Welcoming Prayer

Welcoming Prayer

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

November 1, 2015; All Saints' Day, Year B

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(John 11:32-44)  When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

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Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky of Lithuania was studying to become a rabbi when he became captured by the story of Jesus. He eventually migrated to the U.S., became an Episcopalian and graduated from my school, the General Theological Seminary, in 1859.

Right after seminary he was moved by a call for helpers in China. He had a gift for languages, and on the boat to Shanghai he learned to write Chinese. During his ministry in China he translated the Bible and parts of the Prayer Book into Mandarin. In 1877 he was elected Bishop of Shanghai. He founded St. John's University in Shanghai and translated the Bible and other works into the Wenli language. But he was stricken with paralysis and had to resign from serving as bishop in 1883.

From then until his death 23 years later in 1906, Schereschewsky persevered in his translation work, typing some 2,000 pages with the middle finger of his partially crippled hand. Here's the sentence about him that I found unforgettable, spoken four years before his death. He said, "I have sat in this chair for over twenty years. It seemed very hard at first. But God knew best. He kept me for the work for which I am best fitted." [i]

How did he get there? How did he come to such a place of acceptance and peace?

Today is All Saints' Day when we celebrate those holy people who have been the light of Christ in their day, and tomorrow on All Souls Day we remember everyone who has been created in the image and likeness of God. I've got a theory about saints. As I look at the stories of those whom we look to as examples of whole and holy life, there is a quality I see that I want to imitate and adopt. Bishop Shereschewsky is a fine example of what I want to talk about. It is a quality of living with a deep interior acceptance of the circumstances and reality of life, placing that reality within the expansive presence of God, and then simply being who you are with faith and courage.

Nelson Mandela accepted the injustice of his incarceration on Robben Island without bitterness, refusing to hate his captors or plan revenge; instead, he invited guards to eavesdrop on the classes he organized for his fellow prisoners, saying that the oppressors also needed to grow and learn in order to be liberated from their captivity in an oppressive system. He embraced his reality and placed it within the infinite, liberating power of God.

There is a practice that comes out of the Centering Prayer movement called "The Welcoming Prayer." It is a way of extending the practice of Centering Prayer when we gently let go of thoughts and afflictive emotions, returning ever so gently to the Sacred Word. The Welcoming Prayer is a form of taking that practice into active, everyday life. It's something you can do when your buttons get pushed.

Most of us have pretty predictable patterns when our buttons get pushed. Something happens, frustration builds, and emotional energy churns inside of us. Usually what we do with that emotion is to start some internal dialogue, we play some well worn tapes of outrage or hurt. "I can't believe what he just said. Outrageous. It's just wrong. He ought to be ashamed. I'm outraged." There seems to be an infinite supply of commentary in our emotional bucket. It's just like pouring gasoline on a fire.

It gets even worse if we add guilt or repression to all of that and try to push it down into our subconscious. "I'm going to ignore that. It doesn't really hurt. I'm a good person; I'm not going to retaliate." But your stomach is churning and your jaw is clinched. And that bodily reaction may be a key to our liberation.

Here's the Welcoming Prayer process. As soon as you can possibly become aware of the initial frustration, focus on whatever sensation in your body accompanies the emotional reaction. Sink into the bodily upset. Maybe your back aches or your jaw tightens. Is your breath short? Or you feel a little dizzy? Feel the adrenaline prompting the impulse to "fight, fly, or freeze."

Just stay with the bodily reaction. Sink into it. Don't try to change anything, just be with it.

Important: Don't analyze your feelings or your body's reaction. Getting back into your mind just gets your ego hooked again. The key is to become physically aware of the emotional energy as sensations in your body. Ground yourself into whatever physical sensation you are experiencing.

Here is the second step where the prayer gets its name.  As you are focused on the whole broiling physical sensation of your upset, very gently, ever so gently, welcome the emotion, whatever the emotion is. If you feel anger, "Welcome, anger." Or, "Welcome, outrage." "Welcome, pain." Create an inner atmosphere hospitality. Whenever you embrace the afflictive emotion you actually disarm it. Yes, it is a paradox, but it works.

Cynthia Bourgeault who teaches this method tells about a fantasy novel that illustrates the teaching.

