May INSIDE OUT Newsletter
Friends of the Jackson Community Church,
Please check out the May newsletter as there is a lot of great information and events coming up. The Mission Teams annual plant sale is coming up on May 20th and they are accepting donations of plants and seedlings. Plants (please clearly mark what the plants are) can be left under the stairwell at the church. There are also pots available if needed. This is the Mission Teams biggest fundraiser with ALL proceeds this year going to support displaced persons needing shelter and assistance in the Mt Washington Valley and international settings.
I will be out of the office until Wednesday May 10th – The emails will be monitored during this time but responses most likely will not happen until May 11th. If you have an immediate concern or question feel free to use my personal email: joannemturner@hotmail.com which will be checked daily.
Joanne Turner, Administrative Assistant
Jackson Community Church
Reflections on renewed life breathed into our being as Holy Spirit (from last Sunday’s post-resurrection text)
Themes of Spirit as breath, wind, air: source of renewed, reconnected, restored life
Breath means new life — and new life means new growth, change, and ongoing development. The Spirit protects and connects, but also challenges, provoking and pushing us along. — SALT Project
You are called to be truly human, but it is nothing short of the life of God within you that enables you to be so, to be remade in God’s image. ― N.T. Wright
SONGS:
- Holy Spirit by Battistelli (Christian music)
- May the Longtime Sun performed by Sara Thomsen (yoga/meditation music)
- Come Holy Spirit by Bright City (Christian music)
- Breathe by Taylor Swift (pop)
- Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant (Christian music)
- Just Breathe by Pearl Jam (country)
- Every Breath You Take by the Police (rock)
- Take My Breath Away by Berlin (rock)
- Catching my Breath by Kelly Clarkson (country
Blessing of Breathing
— Jan Richardson (link to her full body of work at Painted Prayerbook: https://paintedprayerbook.com/)
That the first breath
will come without fear.
That the second breath
will come without pain.
The third breath:
that it will come without despair.
And the fourth,
without anxiety.
That the fifth breath
will come with no bitterness.
That the sixth breath
will come for joy.
Breath seven:
that it will come for love.
May the eighth breath
come for freedom.
And the ninth,
for delight.
When the tenth breath comes,
may it be for us
to breathe together,
and the next,
and the next,
until our breathing
is as one,
until our breathing
is no more.
Where Breathing Is Prayer — Wendell Berry
Sit and be still
until in the time
of no rain you hear
beneath the dry wind’s
commotion in the trees
the sound of flowing
water among the rocks,
a stream unheard before,
and you are where
breathing is prayer.
Feather on the breath of God
— Sarah Rossiter
“The feather flew, not because of anything
in itself but because the air bore it along.”
—Hildegard of Bingen
It could have landed anywhere,
swamp or forest; instead, floating
on the quiet air, the tiny feather
down drifted, weightless, from
the open sky, into my cupped and
waiting hands. Cream-colored,
fragile, soft as milkweed,
a wordless message from beyond,
reminding me, how like the feather,
we’re carried on the breath of God.
BLESSING — John O’Donohue
In the name of the air,
The breeze
And the wind,
May our souls
Stay in rhythm
With eternal Breath.
POEM by Rumi
The minute I heard
my first love story,
I started looking for you,
not knowing
how blind that was.
Lovers don’t finally
meet somewhere.
They’re in each other
all along.
POEM by Rumi
You’re water.
We’re the millstone.
You’re wind.
We’re dust blown up into shapes.
You’re spirit.
We’re the opening and closing
of our hands.
You’re the clarity.
We’re the language that tries to say it.
You’re joy.
We’re all the different kinds of laughing.
Note: In Rumi’s poetry, Love and references to lovers or forms of drunkenness or passion or intoxification of any kind are all references to the spiritual journey of seeking connection and oneness with Allah, even for a moment. This is reflective of the Sufi movement.
