Community Event: Soggy Po’ Boys (Mountain Top Music program) 7:30pm • Majestic Theater The Soggy Po’ Boys serve their jazz messy, mixing brass-fueled mayhem with spirituals, Meters-style old-school funk, and the Caribbean side of the New Orleans tradition.On the Main Stage of the Majestic Theatre. Admission to limited to those over 18 or accompanied by parent / guardian. Doors and Majestic Cafe concessions open at 6:30 pm, music at 7:30 pm. Info & ticket: https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php
MUSIC AROUND TOWN
Shannon Door:Mike & Becca • 7-10pm
Wildcat Tavern: Carolyn Ramsay Band • 6-9pm
Red Parka Pub: Wooden Nickles • 8-11pm
SUN, June 19 – FATHER’s DAY & JUNETEENTH OBSERVANCES
INTERFAITH GATHERING 8am • Pavilion behind Whitney Community Center (and zoom)
in-person & zoom
Gather for poetry, conversation and prayer
Zoom link and password required
WORSHIP with FATHER’S DAY OBSERVANCE 10:30am • JCC (in-person & zoom)
Zoom link and password required
Guest Pianist: Maisie Brown
Father’s Day Message with Stephen Weeder
Minister: Rev Gail Doktor
Reception to enjoy friends, members, and special out-of-town guests follows the service
Juneteenth by Fyutch & Alphabet Rockers (family music): https://youtu.be
Fury & Faith — Amanda Gorman
You will be told this is not a problem, Not your problem. You will be told now is not the time For change to begin, Told that we cannot win.
But the point of protest isn’t winning; It’s holding fast to the promise of freedom, Even when fast victory is not promised.
Meaning, we cannot stand up to police If we cannot cease policing our imagination, Convincing our communities that this won’t work, When the work hasn’t even begun, That this can wait, When we’ve already waited out a thousand suns. By now, we understand That white supremacy & the despair it demands Are as destructive as any disease.
So when you’re told that your rage is reactionary, Remind yourself that rage is our right. It teaches us it is time to fight. In the face of injustice, Not only is anger natural, but necessary, Because it helps carry us to our destination.
Our goal is never revenge, just restoration. Not dominace, just dignity. Not fear, just freedom. Just justice.
Whether we prevail is not detemined By all the challenges that are present, But by all the change that is possible.
& though we are unstoppable, If we ever feel we might fail, If we be fatigued & frail, When our fire can no longer be fueled by fury, We will always be fortified by this faith, Found in the anthem, the vow:
Black lives matter, No matter what. Black lives are worth living, Worth defending, Worth every struggle. We owe it to the fallen to fight, But we owe it to ourselves to never stay kneeling When the day calls us to stand.
Together, we envision a land that is liberated, not lawless. We create a future that is free, not flawless. Again & again, over & over, We will stride up every mountainside, Magnanimous & modest. We will be protected & served By a force that is honored & honest. This is more than protest It’s a promise.
Our Purpose in Celebrating Juneteenth in New Hampshire is based upon our desire for greater visibility, education, and alliance in a state and geographic region that is historically perceived as demographically white. This misperception is perpetuated through the mainstream and local media; socially, culturally, and politically governed institutions; and lack of cultural awareness manifested in expressions of implicit bias. On Wednesday, June 19, 2019, Governor Chris Sununu signed a bill proclaiming an annual observance Juneteenth as an officially recognized state holiday. This act ended many decades of oversight. Juneteenth Commemorates the End of Slavery and the Beginning of a Journey into Freedom – It recalls how the states of Louisiana and Texas heard that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Slavery continued in those two states for more than two years after the proclamation was signed due to active resistance. News of Emancipation had not been fully shared until June 19, 1865. Hence this is the origin of the Juneteenth holiday which is still celebrated in many communities of African American descent. Americans, this is our collective history and a narrative that deserves to be shared. Remember that in NH, slaves were not legally freed until the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, though many NH people fought on the side of the Union. NH was not a free state. The truth is that people of African heritage have always been part of New Hampshire history. The narrative of enslaved African people and their descendants is far too often untold and denied. We appreciate the ongoing efforts of our allies to preserve these stories. We embrace Juneteenth as an opportunity to request that EVERYONE participate and join us in celebration for the whole month of June.
