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Book 'em
    If your church or organization would like to host an event with Brett, Will and maybe some friends, drop us a note at [email protected].
Blessed Be . . . 
Join Us we gather at 6:30 every  Friday evening for prayer, music, readings and silence in the parlor at Hope, 85 Grand Street here in Newburgh. This week, we continue our study of the  Beatitudes using Erik Kolbell's book  What Jesus Meant.
Here's a short list of items we could really use:
1. Winter boots - the exact same size as that extra pair you've got in the closet.
2. Gloves
3. White socks. The Dollar Store kind are fine
4. Lip Balm
5. Disposable razors
6. Deodorant
Bring them by, send them over, drop us a note and we'll pick them up if we can. 
Spread the Word
Help us spread the word about our work in the Burgh. In addition to telling your family and friends about us over lunch or dinner, you can also 

   

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On the Agenda

Every Day

4:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Our House is open

85 Grand Street

 

M & W at Noon and 

Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. 

 Meditation

85 Grand Street

 

Sundays

1:30 p.m.

Weekly worship

85 Grand Street

 

Quick Links
 

 

 

Holy Cross

  
 
 

   Greetings to you!
   Forgive us for bailing out on last week's Gram . . . we got sidetracked a bit by life that included a bout of bronchitis. . .
   Can you taste it? No! Not the bronchitis! Spring! It's in the air . . . on its way as promised. We hope this note finds you looking forward to that wonderful season and . . . maybe . . . reflecting on what it means for your Spirit . . .
   You do not want to miss this issue. Below there's a blurb about how Ecclesia - your ministry - is a Human Rights Award recipient . . . and, even better, down below you'll have a chance to meet two ordinary guys who make extraordinary music . . .
    Before you skip on - this is our third full week of Lent and we're focusing on the second Beatitude - Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. How's that work for you?  
On the rights track
   This ministry of yours will be honored next month as one of the recipients of this year's Orange County Human Rights award. The dinner and awards are set for April 10th (Click here for more info on that).
  Treating others the way we'd like to be treated is common to every faith tradition. Whether we're a Christian, a Jew, A Muslim, a Buddhist . . . a Zoroastrian  or a Rastafarian, our life's work includes a call to care for one another.
   We Christians have heard that from the day we joined the faith. We've quoted Jesus saying in Luke 6:31, "Do to others as you would have them do to you." And, we've sat at his feet listening to him tell us to love our enemies, to do good to those who would harm us. And, in Matthew, we heard him respond to a Sadducee's question by saying the greatest commandment
is to love God with our whole selves and secondly,  to love others as ourselves.
   Love . . . embracing God who is love, living into that space, that relationship in which we discover our belovedness compels us to see - as the cartoon (left) suggests - that there is no "other," that the person I see as "other" is a mirror, a reflection of myself, a self that God loves too . . .
   It is from and through that love that we are called - indeed, compelled - to act.
   The truth of that call has never been more clear to us than during these nearly eight years in the Burgh. We've begun to learn what it means the even try to live in the presence of God, struggling to channel God's love to one another and to the people who have permitted us to share a bit of their journey. We've begun to internalize the truth - there is no "other." 
IMG 1851
Brett & Will: Let's Praise the Lord
Giving love away, this and every morning
   
What happens when a man comes home a changed man after serving 18 months for a parole violation and meets another man who took a hard fall and spent the last 18 months in recovery programs? Well, they make music, of course. . .  
   Brett Boyd and Will Pierce met for the first time about a month ago. Something clicked and before you knew it, the two were sharing their stories and their songs, gospel songs they'd each written, songs of praise, songs of thanksgiving, songs of hope.  
   Hope. If you check out Brett's Facebook page, you'll see the photo at right, a photo of a hand with "HOPE" written on it. What's interesting is that if you look carefully, you can see that the hand's displayed in one of those car mirrors that says Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. That's the way it is with hope isn't it? When hope seems so far away, on the brink of being lost, it's really close at hand.
   Will doesn't have a Facebook page. What he does have is the uncanny ability to put images to music - Did you wake up this morning with praise in your heart . . . did a smile play a part . . . this morning. Wait! Why are we telling you the words, you can listen for yourself by clicking on the video or by clicking here. (You can also watch Brett perform one of his original compositions by clicking here.)
     At our sidewalk service last Sunday, we reflected on Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus and how we're called to become new, to rediscover ourselves, to know that God loves us, to glimpse the Kingdom of Heaven that is within us. Will could write that song because an open heart that has begun to open his mind. The two men could sing it so beautifully because they have both begun to live its lyrics.
   Living into who we are, owning who we are, and knowing that we are good enough for God, is a life-changing experience. Just ask the "Woman at the Well" about whom we read in today's (Sunday's) gospel lesson - John 4:5-42.
   Yep! That's a long passage chock full of great stuff. I can't help reading it without hearing the question in Will's song - Did you wake up this morning giving love away? Jesus went to that well giving love away to a woman to whom no one would give the time of day. What's more, he gave it to her knowing everything about her, knowing that she was one of "them," a Samaritan whose existence no good Jew would even acknowledge. He modeled God's love for us, God's acceptance of us for who we are, where we are.
   That, of course, reminds us next Sunday's gospel story - John 9:1-41 - about the "man born blind." Discovering and accepting the love that is free for the taking is an eyeopener that lets us see again for the first time. It changes everything.
   How has it changed things for you?
Many blessings!

 

The Rev. Steve Ruelke

Ecclesia Ministries of Newburgh

P: 845-527-0405

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