RECEIVE the SPIRIT
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive. — Howard Thurman
… view the work of the Holy Spirit differently. The Spirit doesn’t solve our problems, but invites us to see possibilities we would not have seen otherwise. Rather than remove our fear, the Spirit grants us courage to move forward. Rather than promise safety, the Spirit promises God’s presence. Rather than remove us from a turbulent world, or even settle the turbulence, the Spirit enables us to keep our footing amid the tremors. — David Lose
Those in whom the Spirit comes to live are God’s new Temple. They are, individually and corporately, places where heaven and earth meet. — N.T. Wright
Dreams grow holy put in action. — Adelaide Anne Procter
It has seemed to me sometimes as though the Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of Creation and it turns to radiance – for a moment or a year or the span of a life. And then it sinks back into itself again, and to look at it no one would know it had anything to do with fire, or light. … But the Lord is more constant and far more extravagant than it seems to imply. Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like transfiguration. You don’t have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see. Only, who could have the courage to see it?” — Marilynne Robinson
Have You Ever Tried to Enter the Long Black Branches?
— Mary Oliver
Have you ever tried to enter
the long black branches of other lives —
tried to imagine what the crisp fringes, full of honey, hanging from the branches of the young locust trees, in early morning, feel like?
Do you think this world was only
an entertainment for you?
Never to enter the sea and notice how the water divides with perfect courtesy, to let you in!
Never to lie down on the grass, as though you were the grass!
Never to leap to the air as you open your wings over
the dark acorn of your heart!
No wonder we hear, in your mournful voice, the complaint that something is missing from your life!
Who can open the door who does not reach for the latch?
Who can travel the miles who does not put one foot in front of the other, all attentive to what presents itself continually?
Who will behold the inner chamber who has not observed with admiration, even with rapture,
the outer stone?
Well, there is time left —
fields everywhere invite you into them.
And who will care, who will chide you if you wander away from wherever you are, to look for your soul?
Quickly, then, get up, put on your coat,
leave your desk!
To put one’s foot into the door of the grass, which is
the mystery, which is death as well as life, and
not be afraid!
To set one’s foot in the door of death, and be overcome with amazement!
To sit down in front of the weeds,
and imagine god the ten-fingered,
sailing out of his house of straw,
nodding this way and that way,
to the flowers of the present hour,
to the song falling out of
the mockingbird’s pink mouth,
to the tippets of the honeysuckle,
that have opened in the night
To sit down, like a weed among weeds,
and rustle in the wind!
Listen, are you breathing just a little,
and calling it a life?
While the soul, after all, is only a window,
and the opening of the window no more difficult
than the wakening from a little sleep.
Only last week I went out among the thorns and said to the wild roses: deny me not,
but suffer my devotion.
Then, all afternoon, I sat among them. Maybe
I even heard a curl or tow of music, damp and rouge red, hurrying from their stubby buds, from their delicate watery bodies.
For how long will you continue to listen to those dark shouters, caution and prudence?
Fall in! Fall in!
A woman standing in the weeds.
A small boat flounders in the deep waves, and what’s coming next is coming with its own heave and grace. Meanwhile, once in a while, I have chanced, among the quick things, upon the immutable.
What more could one ask?
And I would touch the faces of the daisies,
and I would bow down to think about it.
That was then, which hasn’t ended yet.
Now the sun begins to swing down. Under the peach-light,
I cross the fields and the dunes, I follow the ocean’s edge.
I climb, I backtrack.
I float.
I ramble my way home.
C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONS
Fri, April 23 @ 5pm
C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONS
- Zoom link and password required.
RESOURCES to LEARN MORE:
- Via zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83028442916
- Video about the Holy Spirit from Bible Project: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/holy-spirit/
- Podcast conversations about the Holy Spirit by Jon & Tim as they prepare to write the video about the Holy Spirit: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/series/holy-spirit-series/
FOCAL TEXTS:
John 20:19-23
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Judeans, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’
After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.21 Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’
Hebrews 1: 1-3
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. 3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.
SOME BACKGROUND TEXTS about BREATH of GOD
BREATH of GOD
Genesis 1: 1-2
1 When God began to create the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Genesis 2: 4, 7
In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 7 then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground[c] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Ezekiel 37:1-10 The Valley of Dry Bones
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath[a] to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath[b] in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath:[c] Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath,[d] and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Job 12:9-11
9 Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of every human being.