This Father’s Day I want to recognize the kind, patient, sensitive, and caring men who serve as father figures and role models in our children’s lives. They are uncles, teachers, caregivers, cooks, drivers, security guards, and coaches. They are there every day in every way. They gently guide our children through their days, offering advice and wisdom – giving our children a model of what and how they can grow up to be … — Maggie Doyne, BlinkNow
It’s the most profound gift and the most daunting challenge. — Matt Bomer
Open your hands if you want to be held. — Rumi
It is not flesh and blood, but the heart which makes us fathers … — Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
I’d say, Buckle up!… It’s going to be a journey where half the time, you don’t know what you’re doing or what to expect, or how you’re going to bear the pressures, or as Blake put it, learn to endure the beams of love. I would say, it’s one day at a time … It’s Doctorow saying …[it] is like driving at night with the headlights on where you can only see a little ways in front of you, but you can make the whole journey that way. — Annie Lamott
If your image of God comes from a parent, what does that experience of love offer as your relationship with God? Stern and disciplinarian, intimate and affectionate, constant and close, faraway and not present, instructive and patient, quick and restless … how do you know God as met through your connection to your primary relationships: parents or caregivers in your earliest years?
Does calling God “the Father” help you to connect to Holy Love or is it a barrier? If so, why? What language would help connect you to Godself?
For whom have you been a role model or mentor, an influencer and changemaker?
Who has been a father figure or role model in your life?
The Longing and the Love (excerpt) — Brian Lundin We long for the perfect protection of a father, for strong arms that encircle us, hold us tight to a broad chest, a beating heart. Arms that toss us into the air, screaming with laughter and a little fear, even though we know those arms will always catch us.From the moment we gasp our first breath of air, we long for the perfect father. We long for a father who sacrifices, who lays down his time to play games, read our favorite book one more time, or take a long walk and listen. Who reaches into his pocket and pulls out a dollar for ice cream. Who reaches deeper to provide a good home, good food, and good gifts. We long for a father who always protects, always cheers, and always sacrifices.Some of us are blessed to find bits and pieces of these longings met in human form, Like sun through stained glass—a brilliant picture, illuminated by our Father who satisfies these longings.We thank God for fathers who protect, who encourage with strong words, and strong convictions, fathers willing to sacrifice, striving to love.But some of us are grieving. Grieving the loss of a good father, or the lack of one. Some never knew their father’s arms, and some bear scars, on skin and soul, dealt from a father’s swinging arms. At some point, all of us are left longing. Lacking.No human father can perfectly satisfy. Look up and know your Father in Heaven gave you these longings, and only He can … fulfill them …We celebrate our fathers on earth, and our Father in heaven. We give thanks for the longing, and give thanks for the love.
Father’s Day Prayer — Maren Tirabassi God, I’m praying for fathers – fathers, up at night with newborns, fathers, bent under college debt, fathers who are good with one age of child and haven’t a clue with another. I’m praying for fathers balancing self and home and work and parenting, especially when no one seems to notice. I’m praying for fathers of adolescents, and for those who are adolescents themselves, as well as many who prop up their elbows w hen their hands slip on the gift of accountability. I’m praying for grandfathers and transfathers. godfathers and grieving fathers, foster fathers and adopting fathers, solo fathers and step-fathers, fathers-in-law and fathers-in-neighbor, more grandfathers – tiptoeing around divorce, and also teachers, pastors, coaches, counselors who mix a tiny bit of what they know from fathering into relationships with dozens of children, and l earn the rhythm to step back. I’m praying for those living with their mistakes as fathers— small thoughtlessnesses that call for self-forgiveness, or deep damage needing repentance, transformation. I’m praying for those who want to be fathers, and those who have wanted, but it never happened. I’m praying for those who miss their fathers because of death or distance, deep difference or disappearance, and I’m praying those who miss their children because of death or distance, deep difference or disappearance. Be a parent to them, O God, on this day and all the days of the year. I am praying for those who have been so violated by men in relationship to them, that the very name “father” is a wound. Heal them with time and anger, memory, love and support. As we approach this civic day with its tangle of knotted emotions, draw out for each of us from your fathoms of tenderness, care, and strength, for our most intimate needs – named here, barely whispered to ourselves, or still hidden in the cave-rooms of our souls. Amen.
For a New Father (excerpt)— John O’Donohue As the shimmer of dawn transforms the night Into a blush of color futured with delight, The eyes of your … child awaken in you A brightness that surprises your life … … You feel the full force of a father’s desire To protect and shelter. … May your heart rest in the grace of the gift And you sense how you have been called Inside the dream of this new destiny. May you be gentle and loving, clear and sure. May you trust in the unseen providence That has chosen you all to be a family. May you stand sure on your ground And know that every grace you need Will unfold before you Like all the mornings of your life.