A young wizard named Ged is in training to become a sorcerer. One day, horsing around with his friends, he inadvertently conjures up a minor demon. The demon proceeds to haunt him throughout the book. As he grows in power and influence, it grows right with him. Gradually (the demon) turns very dark and begins to stalk him; he flees in terror. He runs to a city by the sea, but it follows him there. He hires a boat and rows out into the sea, but it follows him there. Finally he jumps into the water, but the thing is still right on his back. Finally, with all escape routes blocked, he does the only thing left to him: He turns to the demon and embraces it. At which point it vanishes, integrated back inside him as the shadow he is finally willing to own. [ii]

Accepting the reality of the present moment is the quality we see in Joseph Schereschewsky, Nelson Mandela and all of the great saints. Staying present in the now, regardless of the physical or psychological content, embracing and accepting that reality allows our awareness to expand to release the conflicting energy into the infinite hands of the divine. God is always fully present in the now.

One caution about acceptance. It is the feelings you welcome and accept. It is not a general condoning of the situation. If the doctor says, "It may be malignant," it is the fear of cancer that is on your plate. Not "Welcome, cancer," but "Welcome, fear."

The passivity of acceptance is an inner attitude. Your inner acceptance of your feelings can release energy for you then to decide what you will do in the outer world, which might require a spirited fight.

When you stay present within your body, observing the conflictive emotions and your bodily reaction, simply accepting them in the present moment, the negative energy is released for to be used good. German mystic Jacob Boehme described it this way, "If you remain firm, if you do not bend, you shall see and perceive great wonders. You will discover how Christ will storm the hell in you and will break your beasts…" [iii]

The Welcoming Prayer practice is helpful not only times of afflictive emotions, it is also helpful in moments Cynthia calls "peacock feathers."  She was coming home after a particularly satisfying eucharist, when she heard an inner voice ask, "What do you really want in this moment? God or self-congratulation?" Ugh. So she focused on where this feeling of self-satisfaction was living in her body, then began, "Welcome, pride, welcome pride…" She says that's actually harder than "welcome, loneliness" or "welcome, anger." But she felt the inner territory shift, moving from self-satisfaction into a deeper equanimity. [iv]

So I hope I've been able to give you a small trick of the saints. The skill and practice of breaking the cycle of afflictive emotions by paying attention to the reaction in your body and welcoming the accompanying feelings. Try it the next time your button gets pushed. Practice now to live better in the present, but practice also to be ready for the day when it's something bigger than a button. "I have sat in this chair for over twenty years. It seemed very hard at first. But God knew best. He kept me for the work for which I am best fitted."

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[i] Holy Women, Holy Men, p. 636. His feast day is October 14

[ii] Bourgeault, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, p. 145, Lanham, MD: Cowley, 2004; describing the book A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin, New York: Bantam Book, 1989.

[iii] Quoted in Bourgeault, p. 149, from Boehme, The Way to Christ, tras. Peter Erb (Mahwh, NJ: Paulist Press, 1978), p. 240.

[iv] Bourgeault, p. 150

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The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate

God's infinite grace, acceptance and love.

For information about St. Paul's Episcopal Church and its life and mission, please contact us at

P.O. Box 1190, Fayetteville, AR 72702, or call 479/442-7373

More sermon texts are posted on our web site: www.stpaulsfay.org

Click the “Video Online” button to watch full services and sermons live-streamed or archived. 

LIving Richly

Living Richly

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

October 11, 2015; 20 Pentecost, Proper 23, Year B, Track 2

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Mark 10:17-31)  As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."

Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age--houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions--and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

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(This sermon was first preached October 12, 2003. I ran out of time this week. The sermon says something about that, by the way.)

It takes a bit of leisure to be on a spiritual quest.  Sometimes it says something about you, for instance, if you are able take a week for a retreat.  It means you have enough freedom from your job and family responsibilities that neither are threatened if you leave them for a time.  It may be that most people don't have that kind of discretion.  It is something of a privilege to have the time and resources to buy and read books about spirituality or to go to a monastery or cabin to pray and reflect.  Not everybody can do that.  If you are holding down a couple of jobs, taking care of kids and maybe an aging parent, running as fast as you can just to keep life and limb together, it's hard to do more than just survive and drop into bed in semi-exhaustion before the alarm rings too early again and you start all over.  You don't have much time for questions like this one from the man who approaches Jesus in our Gospel today.

"Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" he asks.  It appears he's had some leisure and security to be able to get to the place where that's his most important life-question.  His situation is different, for instance, from the woman who begs Jesus to throw a crumb from the children's table and heal her daughter.  Or the man who lives among the tombs and the swine and needs his demons overcome.  Or the Samaritan woman drawing water alone in the hottest part of the day carrying her past mistakes with her.  This questioner has a much different kind of desperation.  In a different way though, you sense that he too is needy.

He's apparently succeeded at life.  Since his youth he has followed the commandments -- you shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal or bear false witness or defraud.  He's been successful in these important virtues.  No doubt, he is an accomplished person.  He is probably treated with respect.  Many would say he is treated with respect because he has earned it.  He's a respectable person.  He has also used his character and skills to become wealthy. 

And like many people who have lived upright, productive lives, he's had the leisure and opportunity to ponder the deeper matters.  By now he's recognized that there's something more; and the other side of that realization for him -- there is something lacking.  It's just not enough to be a good person, following all the rules and always doing the right thing.  That's good, but it's not enough.  It's not enough being a respected person with a degree of power and autonomy over your life.  That can be a good thing, but he knows, it's really not enough.  And being wealthy and having many possessions is not enough either.  He's had time to think about it.  He wants something more, something deeper.  He's pretty much mastered "earthly life" he thinks.  The question on his heart is about mastering something deeper.  And I think he asks his question with confidence.  He's ready for a new challenge.  "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 

Jesus looks deeply into him, sensing intuitively with deep compassion, what is it that this fine man needs to become whole.  "You lack one thing."  The man brightens with expectation.  Whatever it is, he'll do it.  Whatever it takes to add the prize of eternal life to his treasure.  So Jesus tells him, "Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then," (hear these wonderful words) "come, follow me."

Barbara Brown Taylor describes it this way:

It is a rich prescription for a rich man. ...It is an invitation to become smaller and more agile...  It is a dare to become a new creature, defined in a new way, to trade in all the words that have described him up to now -- wealthy, committed, cultured, responsible, educated, powerful, obedient -- to trade them all in for one radically different word, which is free. [i]

He can't do it.  In shock, he leaves grieving.

In one sense it is a money issue.  Money is an incredibly tempting form of power.  Not many people handle it well.  Our culture worships money.  Unconsciously we tend to project respect and privilege upon those with money.  Money is an issue for this man.  Money is an issue for all of us.  Money is especially an issue for those of us who have it.  It is addictive.  Yes, it's a story about money.

But it's more than that.  It's a story about bondage and freedom.  His hands are too full to receive the gift Jesus offers.  He's possessed by his possessions.  And it is too fearful for him to let go of them, even if it means his freedom.  He's tied up by his possessions in the same way others of us are tied up with other things.  Some of us are tied up with responsibilities.  It takes an internet calendar to keep track of the kids' schedules and get them to soccer and music, the orthodontist and gymnastics.  Some of us are tied up with jobs that expect sixty hours plus from us.  Some of us are tied up with trying to please others—trying to meet the expectations of everyone else so there is nothing much left for themselves.  Some of us are tied up with diversions—football and TV and too much to drink.  Some feel like we have to have a perfect kitchen or a manicured lawn.  And all of these things are good things, or at the least neutral.  Like money.  Until they become overwhelming and rob us of our freedom. 

Unless we have some boundaries and margins and space in our lives, unless we can let go of some things, we are not free to respond in the grace of the moment.  Such as... when Jesus says, "You lack one thing.  Quit trying to please everyone else and sit with me for a bit."  Or, "Cut back on your promises and do only one thing at a time."  Or, "Turn off the TV and pay attention for a while."  Or, "Let go of some stuff and live less extravagantly."  Or "Give away some of your time, or power, or money."  But if we have no time to give away, or no trust to surrender our power, or no freedom to give money—we are cousins of this grieving man.  We have too much to be free.  Sometimes we have too much of the good things so that we lose the gift of the best.

