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C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONS
Fri, April 23 @ 5pm


C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONS

  • Zoom link and password required.

RESOURCES to LEARN MORE:

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:

Weekend of June 4-5 @ JCC and around town

SAT, June 4

  • Community Event: CRAFTING for CHILDREN: Sailboats
    10am • Tin Mountain Conservation Ctr, Albany
    Spring is here and it’s time to get outside and create! Children’s craft maven Kathy Bowie will help children construct cedar sailboats complete with hardwood peg sailors and oilcloth sails. After the sailboats are completed, we will test their seaworthiness! Designed for participants age 6-10. Limited space; registration required. Program Fee: $10/member, $20/non-member. Click here to register online.
  • SPRING WILDFLOWER WALK w/ Tin Mountain
    1-3pm • Location communicated upon registration
    Come view the early summer wildflowers in Pinkham Notch on this afternoon walk. Species we expect to see include pink lady slippers, trout lily, star flower and more. Join us on this kick off to our North Country Nature Programs and explore the wildlife offers north of the notch!. Program fee of $15/person or $25/household for non-members; members are free. Click here to register online.
  • Community Resource: LIBRARIES
  • MUSIC AROUND TOWN
    • Shannon Door: Rafe Matregrano • 7-10pm
    • Wildcat Tavern: Jeremy Dean • 6-9pm
    • Red Parka Pub: Riley Parkhurst Project • 8-11pm

SUN, June 5

  • INTERFAITH GATHERING
    8am • Pavilion behind Whitney Community Center (and zoom)
    • in-person & zoom
    • Gather for poetry, conversation and prayer
  • WORSHIP on PENTECOST
    10:30am • JCC (in-person & zoom)
    • Special bluegrass music: Dellavalla Family
    • Guest Pianist: Maisie Brown
    • Wear RED!
    • Message: Rev Gail Doktor
  • SPECIAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING of JCC for BUDGET VOTE
    11:30am • JCC & Zoom
    • Meeting to vote on revised budget for exterior work on church. Recommended by building committee: have rear church annex painted when also doing painting and repairs to historic part of church. Allocate additional funds for work (up to $7,000). Requires church meeting and vote of those who attend it. Recommended by council and building committee.
  • MUSIC AROUND TOWN
    • Shannon Door: Mike & Becca • 6-9pm
    • Red Parka Pub: Mitch Alden  • 4-7pm

Lenten word of the day: Breath.

ABCs of Lenten word and reflection: breath. Scripture reference: Job 33:4 – The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Hiphop song by Fabolous called Breathe (I’ll post other genres, but this one is real and relevant).

More songs for Lent day two’s word Breath. More sacred text on this subject: Job 12:10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being. Faith Hill’s take on this theme.

And another post on Lenten day two’s theme of Breath: Job 32:8. But truly it is the spirit in a mortal, the breath of the Almighty, that makes for understanding. And a song to go with it (paired only by theme, not by content particularly). British singer James Newman’s My Last Breath.

Pentecost: themes of Holy Spirit setting communities and individuals afire to dream and act, to be heard and understood.

In this Pentecost week, are you seeking the presence of others who will deepen your understanding? Where do you go to hear and see what you cannot hear and see on your own? When knowledge and wisdom come to you, how do you share them beyond yourself to help others flourish? Where are you turning your ears, your eyes, your heart, your mind to perceive the presence of the Spirit and the path to which it is drawing you? — Jan Richardson
Rabbits and Fire (excerpt) — Alberto Rios
Everything’s been said … Of course, they run away from the flame,
Finding movement even when there is none to be found,
Jumping big and high over the wave of fire, or backing
Even harder through the impenetrable
Tangle of hardened saguaro And prickly pear and cholla and barrel,
But whichever way they find,
What happens is what happens: They catch fire
And then bring the fire with them when they run …

Pentecost: Holy Spirit as Fire, Wind, Dreams & Revolution

On Pentecost, may you find your heart singing with the spirit of God, your ears humming with the voice of the Spirit speaking in a language that reaches deep into your soul and wisdom dawning on your mind so that the shackles that have hardened around your mind may be broken, and God’s voice and language set free. — Mark Suriano, Sermon Seeds

… the Holy Spirit isn’t comforting anyone or anything but instead is shaking things up … The Spirit doesn’t take away our problems or make all things right. Rather, the Spirit instead helps us name the inward hopes, desires, and longings that attend anyone who is waiting for God’s redemption. The pain of creation can seem so great and the coming of God’s redemption so far away that the Spirit intervenes, interrupts, and intercedes by giving voice to our deepest needs. — David Lose

Rather, God spoke in the vernacular of the everyday and the everywhere … Any time a language or a voice crying out is suppressed, it is God’s voice, too, we are attempting to silence. We might do well to participate in Pentecost with this in mind, listening for the voice of God among the silenced, the powerless, the ignored, the forgotten, the oppressed, the nobodie. … Pentecost was a rebellion against those that would seek to restrict God to a single, respectable or official language of a single, righteous people or a single, systematic theology. Pentecost was a protest in which God refused to be silenced by the language of the powerful. Instead, on Pentecost, God spoke. And the people in the streets understood. — David Henson, Edges of Faith

Pentecost is an invitation to dream … Like any good dream, these dreams involve adopting a new perspective on what’s possible, rousing our creativity to free us from conventional expectations. They help us see that maybe what we thought was outlandish actually lies within reach. Maybe I can find freedom from what binds me. Maybe there can be justice. Maybe I can make a difference. Maybe a person’s value isn’t determined by her income. Maybe the future of our economy or our society or our planet is not yet determined. Maybe God is here with me, even if my current struggles never go away … And even when this community’s dreams are smaller, more localized or slower to develop, they can still be revolutionary. — Matthew Skinner, HuffingtonPost

Pentecost demands that we listen with a willing heart, and that we open ourselves to ongoing radical transformation. We discover that the pilgrimage does not end here; instead we are called to a new one of sharing our gifts with the world. Soul work is always challenging and calls us beyond our comfort zone. — Christine Valters Paintner, Patheos

… I wonder what it would be like if the Church allowed the Holy Spirit to transform it into a place of deep and implicit belonging — not for the few, but for everyone. — Debie Thomas

On Fire

Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.
Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.
Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
— attributed to Rumi

Love in its essence is spiritual fire. — Seneca

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire. — Ferdinand Foch

Heat cannot be separated from fire, nor beauty from the eternal. — Dante Alighieri

It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. — Frederick Douglass

We cannot tear out a single page of our life, but we can throw the whole book in the fire. — George Sand

You kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire. — Cassandra Clare

… I am … setting fire to the forests
at night when no one else is alive or awake
however you choose to see it and I live in my own flames
sometimes burning too bright and too wild
to make things last or handle myself or anyone else
and so I run. run run run
far and wide until my bones ache and lungs split
and it feels good. Hear that people? It feels good …
― Charlotte Eriksson

Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden. ― Cormac McCarthy, The Road

If you’re going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It’s the only good fight there is. ― Charles Bukowski, Factotum

There may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passers-by see only a wisp of smoke. ― attributed to Vincent van Gogh

The Moth don’t care when he sees The Flame.
He might get burned, but he’s in the game.
And once he’s in, he can’t go back, he’ll
Beat his wings ’til he burns them black…
No, The Moth don’t care when he sees The Flame …
The Moth don’t care if The Flame is real,
‘Cause Flame and Moth got a sweetheart deal.
And nothing fuels a good flirtation,
Like Need and Anger and Desperation…
No, The Moth don’t care if The Flame is real …
― Aimee Mann
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