Jackson Community Church

Summit, Spirit, Sky: connect to community and creation!

freedom

Reflections on coming unbound, being freed individually and communally as a form of healing: themes from John 11

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Home, Lent & Easter, Weekly MeditationsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

John 11:44 – Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. — Rumi

SONGS about FREEDOM & LIBERATION:

Fierce Blessing — Jan Richardson

Believe me when I say
there is nothing
this blessing would not do
to protect you
to save you
to encompass you.

This blessing
would stand between you
and every danger,
every evil,
every harm
and hurt.

This blessing
would dare
to wade with you
into the waters that come
bearing life.

It would make
a way for you
through the waters that come
threatening death.

I cannot explain
how fierce
this blessing feels
about you
but I can tell you
it has more than pledged
itself to you;
it would lay down
its life for you
and not once
look back in regret
nor go in sorrow
for what it has chosen
to give.

And you—
so deeply blessed,
so utterly encompassed—
what will you save
in turn?

Not because
it is owed
but because
you cannot imagine
failing to pass along
this grace
that casts its circle
so wide,
this love
that flows
so deep
through this perilous
and precious life.

Simplicity is Freedom — Mary Oliver

When I moved from one house to another
there were many things I had no room
for. What does one do? I rented a storage
space. And filled it. Years passed.
Occasionally I went there and looked in,
but nothing happened, not a single
twinge of the heart.

As I grew older the things I cared
about grew fewer, but were more
important. So one day I undid the lock
and called the trash man. He took
everything.

I felt like the little donkey when
his burden is finally lifted. Things!
Burn them, burn them! Make a beautiful
fire! More room in your heart for love,
for the trees! For the birds who own

nothing – the reason they can fly.

Healing as Form of Liberation

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom. — often attributed to Stephen Covey, but he’s on the record explaining that he read it in a book while on vacation in Hawaii and was not able to find the book or attribution again, so it may be:  Viktor Frankl, Rollo May, or B.F. Skinner. 

I define healing … as the intentional process of reconciling internalized trauma and conflict to position oneself physically, mentally, and spiritually to address continuing challenges in daily life, especially those brought on by varying forms of oppression. Healing is also a liberatory political practice — the politics of emancipation, self-determination, dignity, participation, and equality — for all. Lastly, healing can happen in solitude or community. — Mayowa Sanusi, full article: https://hria.org/2021/07/29/healingandliberation/

Let us work to heal the earth, and to heal one another by redoubling our fight to free the land and its peoples, to free all political prisoners, to build a beloved community of liberation where all can find the enduring peace which is the fruit of our struggles for structural justice. — Matt Meyer

In every personal “Covid,” so to speak, in every “stoppage,” what is revealed is what needs to change: our lack of internal freedom, the idols we have been serving, the ideologies we have tried to live by, the relationships we have neglected. — Pope Francis

The only way to experience healing and peace is to forgive. Until we can forgive, we remain locked in our pain and locked out of the possibility of experiencing healing and freedom, locked out of the possibility of being at peace…. . — Archbishop Desmond Tutu

We all think we are freely and consciously making our own choices when, in my experience, most people live most of their lives unconsciously! Before transformation, we are basically sleepwalking, going through the motions on the surface of life, which is why spiritual teachers like Jesus and Buddha tell us to “wake up.” When our ego or small self is in charge, we are not free; we are being ordered about by our preferences, our likes and dislikes. Is it really liberating to believe the world revolves around us or conversely, that we must hold it all together?
      As we engage in contemplative prayer and allow God to transform us through great love and great suffering, we are reminded of our inherent connectedness. We are liberated from thinking of ourselves as somehow separate from everyone and everything else, including God.
     After an authentic God encounter, everything else is relativized. There is only one Absolute and it is God, not us or our culture. Both are de-centered. Through prayer we find God both deep within us and all around us. We know our True Self is part of God and lives in God. We are no longer limited by our culturally conditioned reactions but have access to a greater Source of love and ultimate freedom.
     … There is no authentic freedom if we do not also consider the rights and well-being of others. As Pope Francis reflects:  Looking to the common good is much more than the sum of what is good for individuals. It means having a regard for all citizens and seeking to respond effectively to the needs of the least fortunate. . . . 
      The transformed person finds freedom in the service of Life and Love.  Your life is not about you. You are about life! — Richard Rohr, Center Action and Contemplation, full article: https://cac.org/daily-meditations/authentic-freedom-2021-01-19/Healing Justice invites us into a generative and transformative journey of curiosity, care and healing for ourselves and each other. It honors all of our brilliance, holds tension, and demands we claim, create, and hold our own safer spaces. It also acknowledges contradictions we know that each of us has, generationally consumed patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism as a form of both trauma and survival. It is not a space for assimilation, rather it is a space where we love radically and lean into our interconnectedness and where we care for ourselves and each other. — Black Freedom Collective

Freedom to Choose is all about redemption and the power of second chances. We assist men and women in stepping free of past identifications as “criminals” and re-identifying themselves as valuable, responsible members of our society. Both qualitative and quantitative results indicate significant benefit for individuals who participate  — Freedom to Choose Porject, full article: https://freedomtochooseproject.org/our-work/#the-needTrauma affects every single area of your life, whether you are aware or not. When people come to treatment for trauma, they are often shocked by the ways their freedom has been limited by trauma. Moving through treatment is like unpeeling the layers of an onion. As treatment and therapy progresses, as healing progresses, the layers are continuously revealed. With each new layer of recovery comes a new layer of freedom….
     We can never be completely free of our trauma because trauma lives within us as a part of our life. We can be free from the control trauma has over our lives by choosing to recover. Recovery gives us the power to run our own lives, not our trauma. That is a freedom we never forget. — The Guest House, full article: https://www.theguesthouseocala.com/finding-freedom-in-recovery-from-trauma/

Growing up in Baghdad during the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War, she remembers how her parents allowed her and her younger sister to freely paint the doors, ceiling, and walls of what they called the “play room” in their house.
     “Saying to a nine-year-old that you can paint anywhere in this entire room, it was just everything,” she told Artsy from Los Angeles, where she is based. “Imagine living in a space where you can’t just be you. You have to be aware of everything around you, because if you’re not you can actually be killed. So to have that kind of freedom in that context was emancipatory. It meant a lot and I think that was the first push towards where I wanted to go.” — Hayv Kahraman

Admit —> Surrender —> Freedom. Freedom is the result of emotional healing. It is the end goal. Freedom provides choice and choice provides options for which actions and behaviors you want. The freedom of emotional healing is a freedom that is difficult to describe in words as it creates a new way of living …
      This stage of freedom reminds us that change can occur and increases hope and faith that change is possible. … During this stage, a feeling of gratefulness or thankfulness becomes more apparent and deep appreciation for the growth occurs. … — Dave Piltz

Love’s Exquisite Freedom —Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away
the chains of fear from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

Simplicity as Freedom — Sr. Jose Hobday (Seneca elder, a prominent Roman Catholic leader, and a Franciscan sister who adheres fully to St. Francis’s radical ideal of holy poverty.)

Freedom is about choices: Freedom to choose less rather than more. It’s about choosing time for people and ideas and self-growth rather than for maintenance and guarding and possessing and cleaning. Simple living is about moving through life rather lightly, delighting in the plain and the subtle. It is about poetry and dance, song and art, music and grace. It is about optimism and humor, gratitude and appreciation. It is about embracing life with wide-open arms. It’s about living and giving with no strings attached. . . .
      Simple living is as close as the land on which we stand. It is as far-reaching as the universe that makes us gasp. Simple living is a relaxed grasp on money, things, and even friends. Simplicity cherishes ideas and relationships. They are treasured more because simplicity doesn’t cling nor try to possess things or people or relationships. Simplicity frees us within, but it frees others, too. . . . Simple living is a statement of presence. The real me. This simplicity makes us welcome among the wealthy and the poor alike. . . .
      We will not be happy living selfishly in a small world. We must live in awareness and in association with the whole real world. Our universe. Our cosmos. Our environment. Our earth. Our air. Our water supply. Our country. Our neighbor. Our car. Our homes. All are part of simple living….

