3 September 2024 – Chapel – Drew Theo Chapel

Gathering Music

“Come and Find the Quiet Center” – Shirley Erena Murray

Come and find the quiet center
in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter,
find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter,
clear our ears, that we can hear
all the things that really matter,
be at peace, and simply be.

Silence is a friend who claims us,
cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us,
knows our being, touches base,
making space within our thinking,
lifting shades to show the sun,
raising courage when we’re shrinking,
finding scope for faith begun.

In the Spirit let us travel,
open to each other’s pain,
let our loves and fears unravel,
celebrate the space we gain:
there’s a place for deepest dreaming,
there’s a time for heart to care,
in the Spirit’s lively scheming
There is always room to spare!

Centering Meditation

Chantel Makarawa

From Kwasi Kena, “Africana Liturgical Resources,” ed. Safiyah Fosua.

Quick…to listen.

It’s not normal…to hurry…to shut up.
Shhh…I have to remind myself to listen:
So I won’t speak too soon
So, I won’t say what I’ll later regret.

Now…slow yourself
Slow down anger
Slow down careless thought
Slow down…
long enough…
to hear God whisper
the right things to do and say.

Quick…listen.

Pause and hear.

(Silence)

Opening Song

“Open my eyes that I may see”

Prayers of the People

Cody Beckett

(adapted from the UM BOW)

Let us pray for the Church, for our community, and for the world.

Grant, God of love, that all may be united in your truth,
live together in your love,
and reflect your glory in the world.
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Guide the people of this land, and of all the nations,
in the ways of justice and peace;
that we may honor one another
and serve the common good.
(Congregation offers specific petitions)
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation,
that we may use its resources rightly
in the service of others
and to your honor and glory.
(Congregation offers specific petitions)
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours,
and grant that we may serve Christ in them,
and love one another as Christ loves us.
(Congregation offers specific petitions)
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit;
give them courage and hope in their troubles,
and bring them the joy of your salvation.
(Congregation offers specific petitions)
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We commend to your mercy all who have died,
that your will for them may be fulfilled;
and we pray that we may share with all your saints
in your eternal kin-dom.
(Congregation offers specific petitions)
God, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Hear these, our prayers, O God. In Christ’s name we pray.
Amen.

Scripture Reading

Darlean Cohen

James 1:19
19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger;

Proverbs 26:4-5
4 Do not answer fools according to their folly,
or you will be a fool yourself.
5 Answer fools according to their folly,
or they will be wise in their own eyes.

Leader: The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.