Message by Rev. Michelle Scott-Huffman. This is her last message before her three month Sabbatical.
The opening words are Come together in praise and thanksgiving, by Mary J Harrington, in honor of Mother’s Day and a celebration of life, with the recognition that this day brings joy for some and sorrow for others. Above all, we celebrate that each of us are here today because someone cared for us, and we commit ourselves to the care of others.
We come together today in praise and thanksgiving
for the gift of life itself.
Someone gave birth to us and some of us have
given birth.
All of us have been mothered in our time,
All of us have mothered.
Let our time today be one of recognition–
That we arrive from so many places,
Joy and delight,
Wistfulness and longing and worry,
Unmet needs and unfulfilled dreams,
Loss and sorrow, loss and emptiness,
loss and regret.
All that life is made of, mothers are made of too.
Today we sing the songs of so many,
Mothers who are single parents, foster parents,
mothers who relinquished their young
out of necessity,
Mothers who found their heart in adoption,
Mothers who left their children in a thousand ways,
Mothers who rejoice and mothers who mourn.
We sing the songs of the grandmother, the auntie, the classroom teacher, the Sunday School teacher, the babysitter, the neighbor with endless cookies and time.
There is a kind of love we cannot live without.
It is never too late, no matter our age or situation.
We sing a song of gratitude for all the moments
of being known, being cherished, being found.
Earth was Given as a Garden
Congregational Hymn
Words: Roberta Bard
Music: Rowland Hugh Prichard
Public Domain/No Known Copyright
The Pen is Greater
Congregational Hymn
Words: John Andrew Storey
Music: David Dawson
Permission Given
Michelle James with the Center for Creative Emergence writes:
The unknown is not an empty space waiting to be filled, but it already is a very full space, an infinitely and abundantly full, rich, deep, thick, magnificent, generative, life-giving space.
May we each experience such fullness as we greet the world with new appreciation for the gifts of the unknown.