He sure feels familiar to me.  I can't keep up with all the things I believe I need to do.  And then there's email.  Not to mention the mortgage and the bills.  And football.  It's easy to say, "You need to give up a few things and get some free space in your life," and I look around and shake my head in grief and ask, "But what?  What can I give up?  It all seems so necessary.  Or else it's something I want."  And there are days when I think it must be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for me to let go of what I cling to.  Yet, there is this small voice of sanity whispering inside my soul, the gentle voice of Jesus inviting me to let go of whatever binds me, and accept the gift of freedom.  To open my eyes and see:  it's all a gift anyway.  It's not my life; it's not my time; it is not my stuff.  It's all a gift anyway.  So why not let go of it and freely follow him?  But it seems so hard.  And every time I think I've made some progress, I fall right back into the same familiar patterns I've lived with and perfected for decades.  I see so many of my friends in their own versions of the same familiar traps.  So, like the bewildered disciples, I shake my head in disbelief and ask, "Then who can be saved?"  It's the same old question.  It hasn't changed much.  And neither has the answer.  "For us, it is impossible.  But not for God.  For God, all things are possible."

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[i] Barbara Taylor, The Preaching Life, Cowley, Cambridge, 1993, p. 124

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The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate

God's infinite grace, acceptance and love.

For information about St. Paul's Episcopal Church and its life and mission, please contact us at

P.O. Box 1190, Fayetteville, AR 72702, or call 479/442-7373

More sermon texts are posted on our web site: www.stpaulsfay.org

Click the “Video Online” button to watch full services and sermons live-streamed or archived. 

"Alaha" and "Adam"

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

October 4, 2015; 19 Pentecost, Proper 22, Year B, Track 2

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Genesis 2:18-24)  The LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner." So out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

"This at last is bone of my bones

                and flesh of my flesh;

this one shall be called Woman,

                for out of Man this one was taken."

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

(Mark 10:2-16)  Some Pharisees came, and to test Jesus they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" He answered them, "What did Moses command you?" They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her." But Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.' 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

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As English speakers, our name for Ultimate Reality is God, a word from the Germanic traditions. The native language that Jesus spoke was Aramaic, a language related to Hebrew. Jesus called God Alaha, which is similar to the Hebrew word Elohim and the Arabic Allah. The meaning of the name Alaha points toward the oneness of all that is as Sacred Unity. Unity without boundaries or qualifications. Oneness. Alaha.

In Genesis, Alaha says, "Let us make adam/humankind in our image,… male and female he created them." The Hebrew word for humankind or for the human person is adam. The sound of "A" (pro. Ah), pointing toward Alaha as the source and sacred unity of all, and the sound of dam, meaning blood, or sap, or essence. Adam/humanity/the person: the embodiment of the essence of the whole, the all: Alaha. Every human being is created in the image of Alaha, male and female, each whole human person containing both male and female, masculine and feminine along a continuum, as a human being. Genesis says that Alaha formed adam from the dust of the earth/adamah. Alaha breathes breath, spirit, air into the earthling/adam.

In the story of Genesis 1, at the end of each day of creation, God pauses and sees that everything God has created is good. Light, day, night, sky, water, earth, sun, moon, stars, birds, sea creatures and animals, and finally humankind/adam. "God saw everything that God had made, and indeed, it was very good."

It was all good, that is, until Genesis 2, the second creation story, when Alaha placed the human person into the garden and realized, "It is not good that adam/the human person should be alone." Humankind was made for relationship. So Alaha determined to make a helper as a partner. From the same earth/adamah, Alaha formed "every animal of the field and every bird of the air." And adam gave them all names, identity. They are all related to adam/humankind, formed of the same earth. But none of them was found to be a suitable helper and partner. So Alaha created from the rib of man (ish, in Hebrew) one called ishsha/woman. A new oneness in creation, "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; …one flesh." She will be named Eve, meaning "living one, life-source, experience."

Adam, the human person who is the blood and essence of Alaha, the whole, the all; and Eve, the living one, life-source, quickening, reviving, nourishing helper/partner. One flesh. Centuries later the church will speak of God the Holy Spirit as the Helper, the quickening, enlivening, life-source.

So we see from these ancient stories that humankind is created to be in essential unity with Alaha, Sacred Unity itself, and to be in a living relationship of oneness within humanity. But we're not particularly good at being whom we are created to be.