Job 32:7-97
I said, ‘Let days speak
and many years teach wisdom.’
8 But truly it is the spirit in a mortal,
the breath of the Almighty[a] that makes for understanding.
Ecclesiastes 11:5
Just as you do not know how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.
Psalm 33: 6-9
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made
and all their host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle;
he put the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him,
9 for he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
Isaiah 40:28
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
Isaiah 42:5
Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:
THURS, April 20 – SUN, April 23
THURS, April 20
- Community Resource: LIBRARIES
- 10am-7pm • Jackson Library
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org - 2-5pm • Bartlett Library
More info: https://www.bartlettpubliclibrary.org/
- 10am-7pm • Jackson Library
- Community Service: WAY STATION SHIFT
All Day • Way Station, 15 Grove St, No Conway- Volunteers open day resource center for showers, mail pickup, grocery distribution, more.
- Community Event: MOANA Jr. by Arts in Motion
7pm • Majestic Theater- Produced by Arts in Motion Theater Company, this is a 60-minute musical adaptation of the 2016 Disney animated film, bringing the adventures of Moana and her village of Motunui to life onstage.
- Moana JR. features all the beloved songs from the film, written by Tony®, GRAMMY, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina, including “How Far I’ll Go,” “Shiny,” and “You’re Welcome.”
- Tickets from Arts in Motion: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=aim
- Community Event: LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
7:30pm • M&D Playhouse, North Conway- Directed by Stacy Sand
- Tickets: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=145460
- From the novel by Choderlos de Laclos
- This tale of seduction among aristocrats is set in France before the revolution. Two rivals, Vicomte de Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil, are frenemies who manipulate and connive with the affections and sexual vulnerabilities of others in order to gain power and seek revenge. Their strong attraction to each other only adds to the tension.
- Contains adult themes and situations.
- Community Events: MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT AROUND TOWN
- Red Parka Pub: Bingo for Bartlett Firefighters Association – 5:30-7pm
- Shannon Door: Jeremy Dean • 6-9pm
FRI, April 21
- Community Event: ZUMBA with Dotti Aiello
8:15am • Whitney Community Center- For more info, contact Dott: dottiaiello@gmail.com
- Just a reminder that class is $5 per person with no sign in. Please bring the correct amount.
- Also, bring your water, a small towel and a smile and leave your inhibitions at home!
- FITNESS CLASS with Laurie McAleer (no class this Friday, resumes next week)
9:30am • Jackson Community Church- Free to all participants.
- Gentle, chair-based stretch and fitness for all levels of ability
- Community Event: LINE DANCING with Dotti Aiello
9:30am • Whitney Community Center- For more info, contact Dott: dottiaiello@gmail.com
- Just a reminder that class is $5 per person with no sign in. Please bring the correct amount.
- Also, bring your water, a small towel and a smile and leave your inhibitions at home!
- Community Resource: LIBRARIES
- 2pm-5pm • Jackson Library
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
- 2pm-5pm • Jackson Library
- MISSIONS MEETING
3pm • Jackson Community Church- Meet to discuss missions team projects including upcoming plant sale, participation in fundraising walks for cancer and Alzheimers, and more
- C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATION
5pm • Zoom link and password required- Bring your preferred beverage and join us for a conversation about the scripture to be used during Sunday’s worship
- Community Event: MOANA Jr. by Arts in Motion
7pm • Majestic Theater- Produced by Arts in Motion Theater Company, this is a 60-minute musical adaptation of the 2016 Disney animated film, bringing the adventures of Moana and her village of Motunui to life onstage.
- Moana JR. features all the beloved songs from the film, written by Tony®, GRAMMY, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina, including “How Far I’ll Go,” “Shiny,” and “You’re Welcome.”
- Tickets from Arts in Motion: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=aim
- Community Event: LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
7:30pm • M&D Playhouse, North Conway- Directed by Stacy Sand
- Tickets: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=145460
- From the novel by Choderlos de Laclos
- This tale of seduction among aristocrats is set in France before the revolution. Two rivals, Vicomte de Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil, are frenemies who manipulate and connive with the affections and sexual vulnerabilities of others in order to gain power and seek revenge. Their strong attraction to each other only adds to the tension.
