for sharing this poem...a soothing balm for those of us feeling that indeed, "...it is a hard time to be human"...from Ellen Bass.


The World Has Need of You

"everything here
 seems to need us" - Rainer Maria Rilke

I can hardly imagine it,
As I walk to the lighthouse, feeling the ancient
prayer of my arm swinging
in counterpoint to my feet.
Here I am, suspended
between the sidewalk and twilight,
the sky dimming so fast it seems alive.
What if you felt the invisible
tug between you and everything?
A boy on a bicycle rides by,
his white shirt open, flaring
behind him like wings.
It's a hard time to be human.  We know too much
and too little.  Does the breeze need us?
The cliffs?  The gulls?
If you've managed to do one good thing,
the ocean doesn't care.
But when Newton's apple fell toward the earth,
the earth, ever so slightly, fell
toward the apple.

 
- Ellen Bass from her book, Like a Beggar, Copper Canyon Press, 2014





You can listen to Garrison Keillor read this poem aloud on the June 25, 2016 edition of The Writer's Almanac.  (Please note that the poem comes at the end of the podcast.)



Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Did They See it Coming?

This morning I prepared the Order of Service for next Sunday, August 6.  That day we mark the Feast of the Transfiguration.  That got me thinking...


The Transfiguration
Raphael - ca. 1520

Over 2,000 years out, this story from Scripture may be very familiar to those of us with the habit of regular church attendance, who've sat through years of lectionary readings, hearing it repeated on a regular cycle -- perhaps even studied it in a Bible Study or theology class.

But have any of us ever stopped to think about the reality of what happened in that "mountain-top experience"?  I'm betting those disciples never saw that coming!


For reflection this week I offer up this sonnet by Rev. Malcom Guite from his book, Sounding the Seasons (Canterbury Press, 2012)...

Transfiguration
For that one moment, ‘in and out of time’
On that one mountain where all moments meet,
The daily veil that covers the sublime
In darkling glass fell dazzled at his feet.
There were no angels full of eyes and wings
Just living glory full of truth and grace.
The Love that dances at the heart of things
Shone out upon us from a human face
And to that light the light in us leaped up,
We felt it quicken somewhere deep within,
A sudden blaze of long-extinguished hope
Trembled and tingled through the tender skin.
Nor can this this blackened sky, this darkened scar
Eclipse that glimpse of how things really are.

If you wish, you can listen to Rev. Guite read this aloud HERE -- an invitation to light a candle, sit quietly, close your eyes and let the Spirit get under your 'tender skin'...

Monday, July 24, 2017

A Resource for the Spirit Within

We've been muddling along without a spiritual director for our church family for almost 4 months now.  Candidates have been reviewed and interviewed...but no selection has happened...yet.

Meanwhile, on Sundays we've received wonderful visitors who've tried to fill the gap...but on a daily basis, some of us might be really hungry and thirsty right now for steady spiritual and theological leadership.

It's okay.

Someone will arrive in God's time.

Meanwhile, if you feel that you need a source of inspiration, hope, encouragement, thoughtful reflection...

You might try the website, "The Work of the People".  With "saints" such as Walter Brueggemann, Parker Palmer, Brene Brown, Krista Tippett, Jean Vanier, and Barbara Brown Taylor...if you need a bit of audio or video for your 'quiet time', you might check this site out.

It's organized by categories that include 'liturgy', 'people', 'most recent' (as in 'featured') and 'favorites' (yes it's American-based so pardon the spelling ;-) !)

You can view/listen to a certain amount of it for free...but then there are subscription options for monthly 'streaming' (listen-as-you-go), downloading (for keeps) etc.

Take your pick.

Grab a cuppa; light a candle; breathe deeply; listen to what the Spirit is saying...

Ahhhh......








Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Salad Sunday!


Sunday, July 23, 2017
BAS Holy Eucharist - 10:00 a.m.
Followed by...
Salad Sunday lunch!

Welcome our visiting priest, Rev. Eyad Aiji and his family from Calgary to our parish this Sunday. It's a long drive from there to Lacombe and back, so let's show our hospitality with a salad lunch! Any sort will do! Don't forget protein: devilled eggs, tuna or salmon, cheeses...Have fun, get creative and come prepared to enjoy the lunch after the service!

Saturday, July 1, 2017

A Prayer for the Next 150





Almighty God,
you have given us this good land as our heritage.
May we prove ourselves a people mindful of your generosity
and glad to do your will.
Bless our land with honest industry, truthful education,
and an honourable way of life.
Save us from violence, discord, and confusion;
from pride and arrogance;
and from every evil course of action.
Make us who came from many nations with many different languages
a united people.
Defend our liberties and give those whom we have entrusted
with the authority of government 
the spirit of wisdom,
that there may be justice and peace in our land.
When times are prosperous, let our hearts be thankful;
and, in troubled times, do not let our trust in you fail.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN.*



A Song for Canada - Lianna Klassen


*Book of Alternative Services (1985), p. 678.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Music for Challenging Times...