FULL TEXT of SERENITY PRAYER

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; taking this world as it is and not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen. − Reinhold Niebuhr

Facing the Future
Every journey begins
With but a small step.
And every day is a chance
For a new, small step
In the right direction.
Just follow your Heartsong.
− Mattie J. Stepanek (then 8 years old)

COMMENTARY on LAZARUS: Unbound & Returned to Life

In John’s mind the raising of Lazarus becomes a parable of the new life that one must receive through Jesus Christ. If that does not happen, that is, if one sees the dead man walking out of the grave and does not recognize himself or herself as the dead man or woman who needs new life, the result may be either amazement or rejection. In either case, the miracle does not do a thing for the person who is merely a spectator. It is only when the miracle story becomes my own story that the prayer of Jesus in verse 42 is answered. — Jirair Tashjian, at The Christian Resource Institute.

The dead are bound (deo of Lazarus in v. 44 and of Jesus in 19:40) in bandages. Jesus’ act of releasing (luo) Lazarus results in Jesus being physically bound (deo) at his arrest (18:12, 24). These same two words (deo & luo) are used in Mt 16:19 & 18:18 as the authority given with the Keys of the Kingdom — “to bind” and “to loose”. Could resurrected Lazarus symbolize the “loosed” (luo) and the “forgiven” (a frequent translation for aphiemi which is used in the last line of v. 44 “let him go”)? — Brian P. Stoffregen

Jesus had seemed so slow in coming. It seemed as if he was too late. But with Jesus, we find out, it is never too late. Even when we are convinced that all is lost, even when we are ready to concede to the power of death, Jesus demonstrates that there is no loss, no tragedy, no power in heaven or on earth or under the earth, that can place us beyond the reach of his infinite love and abundant life. — Elisabeth Johnson

Love is linked inextricably to death in John (“No one has greater love than this… .” 15:13; “For God so loved…” 3:16), and that is also true in the story of this family.  Their relationship with Jesus does not mean that bad things do not happen.  He does not prevent Lazarus from dying.  But he is ultimately present to them … — Rev Meda Stamper, workingpreacher.org

Contemporary theologians regard Jesus’s actions in resurrecting Lazarus as a central miracle, which sets up a series of events leading to the Crucifixion of Christ and His resurrection from the dead by His Almighty Father. — pray.com

What happens next, although it is not included in the lectionary text, is essential for understanding the passage.  Although some of the bystanders believe, others go and report Jesus to the authorities, and it is on this basis, that they decide definitively to put him to death.  The immediate way to the cross and Jesus’ own tomb starts here where Jesus is most impossibly, lovingly life-giving.  They will plan to kill Lazarus too once the word about him gets out (12:10-11). — Rev Meda Stamper, workingpreacher.org

In the dark of failed relationships, failed programs for happiness, failed dreams of beauty and happy endings.  In the entombed hopeless reality of life’s darkness, I have heard an untimely voice.  A voice that called my name. Just like Lazarus, for me life and liberation came, through the tears of Jesus and the torment of my hopelessness. I was able to stand up, against all the odds and I understood the meaning of Lazarus’ name.  It means, “God has helped” — Peter, The Listening Hermit

Jesus has the power to turn your life upside down.  Jesus offers life, but he also offers a cross.  He offers life, but only to those that would turn their life away.  He offers comfort, but only to those that mourn.  Jesus came to afflict the comfortable…
     If we don’t have at least a little bit of fear about what discipleship really means, than I’m not sure we really get it.  Following Jesus can lead people into dark places – uncomfortable, dirty, smelly places.  It can lead us into danger, and bring us into contact with dangerous people.  Following Jesus calls us to our pews and our hymns and our rituals, but it also demands that we go out into the world.  Jesus calls us to love.  And love can be difficult sometimes.
     Following Jesus means that we have to love, and its okay if that scares you a little.  It should.  It means that you’re paying attention.  It means that you have your eyes wide open to the cost of discipleship. …
     Go knowing that it can be dangerous.  Go knowing that Christ is with you.  Go knowing that the Holy Spirit will sustain you.  Go knowing that love is the only power that lasts. — Rev. Robb McCoy

And, I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that Jesus still calls us out, because I still need it. I still stinketh. And some days I stinketh more than others.
      I still find myself from time to time bound up and wound up; by the expectations of others, by my own insecurities, by my sin.
     But, the promise of the story of Lazarus is that, like Lazarus, Jesus loves us. He weeps for us. He is deeply moved by us. And he brings life to our death, freedom to our bondage, and a shining light to our every darkness. — Rick Morley