Extraordinariness of Daily Acts: Just Showing Up
My father didn’t tell me how to live. He lived and let me watch him do it. — Clarence Budington Kelland
Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, story-tellers … and singers of song. — Pam Brown
A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society. — Billy Graham
I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by the little scraps of wisdom. — Umberto Eco
When you’re young, you think your dad is Superman. Then you grow up, and you realize he’s just a regular guy who wears a cape. — Dave Attell
Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance. — Ruth Renkel
The biggest lesson for my kids is that they know they are the most important things I have. No matter what is going on in my life, your kids are forever. — Lin Manuel Miranda
I talk and talk and talk, and I haven’t taught people in 50 years what my father taught by example in one week. — Maria Cuomo Cole
I remember a very important lesson that my father gave me when I was twelve or thirteen. He said, ‘You know, today I welded a perfect seam and I signed my name to it.’ And I said, ‘But, Daddy, no one’s going to see it!’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but I know it’s there.’ — Toni Morrison
A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society. — Billy Graham
He adopted a role called being a father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a protector. — Tom Wolfe
On Loving Our Children
Baby, I paint the sky blue My greatest creation was you. — Jay-Z In my career, there’s many things I’ve won and many things I’ve achieved, but for me, my greatest achievement is my children and my family. — David Beckham
When my father didn’t have my hand, he had my back. — Linda Poindexter
Prayer — Maya Angelou
Father, Mother, God, Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days. For then we have you to lean upon. Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days, for then we can share that which we have with those who have less. And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days, for then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends. For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak. For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness. For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing. For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company. For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope. Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most—Peace.
All Kinds of Fathers: Honoring the Men in Our Lives
There are many different types of Dads. Father figures come in all shapes and sizes, and being a parent can sometimes lie with a less-traditional role-model. — MensLineAustralia
It is not flesh and blood, but the heart which makes us fathers and sons. — Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
But a role model in the flesh provides more than inspiration; his or her very existence is confirmation of possibilities one may have every reason to doubt, saying, yes, someone like me can do this. — Sonia Sotomayor
You can honor the day by acknowledging someone who made a difference in your life … — James Van Praagh
Role models set goals for you and try to make you as good as they are. Role models are important. — Kasey Zacharias
My role model didn’t tell me, he showed me. — Unattributed
By being a living role model of what you want to receive from others, you create more of what you want in your life. — Eric Allenbaugh
Be the flame of fate, that torch of truth to guide our young people toward a better future for themselves and for this country. — Michelle Obama
We tend to become like those we admire. — Thomas Monson
Children need role models rather than critics. — Joseph Joubert
A role model can teach you to love and respect yourself. — Tionne Watkins
To change bad habits we must study the habits of successful role models. — Jack Canfield
As a leader, it’s a major responsibility on your shoulders to practice the behavior you want others to follow. — Himanshu Bhatia
God / Holy Love as Parent & Creator
There is something gratuitous about creation, an unnecessary abundance of beauty, and through its blossoms and pleasures we can revel in the sheer largesse of the Father. ― Michael Reeves
[About Prodigal Son parable] … he’s a parent who loves both his children more than anyone can measure. And that’s when counting breaks down. When you love so much there is no scale adequate to calculate your devotion. The elder son, he counts … But the … father – doesn’t. Can’t. Love like this, you see, cannot be measured, tracked, or managed. … God’s immeasurable love. Period. — David Lose
Right from the moment of our birth, we are under the care and kindness of our parents, and then later on in our life when we are oppressed by sickness and become old, we are again dependent on the kindness of others. Since at the beginning and end of our lives we are so dependent on other’s kindness, how can it be in the middle that we would neglect kindness towards others? — Dalai Lama
The child asks of the Father whom he knows. Thus, the essence of Christian prayer is not general adoration, but definite, concrete petition. The right way to approach God is to stretch out our hands and ask of One who we know has the heart of a Father. ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer
God attaches no strings to His love. None. His love for us does not depend on our loveliness. It goes one way. As far as our sin may extend, the grace of our Father extends further. ― Tullian Tchividjian
Most of us were taught that God would love us if and when we change. In fact, God loves you so that you can change. What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change is the experience of love. It is that inherent experience of love that becomes the engine of change. ― Richard Rohr
I am always struck when I reread the parable of the merciful Father. … The Father, with patience, love, hope and mercy, had never for a second stopped thinking about [his wayward son], and as soon as he sees him still far off, he runs out to meet him and embraces him with tenderness, the tenderness of God, without a word of reproach. … God is always waiting for us, He never grows tired. Jesus shows us this merciful patience of God so that we can regain confidence and hope — always!— Pope Francis
