Streams of Mercy
We had our first Summer Sabbath last on Sunday evening. We shared a brief worship service , after a delicious picnic summer. After singing “This Is My Father’s World,” we prayed:
“Loving Creator, you have given us many gifts – the most wonderful and the most ordinary is the gift of time. The past is gone and cannot be changed. The future is not here and cannot be used. We have only today. Help us to live each moment as a vital part of your great forever.” Amen.
Ecclesiastes 3 reminded us that “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven … and that God makes everything beautiful in its time.”
The Psalms contain many references to time: “My times are in thy hand … I will bless the Lord at all times … Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times … The Lord is a stronghold in times of trouble … Trust in the Lord at all times.”
The pace of our world leaves many of us breathless just trying to keep even. We are running as fast as we can. There never is enough time to do all that we are required to do, let alone the things we would like to do. A wise person once said that we never “find time, we only make time.” We have only twenty-four hours a day. It is how we spend that time that enriches or impoverishes our lives. The time we offer to God can make the difference in the quality of life.
Time spent with God, in Bible study, prayer, meditation, or in whatever manner one chooses, is never wasted. It is during those times that a relationship is created. Out of our communion with the God of all time, comes the serenity, the peace, the abounding compassion that empower us. Each day is a gift. Let us enjoy what each day brings, and let us not waste it, but spend it in things that are eternal and life-giving. (taken from “A Matter of Time:” in There is a Season, by Betty Radford Turcott.)
Our time together closed with singing “In His Time”:
In His time, in His time,
He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Lord, please show me every day,
As You’re teaching me Your way,
That you do just what You say in your time.
In Your time, in Your time;
You make all things beautiful in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely things, in Your time.
We closed our time of worship sharing a beautiful prayer written by the Rev. Leland Richardson, a child of this church, who died a few months ago. “Lord God, we confess that we live in a world where the tides of time are forever ebbing and flowing, but we are thankful for You and Your love, that is the same yesterday, today and forever …”
It was wonderful to be together again at Eagles Nest Berry Farm, on a beautiful summer day, celebrating our first Summer Sabbath of 2022.
Elizabeth
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