Love and Liberty

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Home, Music, Weekly MeditationsTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Love is the bridge between you and everything. ~ Rumi

The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is to love and be loved in return. – Natalie Cole

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. – Lao Tzu

Do love. Don’t just think love, say love, have faith in love, or believe that God is love. Give up the idea that your ideas alone can save you. If you know the right words, then bring those words to life by giving them your own flesh. Put them into practice. Do love, and you will live. — Barbara Brown Taylor

SONGS about LOVE:

SONGS about FREEDOM:

LOVE LIBERATES — Maya Angelou

I am grateful to have been loved
and to be loved now
and to be able to love,
because that liberates.
Love liberates.
It doesn’t just hold—that’s ego.
Love liberates.

 When my son was born, I was seventeen.
My mother had a huge house, fourteen-room house,
At seventeen, I went to her and said, “I’m leaving.”
She asked me “you’re leaving my house?” and she had live-in help.
I said “yes. I’ve found a job and I’ve got a room
with cooking privileges down the hall
and the landlady will be the babysitter.
She asked me, “you’re leaving my house?”
I said “Yes, Ma’am,”
“And you’re taking the baby?”
I said yes.
She said “alright, remember this:
when you step over my doorsill, you’ve been raised.
You know the difference between right and wrong.
Do right.
Don’t let anybody raise you and make you change.
And remember this:
You can always come home.”

 I went home every time life slapped me down and made me call it uncle.
I went home with my baby.
My mother never once acted as “I told you so,”
She said, “Oh, baby’s home! Oh my darlin!
Mother’s gonna cook you something,
Mother’s gonna make this for you!”

 Love.
She liberated me to life.
She continued to do that.

 When my son may have been five years old
My mother would pick him up all the time and feed him.
I went to her once a month and she would cook for me.
So, one day I went to her house and she had cooked red rice, which I love.
After we finished eating, we walked down the hill and she started across the street and she said

“wait a minute, baby.”
I was twenty-two years old.
She said “wait a minute, baby,
you know, I think you’re the greatest woman I’ve ever met.
Mary McCleod Bethune,
Eleanor Roosevelt,
and my mother.
You’re in that category.”

 Then she said “give me a kiss”
I gave her a kiss and I got onto the streetcar.
I can remember the way the sun fell on the slats of wooden seats.
I sat there and I thought about her.
I thought:
Suppose she’s right.
She’s intelligent.
And she says she’s too mean to lie.
So suppose I am gonna be somebody.

 She released me.
She freed me.
To say I may have something in me
that would be of value,
maybe not just to me,

 that’s love.

 When she was in her final sickness,
I went out to San Francisco.
The doctors said she had three weeks to live.
I asked her “would you come to North Carolina?”
She said “yes,”
She had emphysema and lung cancer.
I brought her to my home.
She lived for a year and a half.
And when she was finally, finally, in extremis,
she was on oxygen, fighting cancer for her life,
and I remembered her liberating me.
And I said “I hope I’ll be able to liberate her.”
She deserved that from me.
She deserved a great daughter and she got one.

So, in her last days, I said,
“ now I understand that some people need permission to go.
As I understand it, you may have done what God put you here to do:
You were a great worker.
You must have been a great lover because a lot of men
and, if I’m not wrong, maybe a couple of women risked their lives to love you.
You were a piss poor mother of small children,
but you were a great, great mother of young adults.
and if you need permission to go
I liberate you.

I went back to my house
and something said “go back,”
I was in my pajamas,
I jumped in my car and ran.
And the nurse said,
“she’s just gone.”

You see, love liberates.
It doesn’t bind.
Love says, “I love you,
I love you if you’re in China,
I love you if you’re across town,
I love you if you’re in Harlem,
I love you.
I would like to be near you.
I’d like to have your arms around me,
I’d like to hear your voice in my ear,
but that’s not possible now,
so I love you.
Go.”
 

