All Souls Sunday Worship, April 19
Scripture Reflection & Discussion
Resources for Kids
Today we are talking about Thomas and Jesus (John 20:19-20). Thomas didn’t believe Jesus was really alive even though he was talking to him. Jesus showed Thomas his hands, where he was hurt on the cross. I hope you remember that Jesus is alive and is with you!
At Home Activity:
Supplies: paper, crayons or something to write with, and a parent.
1 - Trace your parent’s hand on the piece of paper.
2 - Draw a heart in the middle of the hand.
3 - Hang it up to remind you that Jesus is alive! He’s with you and loves you!
Option: Cut out the hand and glue it to another paper or attach a string.
Hollow and Holy
Some friends of ours are in the middle of remodeling their house. A few weeks ago they gave us a tour of the changes and shared a discovery they’d made in the basement. If you tap on the cement floor in one small area it sounds hollow. They demonstrated with a few quick taps in the area and sure enough, there it was. Unmistakable. Everyone knows what hollow sounds like. It’s that Empty, vacant, the wind knocked out of you kind of sound. Maybe hollow feels like that, too. You’re familiar with it. If you’ve been alive these last weeks you might be particularly attuned to the nuances of what hollow feels like. You might be wandering around grasping at the nothing and wondering, “where did everything go?” Some of us have a glowing imagination and have been dreaming our way back to normal. Some are stunned into stillness or lashing out in anger. Others of us are completely familiar with hollow. You’ve been here a long time, waiting wondering if the rest of us will ever show up. Whatever your strategy, we’re all dealing with what hollow feels like and none of us know when or how it’s going to end.
In preparation for Holy Week during this (my very first) pandemic I’ve thought through the stories we remember in these days- Jesus washing the disciples feet, then hanging on the cross, breathing his last, then some days later, filling his lungs again and leaving behind an empty tomb. In the middle of it all I noticed a curious anticipation for today, what many Christians call Holy Saturday. That withdrawn day that sits silently between Jesus’ death and his mysterious return to life. It usually slips by without much attention. Lost under the weight of Good Friday or behind the brilliance of Easter Sunday. It is an unmistakably hollow day. A day to remind us that just after our stories succumb to their afflictions and long before any new way emerges there are the dark, gasping days where all is adversary and our lives are only here, only now. Holy Saturday has got my attention this year.
The empty, the lack, the not knowing of today all seem in some way essential, even while remaining mysterious. Holy Saturday is emerging to me as a crucial way that we work to avoid but that continually brings us to a reckoning with the parts of our stories we’ve cut off as useless, as failure, as nothing. Perhaps Holy Saturday is pedagogy for a people who cling to the belief that nothingness is worthless.
Maybe Jesus’ hours in the tomb on Saturday tell a new story about what we name nothing? “In order to arrive there,” T.S. Eliot tells us in East Coker,
To arrive where you are, to get from where you are not,
You must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.”
In order to arrive at what you do not know
You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
You must go by the way of dispossession.
In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through the way in which you are not
I wonder if Jesus stayed in that tomb on Saturday to enter, “the way wherein there is no ecstasy,” to enfold “the way of ignorance” and, “dispossession,” to be present to, “the way in which you are not.” Maybe, just maybe, Jesus enters that place of absence to call it, of all things, Holy and bring it and all it means into the Way of Christ.
Don’t rush Holy Saturday for the sake of Easter Sunday this year. Take a seat here, in the hollow, gasping now and wait with Christ for the hope of new life. Welcome to Holy Saturday.
Sunday Worship Update
Greetings Beloved Community!
Along with many of you we have been keeping a close eye on the Coronavirus developments in Colorado and in Boulder. After talking with other local faith leaders, and following the advice from state officials we have decided to suspend our Sunday morning gathering until further notice beginning this Sunday, March 15th. We will continue updates through our weekly email and our website.
Love is the reason we are making this decision and changing our practice. This is an unusual step in the life of our church but it is also one made out of deep Biblical conviction to care for the most vulnerable people in our society. At this time we can best love our neighbors by doing our part in slowing the transmission of Coronavirus by not gathering in large numbers.
Stay Connected
This is not a time to turn inward and focus exclusively on our personal well being. Rather, now is the time to resist the temptation to be consumed by thoughts of ourselves. We are called to live into our vision of cultivating Beloved Community We’d like to invite you to intentionally practice connection even while not gathering.
Connect with each other
Current best practices encourage us to not gather in large numbers. We invite you to evaluate each of your regular get togethers and use your discretion about continuing to gather. Apart from physically gathering please be intentional about reaching out to folks, especially those who may be isolated and alone. Use your tech savvy to facetime/google hangout/zoom...or actually call someone :) and stay connected.
Connect with our city
In I Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul casts a vision of the church as functioning as a human body, and “when one part suffers, all parts suffer with it.” Now is the time to deeply care for those who are suffering in our city and world. Pray! Keep yourself oriented towards others even while practicing social distancing! Pray for those you know at high risk - those who are immunocompromised and the elderly. Pray for folks who are homeless and for whom the only option of a bed and roof is also alongside dozens of strangers. Pray for folks who go to work anxious each day knowing that sickness and missing work mean missed paychecks, missed bills and empty cupboards. Pray for protection from those experiencing harassment based on race and national origin. Pray for the many kids whose only secure meals came during the school day. Please pray for our city and world!
Our Sister Carmen Food Drive matters more than ever! Remember, the anxiety and worry you have about having enough in an uncertain time is elevated for those living in or near homelessness. We have committed to gathering food to fill the pantry at Sister Carmen and coronavirus only makes this work more critical. Being in the middle of our food drive makes us uniquely positioned to quite literally put food into the pantrys of some of Boulder County’s most vulnerable people.
For the remainder of March we have 2 ways to participate in the food drive.
1. Please drop food or order to be delivered to:
The Forsythes’:
North Boulder: 3773 Paonia St.The Cooks’:
East Central Boulder: 5598 Pennsylvania Ave.The Bailons’:
Lafayette: 720 Silverberry Ct.
2. Take your food to Sister Carmen directly between 9am-5pm (655 Aspen Ridge Drive, Lafayette, CO 80026) and tell them it is from All Souls food drive.
Centered in God
Many of us are experiencing new levels of fear and anxiety in light of the uncertainty of a global pandemic. We have felt it in ourselves and sensed it in our community, this is part of being human as we navigate our beautiful and broken world together. It is hard not to give in to the wild swings between denying the severity of the situation and being overcome with fear and anxiety. Our hope is to find a wise center. In this season of Lent, we are being invited to anchor our hope in the midst of despair, find our rest (Sabbath) during chaos, and practice vulnerable trust in the living and loving God as we journey together towards resurrection.
If you are longing to talk, pray, or seek spiritual direction with our pastoral team please do not be shy and reach out via email. Our hope is to set up multiple online conversations to stay connected. We want to be here for you.
On each Sunday we are not gathering in person, we plan to gather in Spirit. We will send out our worship liturgy on Sunday morning with poems, prayers, scripture, and reflections questions. Please set aside sacred time to worship, as individuals, within your family, or small circles. All and all, be intentional and set aside time to remember and practice our call to worship, “Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around.”
Also please use the weekly reflections from our Lent guide devotional and reflect on the Sabbath poems of Wendell Berry. May this be an opportunity for us all to practice the ancient rhythm of Sabbath.
God makes peace within us.
God makes peace between us.
The peace of God is here to stay.
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
Resources
Some helpful resources for kids:
Helping Children with Scary News (article)
Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus
Make sure you are reading credible sources to understand what COVID-19 is and to stay up-to-date with what is happening. We recommend getting your information directly from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.