Here's this week's video chapel message, with transcript below for those of you without speakers on your computer.
Hello Friends! Before we begin, I wanted to let you know that we will have an Ash Wednesday observation on Wednesday February 17th at the hospital for those who cannot make it to their house of worship, or those who choose to not participate in gatherings with a large amount of people at this time. Our observation will be modified for health and safety. Individuals will self-impose ashes on their foreheads from unit-dose containers. Know this, if you are experiencing grief or sadness over this change, your feelings are valid. This is a big change from what is typically done, but I find the occasion to be no less holy. I look forward to a time when we can observe Ash Wednesday in a more traditional manner again. Watch your email for a schedule of times when the chapel will be open for Ash Wednesday observations on February 17.
Opening Prayer:
God of the still, small voice, quiet us within.
Help us to understand your guidance.
Let the words of the scripture inform us:
“Be still and know that I am God.”
In weakness, help us know our strength.
In depression, help us know our joy.
In apathy, help us know our love.
We pray all his with grateful hearts and in your name, Amen.
I am going to start our reflection with a story. Because who does not love a story? From the time we are in little and an adult reads a story to us….. and then we ask, “Could we have another story please?” until we are adults, stories are just – well-loved. So, allow me to minister to your inner child as I read to you this tale told by Cathine Marshall in the book, “Stories from the Heart.” It illustrates an important point in these times that can often appear less than peaceful.
There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who could best create a rendering of a picture depicting peace. There were many entries to the contest. The king looked at all the pictures, but there were only two that he genuinely liked, and he had to choose between them.
One was a picture of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror, with peaceful, towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds in it. All who saw this picture thought it was a perfect illustration of peace.
The other picture had mountains, too. But they were rugged and bare, with foaming waterfalls tumbling down. Above was an angry sky, filled with heavy rains with flashing lightning. The picture did not look peaceful at all.
But when the king looked, he saw behind the waterfall, a tiny bush growing out of a crack in the rock. On the bush, a mother bird had built a nest. There amid the rush of angry water, sat the bird on her nest. Perfect peace.
What picture do think the king chose?
I think the second picture, with the mother bird depicts peace in a more realistic way. Because peace is not the absence of conflict. Pease is a place in our hearts, it is found within. And we can demonstrate if we choose to despite turbulent circumstances.
And there is no shortage of turbulent circumstances right now. As some of you know, I sometimes attend a church in Australia via Zoom, it is one of the few benefits of the pandemic, to travel the world digitally. My new Australian friends express quite a bit of concern for us Americans, especially during the time of the uprising at the Nation’s Capital. They asked about that, and an American friend of mine said yes, it is upsetting and important to acknowledge, but we also just must carry on with our individual lives.
It got me to thinking. “Well, just how do you do that?”
Another thing I got to do recently was to put on scrubs, and an RN badge to help give vaccinations. And while most people were kind to me and appreciative, for some people, I noticed I represented the pandemic itself. And a little bit of their anger came out sideways at me.
Yet it is our job as clinicians, as staff, when life seems senseless to be sense, to be peaceful. And I see you all doing just that, all the time. I see you, telling me about your children, and your lives at home, very much like the peaceful bird in her nest with the chaos and anger all around her.
So perhaps I tell this story, not so much for you, but more for myself. To help illustrate the wonderful peace we find within, the peace that passes all understanding.
Sometimes, all that is needed to find that peace is a good, deep breath.
I thank you for listening and may the God of your understanding bless you this day.
Just because we are not meeting in person does not mean we cannot make prayer requests. You can do so in the chapel on the first floor of the hospital, or by email to jshawker@connallymmc.org Your requests are kept confidential and prayed over for a total of sixty days.
The Prayer for Protection (Rev. James Dillet Freemen)
The light of God surrounds us.
The love of God enfolds us.
The power of God protects us.
The presence of God watches over us.
Wherever we are, God is.
Amen.
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