The oldest member of Jackson Springs Presbyterian Church passed away last week, or as Presbyterians like to say, “joined the Church Triumphant!” Yesterday, we had a Celebration of Life service giving thanks for the gift of his life, and his new life in Christ.
At his request, we played a special song at the end of his service – “When It’s All Been Said and Done”. That song was a final blessing to his church family - one that touched all our hearts.
“When It’s All Been Said and Done”
When it's all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth
Did I live my life for you.
When it's all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I've done for love's reward Will stand the test of time
Lord your mercy is so great That you look beyond our weakness And find purest gold in miry clay Making sinners into saints
I will always sing your praise
Here on earth and ever after For you've shown me Heaven's my true home When it's all been said and done You're my life when life is gone
When it's all been said and done There is just one thing that matters Did I do my best to live for truth Did I live my life for you Lord I'll live my life for you
What a wonderful message! “When it’s all been said and done … only what I’ve done for love’s reward will stand the test of time.” How very true! “When it’s all been said and done … did I live my life for you, Lord ? I’ll live my life for you.”
Thanks to our dear friend for this final blessing.
Elizabeth
Yesterday was the First Sunday in Lent, calling each of us to begin a journey, to venture into the wilderness of our own hearts and there to listen to the many voices calling to us from one direction or another. The key to what we hear is found in how faithfully we listen.
Of the many voices we hear, just which is the voice of God? Just what is God’s intention for you and for me in this season of life? Just what did God have in mind when we came into being? What is God’s plan for our lives, and are we in the center of that plan, or have we lost our way?
Lent is an appropriate time to rediscover our own stories and our own identities, and to deal with the temptations in our own lives that keep us from being all God created us to be. Lent is a time for each of us in our own way to re-think and to allow God to re-work everything, we know and are. God only knows what this Lenten journey will bring for each of us, but God promises to sit with us, to walk with us, even to carry us when life seems too hard and we don’t think we can go on; God promises never to leave us.
Let us take time to accept the gift that Lent can be in our lives. Let us take time to reconsider what is essential, what really matters. Let’s take time to search for God, who even now is searching for us.
Last Wednesday, we gathered for our Ash Wednesday service and received a mark of an ashen cross our foreheads- as a sign of our mortality and our hope, and we shared this prayer:
Lord God, giver of our every breath, as we begin our Lenten journey, send your Holy Spirit to blow the dust off whatever in or around us needs new life. Remind us of our limits so that we will once again experience your limitless power. May the ashes on our foreheads prompt us to live our lives in the shape of the cross so that even when the ashes have been washed away, others will see in us the face of Christ. Amen.
Writer Ann Lamotte tells a story of the little St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in California. Whenever a member is leaving on a journey, the church family gathers around them and prays this prayer: “Traveling mercies. Love the journey. God goes with you. Come home safe and sound.” May this be the prayer of our hearts for each other as we make this year’s Lenten journey.
Elizabeth
A few days ago, Russia invaded Ukraine. The world watches as the Russians advance and are met by brave Ukrainians fighting for their homeland and freedom. People in many lands are protesting Russian aggression; people in Russia are protesting the path their government is doing down, and are being arrested for doing so. Thousand are fleeing, crossing the borders to neighboring lands. Men of fighting age get their families safely across the border and return to Ukraine to defend their homeland. The nations of the world are imposing economic sanctions designed deter Russia from efforts to continue waging war in Ukraine.
This prayer from a few days before the invasion, offered by Teri McDowell Ott, touched my heart and gives voice to my longing and continuing concern for all involved.
Psalm 27 Prayer for the People of Ukraine: “Whom Shall I fear?”
Creator God, this question of Psalm 27 is not rhetorical for the Ukrainians who are threatened by the buildup of Russian troops and saber-rattling on their borders.
Lord, be their light and their salvation. Protect the Ukrainians whom we watch on the nightly news – the elder veteran pacing an old army trench, the grandmother in her pink housecoat taking up arms, the mother and her teenagers practicing at the shooting range, the common citizens answering the call to protect their homeland, their communities, and their right to live free and secure. Strengthen President Zelenskyy as he jets from one country to the next, rallying the support of allies, while also attending to his citizens and walking the streets to encourage and reassure them. (and even now fighting beside them)
We seek your presence also in Russia and among her troops. Save those called to kill by leaders far removed from the blood, trauma and moral injury of war. Open the hearts of political leaders who prioritize power over people.
Bless the efforts of diplomacy, that peace may soon be seen as the most profitable and proven path. Until that day when peace shall reign, until that day when enemies stop “breathing out violence” at the borders of the innocent, let us hold on to the promise that we “shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”. On behalf of those who suffer and struggle, we wait and we pray and we listen to the psalmist. “Be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” Amen.
May this prayer be the prayer of our hearts day by day.
Elizabeth