From Guy Davis...shared by Bob Chelmick on The Road Home...


We All Need More Kindness in this World*



We all need more kindness in this world
we all need more kindness in this world
You may look high and low, but there's no
place else to go--we all need more kindness in this 
world

We all need more hugging in this world
we all need more hugging in this world
You may look high and low, but there's no
place else to go--we all need more hugging in this 
world

We all need more laughing in this world
we all need more laughing in this world
You may look high and low, but there's no
place else to go--we all need more laughing in this 
world

We all need more sunshine in this world
we all need more sunshine in this world
You may look high and low, but there's no
place else to go--we all need more sunshine in this 
world

We all need more peace-times in this world
we all need more peace-times in this world
You may look high and low, but there's no
place else to go--we all need more peace-times in this 
world

We all need more friendship in this world
we all need more friendship in this world
You may look high and low, but there's no
place else to go--we all need more friendship in this 
world

*Source: 
http://www.elyrics.net/read/g/guy-davis-lyrics/we-all-need-more-kindness-in-this-world-lyrics.html

Yard Sale!

Coming soon...to the side yard at St. Cyprian's...
Our Annual...




Saturday, June 3, 2017
9:00 a.m. - noon

Coffee and goodies also on sale...

FUN, FOOD, FELLOWSHIP:
That's how we roll!

Set-up: 8:00 a.m.

Bring your contributions to the church anytime between now and then.
Please price your items if possible.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Save the Date!



British author and speaker, Michael Harvey, will be speaking at St. Leonard's on the Hill, Red Deer, on Tuesday evening, May 9.

In addition to his book, Unlocking the Growth, Mr. Harvey has written Creating a Culture of Invitation in Your Church.  He will be speaking on "the locks and blocks [that parishes have] which stall the growth of the church.  He was also the originator of "Back to Church Sunday" (which we adapted as 'Sundae Sunday').

Interested?

4241 - 44th Street, Red Deer
Tuesday, May 9
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.



Friday, April 28, 2017

Poetry at Eastertide: Wendell Berry


This week...as perilous times continue and Spring struggles to take hold in Central Alberta... an offering from American poet, Wendell Berry:


The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief.  I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light.  For a gime
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

- Wendell Berry, from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry, Counterpoint Press, paperback, 1999.


To listen to the poet reading this work, visit On Being at THIS LINK.


Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; 
or about your body, what you will wear.
 Is not life more important than food, and the body more than clothes? 
 Look at the birds of the air; 
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, 
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. 
 Are you not much more valuable than they? 
 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

 -- Jesus, the Christ, Matthew 6: 25-27

Monday, April 10, 2017

A Reminder for Holy Week

'For such a time as this...'  (Esther 4: 14)




For a full list of Holy Week Services

please click HERE.

Friday, March 31, 2017

We Will Miss You Lee...

Rev. Dr. Lee and Rev. Gary (The Adorable) Sinclair
at Lee's ordination, the Cathedral, Calgary
May 30, 2010.
Retiring, March 31, 2017.

💕

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

- Traditional Gaelic Blessing



Monday, March 27, 2017

Holy Week Services 2017



Maundy Thursday Service
Thursday, April 13 - 7:00 p.m.
St. Leonard's on the Hill
4241 - 44 Street, Red Deer

Good Friday Service
Friday, April 14 - 3:00 p.m.
St. Cyprian's, Lacombe

Easter Vigil
Saturday, April 15 - 7:00 p.m.
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
40 Holmes Street, Red Deer




Easter Sunday Service
Sunday, April 16 - 10:00 a.m.
St. Cyprian's, Lacombe

Easter Egg Hunt to follow!



Saturday, March 25, 2017

A Poem for March 25


The Annunciation 
 El Greco (1590-1603)



Even if I don't see it again -- nor even feel it
I know it is -- and that if once it hailed me
it ever does --

And so it is myself I want to turn in that direction
not as towards a place, but it was a tilting
within myself.

as one turns a mirror to flash the light to where
it isn't -- I was blinded like that -- an swam
in what shone at me

only able to endure it by being no one and so
specifically myself I thought I'd die
from being loved like that.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Welcome to Lent 2017...

Upcoming at the church





Tonight - March 1 
 Imposition of Ashes, 7:00 p.m.






Each Sunday after the morning Service
Beginning Sunday, March 5...




Wine and the Word
Bible Study, with a twist...
Monday Evenings - 7:00 p.m.
in the Church Hall
Beginning Monday, March 6
for four weeks





Lenten Quiet Day
Saturday, March 18
10:00 a.m. - 3 p.m.
"Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Living"
facilitated by Rev. Dr. Lee Sinclair

All are welcome to all of these events! 