Committing myself to the task of becoming fully human is saving my life now… to become fully human is something extra, a conscious choice that not everyone makes. Based on my limited wisdom and experience, there is more than one way to do this. If I were a Buddhist, I might do it by taking the bodhisattva vow, and if I were a Jew, I might do it by following Torah. Because I am a Christian, I do it by imitating Christ, although i will be the first to admit that I want to stop about a day short of following him all the way. In Luke’s gospel, there comes a point when he turns around and says to the large crowd of those trailing after him, “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple” (14:26). Make of that what you will, but I think it was his way of telling them to go home. He did not need people to go to Jerusalem to die with him. He needed people to go back where they came from and live the kinds of lives that he had risked his own life to show them: lives of resisting the powers of death, of standing up for the little and the least, of turning cheeks and washing feet, of praying for enemies and loving the unlovable. ― Barbara Brown Taylor
… So Jesus told them this parable of 2 sons. The first son took his inheritance and left town and squandered everything he’d been given. Like a child who if given the freedom to choose for themselves what they eat, they gleefully gorge themselves on Fruit Loops and Snickers for breakfast and Mountain Dew and Funions for lunch and a dinner of only double stuff Oreos and by the next night they are begging for broccoli. The younger son had been belligerently independent and self-focused – so sure that if he got everything he wanted that he would be happy but instead he was miserable. And so returning home with his head hung low he glances up and sees the Father running to him – before the younger son could even get his totally rehearsed speech out of his mouth the father throws his arms around him and covers him in love. What was lost is found, what was dead is alive says the Father. None of which are moral categories. These things call for not condemnation, but a party! And so the father hires a DJ and an amazing caterer and there is dancing and song and drink and joy. The younger son may have squandered his freedom in self-indulgent excess. But the older son was just as wasteful. The older son squandered his freedom by not thinking he had any. He didn’t believe that all that was the Father’s was his. He squandered the gifts of the Father by living a life of mirthless duty. And coming home from the field he hears the party underway and resents such a lavish show of love thinking it a limited resource. He was being a complete ass and yet again, the Father comes to him reminding him of the great love he has for his child. The father sacrifices his dignity twice by running into the street to embrace his children – not as a reward for the children being good but because that is simply the Father’s nature. We are children of a God who does things like that. So in response to the incredulous religious people of his day who were trying desperately to uphold their reward and punishment program Jesus told them a parable about a seemingly bad son and a seemingly good son and how not one thing about their behavior had any effect whatsoever on the heart of their father. All the love that the father had was theirs no matter what. Everything the father had was theirs. So the tragic thing about this story isn’t that one was selfish and one was resentful, the tragic thing is that neither of them trusted the love of the Father. And when that love is not trusted as being sufficient – we replace it with a punishment and reward system. …. If you have been told that God is some kind of punishing, capricious, angry bastard with a killer surveillance system who is basically always disappointed with you for being a human being then you have been lied to. The church has failed you and I am so sorry. So if you hear nothing else hear this: that angry punishing God is not the God I know. And it is not the God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. This Jesus who ate with sinners and tax collectors and pissed of the religious authorities (because he was so clearly free from their control) and who loved and healed and forgave people indiscriminately – well this Jesus was God’s way of telling us who God is. So when I reject my identity as beloved child of God and turn to my own plans of self-satisfaction, or I despair that I haven’t managed to be a good enough person, I again see our divine Parent running toward me uninterested in what I’ve done or not done, who covers me in divine love and I melt into something new like having again been moved from death to life and I reconcile aspects of myself and I reconcile to others around me. But I’m human, so inevitably some anxiety or resentment sets me off and I start the whole cycle over again. And that’s ok. Because we have endless opportunities to lift our heads and see how the Divine Parent is running toward us – calling us home. Reminding us of God’s love for us and freeing us to be agents of reconciliation…
Love is just like prayer; it is not so much an action that we do, but a dialogue that already flows through us. We don’t decide to “be loving”; rather, to love is to allow our deepest and truest nature to show itself. The “Father” doesn’t decide to love the “Son.” Fatherhood is the flow from Father to Son, one hundred percent. The Son does not choose now and then to release some love to the Father, or to the Spirit. Love is the full modus operandi between all three of them! (Remember these classic names are just placeholders. You can replace them with any form of endearment that works for you, but make sure something works!) … Love is not something you do; love is Someone you are. It is your True Self … Love is where you came from and love is where you’re going. It’s not something you can attain. … It is the living presence of God within you, often called the Holy Spirit, or what some theologians name uncreated grace. You can’t manufacture this by any right conduct. You can’t make God love you one ounce more than God already loves you right now. You cannot make God love you any less, either—not an ounce less. You could do the most terrible thing and God wouldn’t love you any less. (You would probably love yourself much less, however.) You cannot change the Divine mind about you! The flow is constant and total toward your life. God is for you! You can’t diminish God’s love for you. What you can do, however, is learn how to believe it, receive it, trust it, allow it, and celebrate it, accepting Trinity’s whirling invitation to join in the cosmic dance. Catherine LaCugna [writes] “The very nature of God, therefore, is to seek out the deepest possible communion and friendship with every last creature on this earth.” That’s God’s job description. That’s what it’s all about. The only things that can keep you out of this divine dance are fear, doubt, or self-hatred. What would happen in your life—right now—if you accepted being fully accepted?