Touched By An Angel— Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

Of Love — Mary Oliver
I have been in love more times than one,
thank the Lord.
Sometimes it was lasting
whether active or not.
Sometimes it was all but ephemeral,
maybe only an afternoon,
but not less real for that.’
They stay in my mind,
these beautiful people,
or anyway beautiful people to me,
of which there are so many.
You and you and you,
whom I have the fortune to meet,
or maybe missed.
Love, love, love, it was the core of my life,
from which of course comes the word for the heart.
And, oh, have I mentioned
that some of them were men and some were women’
and some – now carry my revelation with you –
were trees.
Or places.
Or music flying above the names of their makers.
Or clouds, or the sun
which was the first, and the best,
the most loyal for certain,’
who looked so faithfully into my eyes, every morning.
So I imagine such love of the world –
its fervency, its shining,
its innocence and anger to give of itself
I imagine this is how it began.

INVITATION— Mary Oliver

Oh do you have time
to linger for just a little while
out of your busy
and very important day
for the goldfinches
that have gathered
in a field of thistles
for a musical battle,
to see who can sing
the highest note,
or the lowest,
or the most expressive of mirth,
or the most tender?
Their strong, blunt beaks
drink the air
as they strive
melodiously
not for your sake
and not for mine
and not for the sake of winning
but for sheer delight and gratitude –
believe us, they say,
it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.

ABOUT LOVE

Where there is love there is life. – Mahatma Gandhi

The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. – Dalai Lama

Love is more than a noun – it is a verb; it is more than a feeling – it is caring, sharing, helping, sacrificing. – William Arthur Ward

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. ~ Rumi

Love is not really an action that you do. Love is what and who you are, in your deepest essence. Love is a place that already exists inside of you, but is also greater than you. That’s the paradox. It’s within you and yet beyond you. This creates a sense of abundance and more-than-enoughness, which is precisely the satisfaction and deep peace of the True Self. You know you’ve found a well that will never go dry, as Jesus says (see John 4:13-14). Your True Self, God’s Love in you, cannot be exhausted. — Richard Rohr
 
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. — Martin Luther King Jr. Love is or it ain’t. Thin love ain’t love at all. ― Toni Morrison, Beloved

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.― Jimi Hendrix

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves. — Victor Hugo

“Not all of us can do great things.  But we can do small things with great love.” & “I believe God loves the world through us—through you and me.” — St Mother Teresa

There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met. — William Butler Yeats

Many can give money to those in need, but to personally serve the needy readily, out of love, and in a fraternal spirit, requires a truly great soul. — Saint John Chrysostom

… the action and behavior produced by love is distinctly countercultural. … In a society where so much is presented in terms of “self”—self-awareness, self-esteem, self-acceptance, self-image, self-realization—to present a way of existence in which a person lives for the other in a life of loving self-sacrifice will be highly provocative. Following the one who gave his life as a sacrifice for us will be humbling and undoubtedly costly in terms of human recognition and progress in life as secular society defines it.— zondervanacademic.com

LOVE COMMENTARY

Love, in the New Testament, is not something you feel; it is something you do….Love seeks the well-being of others and is embodied in concrete efforts in their behalf. — Francis Taylor Gench

DANCE — Wendell Berry
… And I love you
as I love the dance that brings you
out of the multitude
in which you come and go.
Love changes, and in change is true.

OF LOVE

I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out.  – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

In the end we discover that to love and let go can be the same thing.— Jack Kornfield

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do. – Rumi

You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody listening, And live like it’s heaven on earth. – William W. Purkey

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. – Martin Luther King Jr.

Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.  – Washington Irving

Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third. – Marge Piercy

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place. – Zora Neale Hurston

The chance to love and be loved exists no matter where you are. – Oprah Winfrey

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. – Charles Dickens, Dr. Marigold

Events with JCC and around town: June 28-July 4 (Independence Day Weekend and beyond)

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Calendar, HomeTagged , , , , ,

Events with JCC and around town: Summer reading programs, concerts, parades, fireworks, Sunday worship with guest preacher Sue Davidson, plus music around town and more!