"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" It was hot-button question in Jesus' day. Marriage was an agreement negotiated between two families for the purpose of creating family alliances to increase their honor or wealth, and to provide heirs if they have property, or workers to help support the family with or without property. The loving relationship of the couple was a much desired but secondary interest.

The Hebrew grounds for divorce were found in Deuteronomy 24, allowing a man to write a certificate of divorce if the wife "does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her." The words of scripture are pretty ambiguous. What does "something objectionable" mean? There were two schools of thought in Jesus' day. The liberal school of Hillel held that divorce is permitted if, say, the wife ruins the meal. The conservative school of Shammai required a serious offense such as adultery. The Pharisees ask Rabbi Jesus, what do you think? Jesus took the conservative view. Earlier he sided with the liberals over the Sabbath.

Jesus asks his challengers what Moses says. They start to answer with that passage from Deuteronomy 24, but Jesus interrupts them and says this law was spoken only because of their hardness of heart. Jesus completely changes the focus, from Deuteronomy to Genesis, from the law and legalisms to origins and purpose. Jesus shifts the conversation from legal to relational categories, and he speaks in solidarity with the vulnerable.

A woman in that patriarchal culture had no identity or protection except through her male relationships – father, brothers, husband, male in-laws. A divorced woman was radically vulnerable, in need of male protection. It was a hard-hearted system. Jesus decries it.

Moreover, he goes on to say something remarkable about the consequences of the customary male hegemony. "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her." Against her! In that world, if a man was unfaithful to his wife, he would have offended or shamed her father or her brothers; they are the ones who entrusted her to him. But Jesus says the husband has sinned against the woman, against her dignity and honor and rights.

Jesus deflects the law in Deuteronomy and goes back to the origin stories of Genesis where we read that God cares about relationship. God's intention is unity. We are to be one flesh. Unspoken but implied: humanity may be unfaithful to this fundamental unity, but God will not. The Sacred Unity of Alaha is utterly dependable and eternal love. God will not be separated from what God has joined, and God has joined humanity, for good.

But you, human beings: There is much hardness of heart.

Jesus then reaches for a child. Be like this. Receive the Sacred Unity of the kingdom of God as a gift. Receive it simply, with open hands, like a child.

It is important for us not to read this scripture legalistically, like the Pharisees tried to do. I know some churches that have created rules and canons based on passages like this one. I have seen the hardness of heart behind their enforcement. I have known marriages that were destructive to the human spirit. I have known marriages that have died. I have known broken hearts when well-meaning clergy have imposed strict rules upon vulnerable, hurt people in the complications of divorce or remarriage.

Until 1973, the Episcopal Church would not allow remarriage after divorce. We were trying to be faithful to the scripture and words like these we read today from Mark's gospel. Eventually we also returned to our beginnings and remembered. "It is not good that the human person should be alone." (Gen. 2:18) We saw the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the loving relationships of divorced Episcopalians who had been remarried outside the church. Their lives together did not look like sin; but rather, resurrection. We remembered Paul's words: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and temperance. Against these there is no law." (Gal. 5:22-23)

Jesus came that we might have life, abundant life. God created us to be in relationship, to be one. That oneness can be exquisitely experienced in the relationship of one flesh in a lifelong, commitment of faithful love. It is both hard work and a divine gift when that happens.

Whatever happens, God is faithful. God breathes divine life and Spirit into our being moment by moment, loving us and re-creating us constantly, over-and-over. Renewing God's promises of acceptance and forgiveness, the essential qualities for an enduring, loving relationship. Alaha, Sacred Unity, is one with adam, you and me. We are the blood and essence of that divine love and unity. Every week we renew that oneness and identity as we take the sacred body and blood of the divine into our bodies and we are recreated – whole and one.

We are one – with each other and with God. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.

__________________________________________

The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church is to explore and celebrate

God's infinite grace, acceptance and love.

For information about St. Paul's Episcopal Church and its life and mission, please contact us at

P.O. Box 1190, Fayetteville, AR 72702, or call 479/442-7373

More sermon texts are posted on our web site: www.stpaulsfay.org

Click the “Video Online” button to watch full services and sermons live-streamed or archived.