- Contains adult themes and situations.
- Community Event: FRIDAY NIGHT JAZZ: Jim McLaughlin (piano), Al Hospers (bass), Tim Gilmore (drums)
7pm • Majestic Theater Cafe, Conway Village- Info & tickets: https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php
- $10/pp
- Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
- Wildcat Tavern: Al Shafner • 6-8:30pm – $5 cover
- Shannon Door: Scott Baer • 6-9pm
- Red Parka: Rek’lis • 8-11pm
SAT, April 22
- MEN’s BREAKFAST
7:30am • Parish Hall, Jackson Community Church- Co-hosted by Barry Chisholm and Chris Doktor
- Chris Doktor will provide breakfast for everyone
- RVSPs welcome; walk-ins encouraged: we want everyone interested to come!
- Brainstorming session by attendess about next steps to kickstart men’s fellowship at JCC
- Community Resource: LIBRARIES
- 10am-2pm • Jackson Library
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org - 11am-3pm • Bartlett Library
More info: https://www.bartlettpubliclibrary.org/
- 10am-2pm • Jackson Library
- Community Event: MOANA Jr. by Arts in Motion
2pm & 7pm • Majestic Theater- Produced by Arts in Motion Theater Company, this is a 60-minute musical adaptation of the 2016 Disney animated film, bringing the adventures of Moana and her village of Motunui to life onstage.
- Moana JR. features all the beloved songs from the film, written by Tony®, GRAMMY, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina, including “How Far I’ll Go,” “Shiny,” and “You’re Welcome.”
- Tickets from Arts in Motion: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=aim
- Community Event: HELIAND CONSORT’s VIGNETTES
7:30pm • Private Home in Silver Lake, NH- The Heliand Consort presents Vignettes, an evocative program of miniatures and songs
- Pianist Cynthia Huard, oboist Katie Oprea, and bassoonist Rachael Elliott return to Mountain Top Music to perform pieces by Haydn, Beethoven, Clemence de Granval, William Grant Still, Chick Corea and others.
- At a spectacular private home in Silver Lake. Directions provided with ticket purchase. Tickets $40.
- More info: https://www.conwaymajestic.com/
- Community Event: DUCKS & DONUTS
8:30-11:30am • Meeting point available upon registration- The streams and ponds are opening up and ducks are returning. We’ll explore the old course of the Saco River and other open water in search of wood ducks, hooded mergansers, common golden eyes, and other early migrants. Bring binoculars and we’ll bring the donuts!
- Space is limited; reservations required. Click HERE to register online or call 603-447-6991
- Cost: $5/member, $15/non-member or $25/household
- Community Event: LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
7:30pm • M&D Playhouse, North Conway- Directed by Stacy Sand
- Tickets: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=145460
- From the novel by Choderlos de Laclos
- This tale of seduction among aristocrats is set in France before the revolution. Two rivals, Vicomte de Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil, are frenemies who manipulate and connive with the affections and sexual vulnerabilities of others in order to gain power and seek revenge. Their strong attraction to each other only adds to the tension.
- Contains adult themes and situations.
- MUSIC AROUND TOWN
- Red Parka Pub: Lazy River Riders • 8-11pm
- Shannon Door: Scott Baer • 7-10pm
- Wildcat Tavern: Jonathan Sarty • 6-8:30pm – $5 cover
SUN, April 23
- INTERFAITH SERVICE
8am • Old Red Library & Zoom, Jackson, NH- Join us for poetry, prayer, and conversation. Bring your own hot beverage!