It would be a very safe universe.
You would have nothing to be afraid of.
God is for you.
God is leaping toward you!
God is on your side, honestly more than you are on your own.
Video of today’s concluded worship will be posted later.
This week our worship was LIVE & IN-PERSON or you could watch the livestream through the video feed. We didn’t provide a ZOOM experience due to staffing shortage (COVID and travel).
Walk-ins are welcome, but space is limited; reservations are recommended to guarantee your seat. $10 per person cover charge. Wine, beer, & cocktails are available. Doors open at 6:30 pm, music starts at 7pm. Admission is limited to those 18 and older unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
Please note that online reservations are turned off at 6pm on night of show. Walk-ins are still welcome. We will do our best to accommodate you in available seats.
MUSIC AROUND TOWN
Shannon Door: Sheehan & Holden • 6-90pm
Wildcat Tavern: Al Shafner • 6-8:30pm
Red Parka Pub: Cat Wolf • 8-11pm
SAT, June 11
Community Resource: LIBRARIES
10am-2pm • Jackson Library Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
Community Event: JOSH & DARIN VARIETY HOUR (Mountain Top Music Event for Jen’s Friends) 7:30pm • Majestic Theater, Conway Village
More info & tickets: https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php Live and in person! Original sketches, parody songs and one-liners, plus tribute sketches, special guest interviews, and music from local performers – all in the beautifully renovated Majestic Theater! All proceeds from ticket sales go to Jen’s Friends Cancer Foundation. Produced by Josh and Darin; sponsored by Mountain Top Music and others. Admission to limited to those over 18 or accompanied by parent / guardian. Doors and Majestic Cafe concessions open at 6:30 pm, the show at 7:30 pm.
MUSIC AROUND TOWN
Shannon Door: Rafe Matregrano • 7-10pm
Wildcat Tavern: Jeremy Dean • 6-9pm
Red Parka Pub: Lazy River Riders • 8-11pm
SUN, June 12
INTERFAITH GATHERING 8am • Pavilion behind Whitney Community Center (and zoom)
in-person
NO ZOOM this week
Gather for poetry, conversation and prayer
Facilitated this week by Jeanette Heidmann & Sandy Aylor (Rev Gail is traveling)
WORSHIP: Trinity Sunday 10:30am • JCC (in-person & livestreaming – NO ZOOM this week)
This week our worship is LIVE & IN-PERSON or you can watch the livestream through the video feed above (refresh your screen if it doesn’t load after a few moments). We won’t be able to provide a ZOOM experience due to staffing shortage (COVID and travel)
Community Event: COLD RIVER RADIO SHOW w/ Jonathan Sarty 7pm • Majestic Theater, Conway Village
Headlining “True Grit and Rock and Roll Band,” The Silks from Providence, Rhode Island, Comedian Jim Collition, Award-winning Author Bruce Robert Coffin, and Local Spotlight Singer/Songwriter, and Future Berklee College of Music Student, Willow Carter. We also welcome very special guest Host Laura Knoy of NHPR’s The Exchange. In-Person TICKETS / Live Stream TICKETS
MUSIC AROUND TOWN
Shannon Door: Riley Parkhurst • 6-9pm
Red Parka Pub: Blue Sunday w/ Poke Chop & Other White Meat • 5-8pm