TUE, June 28

  • Community Resource: LIBRARIES
    Summer reading programs: Oceans of Possibilities. See links below for more info.
  • Community Event: TODDLER STORY HOUR
    11am • Jackson Public Library
  • Community Event: PLANT A PIZZA
    3:30pm • Jackson Public Library

WED, June 29

THURS, June 30

  • Community Resource: LIBRARIES
  • Community Service: WAY STATION
    2-5 • Food collection & distribution
    10-6 • Open shift for drop-ins and apts.
    • Staff and volunteers of JCC participate. Operating in church basement this week: Nativity Lutheran.
  • Community Resource: AA MEETING
    6pm? • JCC Parish House
  • Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
    • Wildcat Tavern: Rafe Matregrano • 6-9pm

FRI, July 1

  • ** FITNESS CLASS with Laurie McAleer  (no Friday classes this summer)**
  • Community Resource: LIBRARIES
  • Community Event: FIRST FRIDAY CONCERT – DARK TRAIN EXPRESS
    Noon • Majestic Theater Cafe
    The Dark Train Express trio (Chad Cummings, Eben Eastman and Ben Wiggin) will play a spirited hour of Cummings’ pop/rock/jazz fusion originals.
    More info: https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php Tickets available by donation.
  • ** C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONS **
    Resumes Fri, July 8
  • Community Event: MAJESTIC CAFE CONCERT – Laurie & Ken Turley
    7pm • Majestic Theater, Conway Village
    Info and tickets:https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php
    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.  
  • Community Event: FIRDAY NIGHT VERTICALS
    7pm • Cranmore Mountain Resort
    Let’s get vertical! Ski the Whites and Cranmore Mountain are hosting their 5th iteration of the Friday Night Vertical Series, which encourages runners and hikers of all abilities to conquer the slopes of Cranmore in summertime style. The group run to the top starts at 7pm, but those looking for a gentler ascent can always start their run/walk any time after 6pm. $5 registration fee per event. Register online today. Dates available throughout the summer. 
  • Community Events: MUSIC AROUND TOWN
    • Wildcat Tavern: Al Shafner  & CATWOLF• 6-9pm
    • Shannon Door: Mike & Becca • 6-9pm
    • Red Parka Pub: Rek’lis • 8-11pm

SAT, July 2

  • Community Resource: LIBRARIES
  • COMMUNITY EVENT: Jackson Fireworks Display
    9pm • Jackson Village Park / Fields by Snowflake Inn The Fireworks will be going off from our Jackson Village Park area and the park area will be closed from Noon through the Fireworks. Viewing is typically available throughout the Jackson Village area. We recommend that you come early to get a good spot. Available: ice cream, popcorn, glow necklaces, balloons, and other fun stuff available from local and visiting vendors. For more information: https://jacksonnh.com/event/jackson-area-of-new-hampshire-fireworks-display/. Parking options are limited.
  • MUSIC AROUND TOWN
    • Shannon Door: Jennifer Freedom • 7-10pm
    • Wildcat Tavern: Jeremy Dean • 6-9pm
    • Red Parka Pub: Riley Parkhurst Project • 8-11pm

SUN, July 3

  • ** INTERFAITH GATHERING (resumes next Sun, July 10) **
  • WORSHIP with FEAST of LOVE
    10:30am • JCC (in-person & zoom)
    • Zoom link and password required
    • Pianist: Alice Pepper
    • Guest preacher: Sue Davidson, retired Methodist minister & hospice chaplain
  • Community Event: OUTDOOR DINNER CONCERT – James Montgomery with Diane Blue
    7pm • Wildcat Tavern
    More info & tickets: https://www.wildcattavern.com/events/james-montgomery-with-diane-blue/. Dinner reservations must be made separately from purchase of tickets.
  • MUSIC AROUND TOWN
    • Shannon Door: Riley Parkhurst Project • 6-9pm
    • Red Parka Pub: Mitch Alden  • 4-7pm