- Zoom link and password required
- WORSHIP @ JCC
10:30am • Jackson Community Church & Zoom- Zoom link and password required
- Music by Sharon Novak
- Message by Rev Gail Doktor
- ANNUAL MTG of NORTH COUNTRY ASSOCIATION of NH UCC Conference
2:30pm • Lancaster Congregational Church, 142 Main Street, Lancaster, NH- Business meeting for the North Country Association, to which Jackson Community Church belongs, as part of the NH Conference of the UCC
- Rev Gail attends and participates
- Other members of JCC interested in participating as voting delegates are welcome and encouraged to attend
- INSTALLATION of REV PAM SPAIN
3:35pm • Lancaster Congregational Church, 142 Main Street, Lancaster, NH- Worship service to officially install Rev Pam Spain at Lancaster Congregational Church
- Rev Gail attends and participates
- Community Event: LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
3:30pm • M&D Playhouse, North Conway- Directed by Stacy Sand
- Tickets: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=145460
- From the novel by Choderlos de Laclos
- This tale of seduction among aristocrats is set in France before the revolution. Two rivals, Vicomte de Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil, are frenemies who manipulate and connive with the affections and sexual vulnerabilities of others in order to gain power and seek revenge. Their strong attraction to each other only adds to the tension.
- Contains adult themes and situations.
- Community Event: SELECTED MAPS of the White Mounbtains: 1852-1903
4pm • Jackson Historical Society- Join presenter Peter Benson
- Following Peter’s first presentation on Early Maps of New Hampshire, Peter will now lead a presentation on White Mountain Maps from 1852 – 1903. This transformative period in American and World history brought many advances in communication and transportation, while at the same time creating a longing for the bucolic scenes of rural America. The White Mountain region, known as “The Switzerland of North America”, was at the forefront of welcoming visitors to the area, and numerous maps of many styles were created to satisfy the needs of a burgeoning tourist economy. We will look at sixteen maps of various styles and accuracy, from the Golden era of the Grand hotels and railroads.
- For more information on becoming a member of the Historical Society, visiting the JHS, future programs or becoming a volunteer docent, contact the Historical Society at (603) 383-4060.
- MUSIC AROUND TOWN
- Shannon Door: Scott Baer • 6-9pm
- Red Parka Pub: Greg Walsh • 5-8pm
Sunday, April 16
- INTERFAITH SERVICE
8am • Old Red Library (we may move outside) & Zoom, Jackson, NH- Join us for poetry, prayer, and conversation. Bring your own hot beverage!
- Zoom link: and password required
- WORSHIP @ JCC
10:30am • Jackson Community Church & Zoom- Zoom link: and password required
- Music by Sharon Novak
- Message by Rev Gail Doktor
- Community Event: SPRING PIANO CONCERT by Ellen Schwindt
5pm • Fryeburg New Church- From Ellen: “Now that there is a piano worth playing in Fryeburg (the village I visit to fulfill many of my other needs), it’s even easier to realize this vision.
- The theme of Sunday’s concert is “To Spring.” The title is eponymous with a piece Grieg included in Opus 43 that I will perform in the concert. Its music is full of promise, but is not without reference to the dark days when the snow returns. Charlotte Gill will be sharing two movements from one of the Bach French Suites. She and I will play together on a set of pieces I wrote 7 years ago called Method Book Miniatures. These are little musical jokes inspired by famous teaching pieces.
- The program’s musical selections will be seasoned with spring poems. Other players and readers are welcome to contribute. To join in the performance, please contact me at this e-mail address as soon as possible. Admission to the concert is free. Donations will be gratefully accepted to help take care of the piano, and to support my organizing work.
- Community Event: MOANA Jr. by Arts in Motion
2pm & 7pm • Majestic Theater- Produced by Arts in Motion Theater Company, this is a 60-minute musical adaptation of the 2016 Disney animated film, bringing the adventures of Moana and her village of Motunui to life onstage.
- Moana JR. features all the beloved songs from the film, written by Tony®, GRAMMY, Emmy, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i, and Mark Mancina, including “How Far I’ll Go,” “Shiny,” and “You’re Welcome.”
- Tickets from Arts in Motion: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?ticketing=aim
- Will also be performed: April 20, 21, 22 at 7pm and April 22 at 2pm
- MUSIC AROUND TOWN
- Shannon Door: Dan Parkhurst & Rafe Montegrano • 6-9pm
- Red Parka Pub: Blue Sunday with Erin Harpe • 5-8pm