Grace
Episcopal Church
Sheboygan,
Wisconsin
Grace
Notes
1 October 2015
Live más! Every now and
then you encounter an advertising campaign that makes clear why some ad
executives are so well paid. The current
campaign for Taco Bell is one of them. Think
about the message: (1) It combines
English and Spanish to remind you of the heritage of the product; (2) It
appeals to your desire to affirm life; and (crucially) (3) It makes you think
that maybe there is something more to life (más means “more” in
Spanish), and that the product will
give this to you. The campaign appeals
to emotion, appetite, and aspiration.
You end up both feeling and thinking, at some subconscious level, that
Taco Bell is the answer to something you have been seeking. Advertising genius.
But why is the
campaign so clever? It’s because many in
society are missing something. They’re
not sure what they are missing, but they are sure that they are owed something
more, and if they can just buy it, or take it, or learn it, or do it, they’ll
be happy. More is equated with
happiness, and when we don’t have more, we think something’s wrong or that we
have been cheated. Some respond by
self-medicating in ways ranging from shopping to substance abuse. Some respond by making sure that they will take more, and that
they will not care who else has to be hurt in order for them to get it. Regardless of the response, if we think that
there is more to be had—whatever more is—we will both worry about how to get it
and pay less attention to what we do have.
In speaking of
His sheep, Jesus tells us “... I came that they may have life, and have it
abundantly” (Jn. 10.10). We have God’s
presence, His blessing. When we pay
attention to the world around us, we also experience the blessing of all
Creation (as testified to in the column contributed below). What more may there be? We can strive, of course, to know God better,
and to better do His will. We can strive
to better follow Jesus, that we may become more Christ-like. But when we become closer to God it is not
that we get more, but that we experience what He gives already. He gives Himself.
How might we
communicate to people who are seeking something more? Should we use a slogan? Try your hand at advertising. How about Live abundantly! (Too abstract?) Live blessing! (This combines the concept of being
blessed and of giving blessing.) Live
grace! (A similar combination to
blessing.) Live joy! Live faith!
Live salvation! (These all
have the strength of making what they speak of more about present life and less
about something thought of only as future.
They do, however, tend more to the theological end of language.) Live prayer! (Problematic: Sounds too much like an injunction, and like
all of the other examples except “abundantly,” may be mispronounced to yield a
different meaning.) Live blessed! (?)
You see the
challenge. Try your own hand. Just as Got milk? can be Got
prayer?, how do we extend the aspirational message of Live más!
in ways that people want to know more because they think that what is offered
answers their seeking?
Grace
abounds: Please thank:
§
Kevan and Traci Revis, Brian Heck,
Bob and Barb MacEwen, and Joyce Wessel for the Sunday coffee hours.
Music
this Week: The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost,
Proper 22B
Prelude Chor. Prelude on Lord, forever at thy side R. Vaughan Williams
Entrance
Hymn 495 “Hail, thou once despised
Jesus” In Babilone
Mass
Setting Deutsche
Messe Franz
Scubert, arr. Proulx
Offertory
Hymn 448 “O love, how deep, how
broad, how high” Deus tuorum
militum
Communion
Motet O Salutaris Hostia Charles Gounod
Communion
Hymn 704 “O thou who camest from above” Hereford
Closing
Hymn 637 “How
firm a foundation” Lyons
Postlude Prelude & Fugue in
G Major Dietrich Buxtehude
Call for
Contributions: If you
have a spiritual reflection to share, or want to point your fellow worshippers
toward a resource, submit your contributions to Fr. Karl (by email) by
Wednesday in the week of publication.
Creation: If you were fortunate like my
husband & I were last night to watch the lunar eclipse, you got to be part
of God & His magnificent Creation.
The sky was so filled with all the stars & the stillness of the
night, allowing us to feel His presence in the uniqueness of it all. My grandmother had a sign that said to “take
time to stop & smell the flowers.”
She knew that if we would take the time to just be in nature, view
nature or smell nature, we would relax more & get rid of a lot of the
stress of everyday life. Weeding &
planting, also gave her time to pray for all the people she loved &
knew. Many people loved coming to her
gardens & she always welcomed them & offered Jesus’ love through her
hospitality to them. I remember sitting
in her sunroom, viewing all the birds when they came to the feeders. As a child, I never understood why people
enjoyed it, but now I can’t wait to see who will come to our feeders. I just enjoy their beauty, their songs &
their antics. Both Mark & I love to
sit in the morning, reading & praying while the day awakens looking out our
windows. There is a sameness to the
view, but all of a sudden you notice a change.
Or like yesterday morning, Mark saw 2 eagles that are living in the area. We are waiting for the corn to be harvested
for then the animals of the woods & swamp will pass by at all times of the
day & night. You don’t have to live
in the country to find God’s beauty in creation. Even a house plant or a bouquet of flowers
can help bring God a little closer. The
important thing is to just sit & relax & allow God to come & give
you His peace. Creation, like God is
always there & just waiting for you to come & enjoy & relax! Just be with God & His creation.