Monday, February 27, 2017

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Poetry in Ordinary Time: Naomi Shihab Nye

Walking toward Lent...during days of turmoil, uncertainty, unrest...and through them, instances of uncommon solidarity, compassion and humanity...this from Naomi Shihab Nye, with thanks once more to Parker J. Palmer for pointing me toward it...


Photo courtesy of
Reflections of Grace


 Shoulders

A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.

No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.

This man carries the world's most sensitive cargo
but he's not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.

His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy's dream
deep inside him.

We're not going to be able
to live in this world
if we're not willing to do what he's doing
with one another.

The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling. 

-- Naomi Shihab Nye

Monday, February 6, 2017

Save the Date!

So you can celebrate the Baptism of Miss Isla Elizabeth Douglass...

Sunday, February 19, 2017
(Please. LORD, let the weather be good!)
10:00 a.m.

Isn't She Lovely?





Friday, February 3, 2017

More Poetry in Ordinary Time



Wintering Aspen - Mirror, Alberta

Another week brings more wisdom from Parker Palmer, who shared poetic beauty from Mary Oliver...especially for those followers of this blog who may have missed the original post on Facebook.  (Note: it's been 'shared' to the St. Cyprian's FB page.)


The Poet Dreams of the Mountain

Sometimes I grow weary of the days with all their fits and starts.
I want to climb some old grey mountain, slowly, taking
the rest of my life to do it, resting often, sleeping
under the pines or, above them, on the unclothed rocks.
I want to see how many stars are still in the sky
that we have smothered for years now, forgiving it all,
and peaceful, knowing the last thing there is to know.
All that urgency!  Not what the earth is about!
How silent the trees, their poetry being of themselves only.
I want to take slow steps, and think appropriate thoughts.
In ten thousand years, maybe, a piece of the mountain will fall.



Saturday, January 14, 2017

Poetry for Ordinary Time - with Parker J. Palmer

This week, sharing here something written by author, speaker, thinker and teacher, Parker J. Palmer, and shared on his Facebook page:

Photograph taken near
Mirror, Alberta

The Winter Woods

The winter woods beside a solemn
river are twice seen --
once as they pierce the brittle air,
once as they dance in grace beneath the stream.

In air these trees stand rough and raw,
branch angular in stark design,
disconnect as in a dream,
shadowy but more alive
than what stands stiff and cold before our eyes.

Our eyes at peace are solemn streams
and twice the world itself is seen --
once as it is outside our heads,
once as it undulates and shines
beneath the silent waters of our minds.

When rivers churn or cloud with ice
the world is not seen twice -- 
yet still is there beneath
the blinded surface of the stream,
livelier and lovelier than we can comprehend
and waiting, always waiting, to be seen.


In his preamble to the poem, Mr. Palmer states, "It's so easy to look but not see."  In the same way, it is easy to listen but not truly hear.  This is why time spent in Generous Listening -- such as we practiced here last year, and as will be taught and practiced in an up-coming workshop in Calgary (January 20 and 21) -- is so very important.  Workshop registration closed Wednesday, but if you still want to go, contact ctubman@calgary.anglican.ca or call (587) 320-1343.  If you are meant to be there, God will make a way.  :-)



Friday, January 6, 2017

Generous Listening


From the January 3, 2017 edition of the DCNS Coordinator newsletter:

Generous Listening: A Same-sex Blessing/Same-sex Marriage Learning Event 
In the ongoing process of Generous Listening, the next event will be a Learning Event, with two scholars, Dr. Stephen Andrews and Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat representing differing views, presenting their positions covering scripture and hermeneutics in a non-adversarial, collegial dialogue.  The focus will be to listen, learn, and understand.  At the end of this weekend event, the speakers will provide reading materials that participants will be expected to engage with, in preparation for a following conversation later in the spring [See dates below]. 
Clergy and lay congregational representatives will be asked to attend, but any others who wish to come and listen are welcome.  Those attending are asked to commit to attending future meetings for the follow-up conversation.  Friday, January 20, 2017 - gathering at 6:30 pm, start at 7:00, ending at 9:00.  Saturday, January 21 - gathering at 8:30 am, start at 9:00, ending at 3:30.  Holy Cross Anglican Church, 2828 19th Street NW, Calgary.   
 All attending must register by January 12, at ctubman@calgary.anglican.ca or call (587) 320-1343.
Please note: the start times for Saturday's schedule have changed - the new times are as noted above.  
Future dates:

  • Follow-up conversation on March 11;
  • "Tradition and Reason" presentation on May 5 & 6;
  • Follow-up from May event on June 10;
  • "This Holy Estate" presentation on September 22 & 23.