MON, July 4 – INDEPENDENCE DAY

  • Community Events / July 4th Observances:
    • Bartlett Parade: 11am
      • More info: https://bartlettrec.org/4th-of-july-2022/
      • Bartlett’s Annual Hellen Hayes Memorial 4th of July Parade Starts at 11AM July 4th at Black Fly Field and will go east on Rt 302, it will take a left at the Bartlett school and end at Hodgkins Park located behind the school.
      • Prizes:
        • Floats: $25 to $150
        • Motorcycles: $5 to $25
        • Walkers: $5 to $25
        • Bikes: $5 to $25
        • Others: $5 to $25
        • Animals: $5 to $25
        • Cars before 1950: $5 to $25
        • Cars after 1950 $5 to $25
        • Registration begins at 9am at Black Fly Field or fill out the registration form on line below. JUDGING ENDS AT 10:15 SHARP. If you wish to get judged, please intend to arrive by 9:30 if you pre-registered. Late Entries will not be included in the judging.
    • North Conway Parade & Fireworks:
      Schouler Park, No Conway, NH
      Blowout bonanza, including an annual parade, fireworks, local vendors, and live music, all at Schouler Park!
      • 1:30pm • parade starts
      • 9:30pm fireworks
      • In between, revelers can explore the shops along North Conway’s idyllic Main Street, watch a performance from the Tina Titzer Act One Dance Co., and listen to the sounds of Mike Malkin & Becca Deschenes and The Riley Parkhurst Project.
      • For more information, click here.
    • About other events:https://www.visitwhitemountains.com/blog/post/4th-of-july-events-in-the-white-mountains/
  • Community Event: BARTLETT PUBLIC LIBRARY BOOK SALE
    9am- 1 pm • Bartlett Congregational Church
    • More info: https://www.bartlettpubliclibrary.org/4th-of-july-book-sale/
    • A Family/Community Time
    • Watch the 4th of July Parade (begins @ 11:00)
    • Buy books before, during or after
    • Spend time in the park – eating, listening, chatting
    • Paperbacks $.25 older $.50 newer
    • Hard Cover $l.00 older $2.00 newer
    • Hours to drop off books at the library: Saturday, June 25, 11-3 Monday, June 27, 2-8 Tuesday, June 28, 2-5, Wednesday, June 29, 12-6 Saturday, July 2, from 11-3 –
    • Sorting at Bartlett Congregational Church begins @ 9 AM, Saturday, July 2
      Volunteers are needed Saturday at the Bartlett Congregational Church, 9:00 AM until done.
    • Let Kathy know if you’d like to help or just drop in with books and stay for a while

TUE, July 5

  • Community Resource: LIBRARIES
    Summer reading programs: Oceans of Possibilities. See links below for more info.
  • Community Event: TODDLER STORY HOUR
    11am • Jackson Public Library
  • Community Event: LEGO PROGRAM with CODY WELLS
    3:30pm • Jackson Public Library
  • Community Event: AN AMERICAN SALUTE with Beacon Brass Quintet (Mountain Top Music program)
    7pm • Majestic Theater, Conway Village
    Info and tickets:https://mountaintop.ludus.com/index.php. An evening of musical Americana featuring the award winning Beacon Brass Quintet: Ken Amis, tuba; Kevin Owen, french horn; Dana Oakes, trumpet; Dana Russian, trumpet; and Hans Bohn, tromboneAcclaimed in Bostonia Magazine as “one of the nation’s finest chamber ensembles,” the Beacon Brass Quintet was the first brass ensemble to win the prestigious Concert Artists Guild Award.  The Quintet has performed throughout the United States on radio and television, and has recorded the theme music for “The Advocates,” on PBS.  In addition to concert venues, the Beacon Brass Quintet has been featured at prestigious special events, including a Carnegie Hall recital, the opening ceremonies for the John F. Kennedy Library, and the centennial dinner for the members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
     

COMMUNITY GARDENS:

  • Jackson: Community garden beds available
    We have a few garden beds available in the new Jackson Community Garden located next to the Jackson Public Library. The boxes are 4 feet by 16 feet, made from local hemlock, and are filled with organic ocean compost and aged cow manure.   If you’re interested, please contact Pam @ pam@northconwaylawyers.com for an application or stop by the Jackson Public Library to pick up an application.  There’s plenty of time left in this year’s growing season! 
  • Bartlett: Morrell Community Gardens
    https://bartlettrec.org/community-gardens-morrell-family-community-complex/

About Juneteenth

By jacksonnhccPosted on Posted in Calendar, Home, Justice & Activism, Music, Weekly MeditationsTagged , , , , , , , ,

What this day means and how we observe it in NH

JUNETEENTH OBSERVANCES:

June 19:

Through June 20:

SONGS for JUNETEENTH:

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.

Articles and information about Juneteenth:

Statement from NH UCC’s Racial Justice Group:

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.

Scroll to top