―Barb Drury-Zimmerman
Parish
Notices
Parish
Notices
§ A blog worth
visiting: If you enjoy The Living Church you
will enjoy the blog supported by the magazine, http://covenant.livingchurch.org The blog is updated daily.
§ Simple Potluck Supper and Compline: Sunday, October 4th
we will have our first Sunday of the month Simple Potluck Supper at 6:30 p.m.
Come and enjoy the fellowship then stay for Compline at 8:00pm. The Schola
Cantorum will be singing Compline which is the night time prayers said or sung
just before retiring. It is a wonderful and peaceful way to end the day.
§ Adult Formation: Continues a four week series at 9:00 a.m. on Giving Faith a Voice.
We are molded by language, by what we call things. How we “process” information
about life affects how we understand these data. This can determine, for
example, how we experience the reality of faith, but also how we share this
reality. We will explore how we understand our own experiences in ways that
allows us to share them with others, to let them too know how God is present in
their own lives and the life of the world. Join with us as we explore the
connections between experience and understanding, and how to give faith a voice.
Come prepared to listen and to share.
§ No Mass Tuesday, October 6th:
There will be no Mass on Tuesday, the
Pre-convention meeting will take place for delegates to Diocesan Convention on
Tuesday, October 6th at St. Anne’s in DePere. If you would like to
carpool please speak with Fr. Karl.
§ Volunteers
needed for cleanup on Saturday, October 10th: This will be an interior cleanup only lasting for
two hours. 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m.
§ Presentation
on the refugee crisis: On Sunday
October 11th at 11:45 a.m. in the Parish Hall, Deacon Mike Burg will
give a presentation on the refugee crisis.
§ 25th Annual Coats for Kids: is a community service campaign that over that last 24 years the
community has donated 20,000 coats to those in need. Area residents are asked
to donate clean coats in good repair. We accept coats of all sizes for people
of all ages, with the need being greatest for children’s coats. These coats
will be distributed to Sheboygan county residents who would otherwise go
without. Drop off location: Reinbold-Novak Funeral Home, 1535 S. 12 St.
Sheboygan, Tuesday, September 1st
– Thursday, October 22nd, Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m. –4:00 p.m. Distribution
Location: Salvation Army, 710 Pennsylvania Ave. Sheboygan, Friday, October
23rd, from 1:00 – 7:00 p.m.
§ Walsingham
Pilgrimage Music and Flowers: The
Walsingham Pilgrimage is just around the corner and preparations are being
made. Music will include the Gaudete Brass again this year. As you are able,
please donate so we can once again offer beautiful music that has become so
much a part of the pilgrimage and the flowers that add so much to the beauty of
holiness. Please make your check out to Grace Church with Walsingham music or
flowers or both in the memo. Reservations are required for lunch at a cost of
$15 per person and will be served at noon on Saturday. Deadline for
reservations is October 12th.
§ Walsingham
Volunteers Needed: There are many opportunities to help
with hospitality for the Walsingham Pilgrimage. We will need volunteers to greet
pilgrims as they arrive for both the quiet day on Friday as well as Saturday
morning for the Solemn Mass and for the musical offering, healing prayer and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. We will also need help with clean-up
after lunch. Please sign up on the sheet on the Narthex table. There is also a
need for a driver for Fr. Brown. He will need to be picked up and dropped off
at the airport as well as driven to Windway House and back to Church as needed.
If you can provide transportation please sign up on the sheet on the Narthex
table.
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Our Lady of Walsingham Pilgrimage
Friday, October 16, 2015
Quiet Day of Prayer and Meditation.
12:00 p.m. Service for Noonday and Meditation
3:00 p.m. Service of Prayer and Meditation
5:00 p.m. Holy Rosary
6:00 p.m. Solemn Evensong and Meditation
The Meditations will be led by The Rev. George Wilcox Brown,
Rector
of the Church of the Holy Cross, Dallas
Musical
offering by Nashotah House Seminary choral scholars.
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Pilgrimage
10:30 a.m. Solemn Pontifical Mass with procession of Our
Lady
Celebrant is The Right Reverend Matthew A. Gunter,
Eighth Bishop of Fond du Lac.
The preacher is The Rev. George Wilcox Brown,
Rector
of the Church of the Holy Cross, Dallas
Choral
and organ music will include Dr. R. Benjamin Dobey Organist and Choirmaster
and the Gaudete Brass Quintet of
Chicago.
12:00 p.m. Harvest Lunch. The cost is $15.00.
Please make reservations by October 12,
2015.
2:00 p.m. Anointing with Walsingham water and Healing
Prayer,
musical offering, and Benediction of
the Blessed Sacrament.
To register and for more information:
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