Sunday, May 10, 2020
The Fifth Sunday of Eastertide
and Mother's Day

Psalm of Praise
 
Psalm 63:1-8
 
You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;

I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.
 
I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
 
On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.

Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me
 

 
Psalm 131: Reflective Reading

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty
Nor do I involve myself in great matters
Or in things too difficult for me

2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.

3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
 
     (silence is kept)
 
__________
 
O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
 
     (silence is kept)
 
O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
 
     (silence is kept)

Nor do I involve myself in great matters,

     (silence is kept)

Or in things too difficult for me.
 
     (silence is kept)
 
__________

2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
 
     (silence is kept)
 
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
 
     (silence is kept)

Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
 
     (silence is kept)

My soul is like a weaned child within me.
 
     (silence is kept)
 
__________
 
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
 
     (silence is kept)
 
O Israel, hope in the Lord
 
     (silence is kept)

From this time forth and forever.
 
     (silence is kept)
 
__________
 
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
 
Amen.
 
 
The Lord’s Prayer
 
Our Father, who art in heaven,
   hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
   thy will be done,
   on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts
   as we forgive our debtors
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom,
   and the power,
   and the glory,
   forever.
Amen.
 

Song                            God Our Mother              
link to performance by The Brilliance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLkbgHscDoo
 
God our father, giver of daily bread
blessing our hands and covering our heads
God our mother, leading us into peace
drawing and comforting all those who need
 
Hallowed
Hallowed by thy name
Hallowed
Hallowed be thy name
Hallowed
Hallowed be thy name
In all the earth
 
Jesus brother, guiding our every step
Deliver us and grant places of rest
Jesus savior, grabbing us from the grave
Cheating the fall and breathing the light of day
 
Hallowed
Hallowed by thy name
Hallowed
Hallowed be thy name
Hallowed
Hallowed be thy name
In all the earth
In all the earthI
 
         (following verse not included in linked performance)
Spirit sister, presence of God with us
Grace us with gifts and with holiness
Spirit whisper, pray in our deepest pain
In tongues of fire, baptizing healing rain
 
Hallowed
Hallowed by thy name
Hallowed
Hallowed be thy name
Hallowed
Hallowed be thy name
In all the earth
In all the earthI
 
 
 
Meditation:            God Our Mother
 
What follows is Julia Ward Howe’s “First Mother’s Day Proclamation.” I’d prefer to offer it to you without comment, because my response to it is appreciative, reflective silence.
 
Even so, I suggest that you consider that this proclamation was made in 1870, five years after the end of the Civil War; consider what the Civil War and the five subsequent years required of women. They had to take on duties and responsibilities usually held by the men who went to war; still, they continued to carry all of their traditional responsibilities. It is no surprise that the tone of the proclamation shades toward, “We have had more than enough of this atrocious nonsense; we’re mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it any more!”
 
Let this “Mother’s Day Proclamation” shape, perhaps broaden, your definition of “maternal.” And as God is our Mother as much as she is our Father, let your sense of who God is be shaped, perhaps broadened, as well.
 
The First Mothers’ Day Proclamation
 
Julia Ward Howe
Boston, 1870
 
Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.

“Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says, “Disarm, disarm! The sword is not the balance of justice.” Blood does not wipe out dishonor nor violence indicate possession.

As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each learning after his own time, the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.
          
 
Offering
(All worship is an offering, a sacrifice of praise, regardless of whether or not we are under one roof and ‘passing the plate’ up and down the aisles.)
 
Romans 12:1
 
I urge you, brothers and sisters,
in view of God’s mercy,
to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to God--
this is your true and proper worship.
 
Gracious God,
we again thank you for your generosity,
for your faithfulness,
for providing for our needs.
Responding to what you have done for us,
to what you do for us each day and moment,
we again offer ourselves to you.
By your Spirit, teach us, empower us,
to offer ourselves to you as living sacrifices,
each day and moment.
We give you ourselves,
we reaffirm that all we have is from you.
Make us good and faithful stewards.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
 
 
Prayers of the People
 
Pray for mothers:
              who rejoice
              who mourn
              who fear
              who provide
              who serve
 
Pray for healing and hope
              for mothers and children estranged from one another
              for recovery from abuse
              for those who long to be mothers but cannot be
 
Pray for loved ones
              family and friends
 
Pray for our church
              during these difficult days
              for our leaders
              for our ministries and mission
              for energy and vision
              for financial needs
 
Pray for our world
              for our community
              for our leaders
              for our country
              for wise local and international management
of the coronavirus epidemic & its consequences
for food and shelter
for peace
              for justice
 
 
Benediction
 
May the grace, mercy, and love of God,
who is our Father and our Mother,
our Savior and our Friend,
our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,
be with you and abide with you,
now and forever. Amen.
 
May the peace of Christ be with you;
 
And also with you.
 
Share the peace of Christ with one another – with a phone call, a text, an email, a shout across the street or over the fence.