Bob & Donna Weber, Mickey Federico, Yasso Herath, Peter Lubeck, Catherine Lubeck, Shirley Federico, Courtney Hoenveld, Janet, Thomas Humeston, Elaine MacPhee, Tankert Mahler, Marie Haynie, Jack Seeman, Miranda Pinckert, Adele, Clinton Taplin, Dominique Rhoklin, Fred Teyan, Peggy, Madeline Schnalzer, Peter Zakrepine, Betty Mettler, Marvin Spruck, Jeannie, Lyn Casey, Rosemarie Buri, Louise Bohr, Carl, Sally Sarvent, Alexandra Mettler,.Helen Scalici, Rosemary Owen, Kathleen Hoenveld, Tom LaColla, Joanne Carter, Luke Oullen, Barbara Krusko, Andrew Biscamp, The Rev. John Meyer, May, Barbara, Dennis McSherry, Joanne, Dolores Puhl, Pam, Brady O'Sullivan, Ruth Daly, Elizabeth, Janine Carter, Mike Maslanek, Anita Sevier-Berg, Diane
Readings [We are using Track 2 of the indicated readings.]
Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight in your whole creation with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reflection
What is serious to men is often very trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as "play" is perhaps what he Himself takes most seriously. At any rate, the Lord plays and diverts Himself in the garden of His creation, and if we could let go of our own obsession with what we think is the meaning of it all, we might be able to hear His call and follow Him in His mysterious, cosmic dance. We do not have to go very far to catch echoes of that game, and of that dancing. When we are alone on a starlit night; when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children; when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet Bashō we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash--at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the "newness," the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance.
For the world and time are the dance of the Lord in emptiness. The silence of the spheres is the music of a wedding feast. The more we persist in misunderstanding the phenomena of life, the more we analyze them out into strange finalities and complex purposes of our own, the more we involve ourselves in sadness, absurdity and despair. But it does not matter much, because no despair of ours can alter the reality of things; or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there. Indeed, we are in the midst of it, and it is in the midst of us, for it beats in our very blood, whether we want it to or not.
Yet the fact remains that we are invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful solemnity to the winds and join in the general dance.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 - Feast of St. Francis Pet Blessing at all services!
8:00am Holy Eucharist (Rite I)
9:30am Holy Eucharist (Family Service & baptism)
10:10am Church School Classes/refreshments/Bible Study
11:00am Holy Eucharist (Rite II w/choir)
Followed by refreshments in Memorial Hall
12:30-1:30 - Outdoor pet blessing Memorial Garden 4:00pm First at Four: Choral Evensong 4:00pm SYG Harriman hike (offsite) 5:00pm Confirmation Class Potluck (offsite)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7 6:00pm Healing & Wellness Service (Bradley Chapel)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8 7:00am Men's Prayer Breakfast (Patterson Hall) 12:00pm Brown Bag & A Bible 7:30pm Choir
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9 5:00pm Pizza for a Purpose (Memorial Hall)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10 10:00am Midnight Run (Memorial Hall) 1:30pm Lemire/Monahan wedding
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11
8:00am Holy Eucharist (Rite I)
9:30am Holy Eucharist (Family Service & baptism)
10:10am Church School Classes/refreshments/Bible Study
THIS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 - Feast of St. Francis Pet Blessing at all services
Does your pet have a short attention span? You may also bring your pet to be blessed outside in Memorial Garden, any time between 12:30 and 1:30pm. All creatures great and small are welcome, just make sure they are on a leash or secured safely! Free and open to all.
First At Four: Choral Evensong On the first Sunday of the month at 4:00pm, the Grace Choir leads the traditional Anglican service of sung evening prayer with hymns, canticles, and anthems. After a busy weekend, come be refreshed by the service's simplicity, beauty, and stillness at the close of day.
Confirmation Orientation - Potluck at 5:00pm for the incoming class of confirmands and their parents. Confirmation classes begin on October 18 - if you'd like to know more, please talk with Fr. Owen or contact the church office.
SAVE THE DATE & WATCH FOR MORE INFORMATION TO COME ON THESE EVENTS
Friday, October 9 - Pizza for a Purpose Every 2nd Friday of the month Pizza For A Purpose will be a chance for students to be with their peers, help a good cause, receive 2 hours of community service and the first 75 students* who arrive get a FREE slice of pizza (and a drink!). The NON-PROFIT in the spotlight for October is Grace's Thrift Shop in Nyack.
Saturday, October 17
Quiet Day at Marydell, sponsored by Adult Spiritual Formation Commission
Friday, October 23
Junior Youth Group Nightwatch
Saturday, October 24 Senior Youth Group Haunted House (benefits the Church Youth Service Mission Trip)
Sunday, October 25
GraceMusic presents Ensemble Tremblay CLICK HERE for details and brochure
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Did you receive your pledge packet in the mail? Click on the image for links to pledge card and brochure.
Pledge Sunday is November 1, 2015
GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH MEMORIAL GARDEN FUNDRAISER Through 10/10/15
The Grace Church Memorial Garden committee has partnered with Flower Power Fundraising for this season's fundraiser.
Flower Power offers top-quality flower bulbs for our friends and family members to purchase. All orders ship directly to our customers' homes and come with a 100% money-back guarantee. And the best part, we get to keep 50% of every dollar sold!
Start now by checking out this link, and then sharing it with your friends and family.
Here's how the program works:
We've created a special web page, dedicated to our project. The page features specific information about our group and explains how supporters can help us achieve our fundraising goals by purchasing flower bulbs and plants directly from Flower Power. For every purchase made, Grace Church's Memorial Garden receives 50% of the sale price, which counts towards our fundraising goal.Our success is up to you! We hope that you'll take advantage of this opportunity to purchase some beautiful bulbs for your garden, and also use the links on the fundraiser page to share the information with your friends via email and facebook!
Have fun and thank you! Sondra Holt GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH MEMORIAL GARDEN
To live in this world requires that you leave your house every morning and step into the wind Every morning: with all your memories on file and the future pinned to some wall you will have to build and tear down and build again. If you get there. If. If.
Into the wind: first you walk the dog whose happy face belies the beast it is built on Millennia behind you, that beast enters a cave and decides whether or not to kill a child sleeping by a fire. It does not kill the child because it has been surprised by love Both softened and sharpened by it, inexplicably Inexplicably, to this day
And on this day, the wind relents The morning star lifts itself into a changeable sky and you, carrying extra weight, wearing last year's clothes, start walking towards the train Seeds that grew from ancient science digest in your stomach; your bones begin to separate because science did not plan this length of life; your heart slows down and you feel the pressure of dragging a million, billion years behind you. A million, billion lie ahead that you will know nothing about
Thus, harnessed to time, facing the inevitable, constructed by science and fed on inexplicable events taking place somewhere in the middle of history, your day goes by. Miles away, the ocean murmurs to its own beloved creatures, a mountain applies pressure to the weaving of a golden seam And in your house, the dog wonders if you will make it home again. And each day, despite or because the performance of this feat is both a mystery and a triumph, you will. You do
THIS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 - Feast of St. Francis
GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH