In Remembrance

  

In recognition of Memorial Day, we will hold our annual candle lighting ritual this Sunday. This will offer us an opportunity to honor those who have given their lives in service of our country, and to remember our loved ones who have passed.

We will draw on the following two beatitudes given by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5: 4)

Mourning is the outward expression of the inner process of grief. As we share the experience of our loss with others, we are supported in moving through our grief in a healthy way.

We come together to hold the space for that process in community. This is the value expressed in memorial services. This is how we show up to comfort each other in the shared experience of loss and grief.

Grief has a way of breaking us open.  When we lean into that process we feel the depth of our capacity to love, and of our emotional response to the loss of those that we love. Depending on the nature of the loss, our whole life may feel turned upside down. Along the way, we come to discover a greater depth of our being. Grief has the potential of connecting us with each other, and with the strength of Spirit within us. Loss often disorients us in such a way that we are forced to call upon that Spirit for guidance, understanding and support. In this way, we are comforted in the  process.

Memorial Day also offers us all a stark reminder of the price of freedom. We cannot deny the devastating cost of human lives lost around the world in the pursuit of freedom. It calls upon us all to hold the vision of a world marked by greater peace and harmony.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5: 9).

In Truth, every human being is a child of God. We must first of all know that Truth for ourselves, and then act the part with each other. 
Together, we can hold the vision of a world where our inherent connection is realized in a way that results in greater understanding and peace.

May we all seek to uncover what connects us as one human race above all that seems to separate us. In God there is no separation.

Join us at 10AM  this Sunday.


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