Farnham & St. John's

The Weekly Message

“A Morning Vision”

It’s a Celtic morning. The sunlight has a clearness about it, as if one could see through it forever if nothing got in the way. The sky is brushed blue and white, clouds undefined, just drifting threads of white weaving through the blue. The water on the river, at least the surface of it, is mostly calm, but I can see it moving, sort of shimmering in place. I watch for  morning gulls or ospreys. Are they late in their coming to circle in their search for fish hidden from my eyes, but not from theirs? Will the local heron sweep by, wing tips almost touching the river’s face, heading towards her special daytime spot of river’s edge? I wait.

I walk about the little piece of ground around my cottage, pick a lavender leaf, crush it between my fingers and breathe in its pungent scent. Say “Good morning” to the dozens of new hydrangea blooms that have sprung out this last week or so and whisper, “You are becoming so beautiful!” I take note of the tight little buds on the lilies I have brought home and planted for several years – each one having graced an Easter morning sanctuary at some church where I have served. I wonder if they will burst out in bloom so I can savor them before I head out to New Mexico the end of next week.

A morning choir sings my way into this morning. It’s a small one, only two or three songbirds I gather, but their trills and bursts weave around my heart and I find calm this morning in the presence of all the life around me. I come indoors, fix a little oatmeal, slice some fragrant strawberries, scatter them and a handful of blueberries on top. It’s as if I can taste sunlight and rain in every grain and the sweetness of something from deep in the earth in each berry. I savor this quiet contemplative meal. Even the hummingbirds around the large feeder outside my river room window seem calm this morning as they dip and sip into the sweetness waiting for them too.   The day will unfold, work to do, routines to follow, a trip to Richmond for a doctor’s visit, and back again. The week ahead includes a lot of coming and going, a lot of “noise” – including the construction across the street from the church. Important, but not peaceful. I linger over my morning because there is something about it that simply re-Sources me for the day and week ahead. In this early morning I am called to move softly, take in what is offered slowly. I am called to savor and delight in all the goodness of the creation around me, breathe in the gentle spirit of all living things around me and let the peace of it all rise up within me, as softly, as quietly as a hidden spring, defying gravity, wells up from a deep, abundant place.   It has taken a long time for me to arrive back at a rhythm of life that somewhere deep inside I sense was within the truth of me when I was little. So much in between then and now.  Perhaps this is what is meant by the thought of “coming home to one’s true self.” A way of being that honors and lives into the understanding that there is an essential goodness at the heart of life and that there is a Divine Source that desires to flow into and through life. That all I need to do is to just let it happen – take time to pause in The Presence offering present moments, then receive and open the gift of each. We live in a world that seems to want to disturb, interrupt that flow within us. There are so many times it seems that world is too much with us. But there’s something bigger, more sustaining that calls us to be with its grace infused Spirit instead.

The truth at the ground of our being is that we are interconnected with all living things while we and all life are also intimately connected with this Divine bigger, deeper, broader “All in All” Love and Peace that desires our attention and reception. It is a delicious and amazing circular way of being. It only takes a little time throughout the day to “Be Still and Know” that the Divine Spirit beyond, around, but also within all living things, including you and me, so deeply desires us to flow with it within a current of abundant life. The Celtic Way as it has become known offers a special vision that embraces this

interconnected unifying conscious awareness that helps sustain this flowing rhythm. May we take the time this summer to find and be found by it.       Grace & Peace,  Torrence Singing warbler picture by Mark Trabue; baby birds being fed photo downloaded from Pinterest: No copyright infringement intended. Other photos by Torrence Harman.

Quote for the week: Once we know that the entire physical world around us, all of creation, is both the hiding place and the revelation place for God, this world becomes home, safe, enchanted, offering grace to any who look deeply. —Richard Rohr

Announcements

St. John's June ECW meeting is Tuesday, June 11 th , 11:00 a.m . at Juggs, Sabine Hall, followed by luncheon. Please bring a dish to share.

Farnham's June ECW meeting is Wednesday, June 12 th , 6:00 p.m. in the Farnham Parish Hall.

Combined parish Sunday Services at 10 a.m. summer casual attire if you'd like. 1 st & 3 rd Sundays at St. John's with Communion ;  2 nd & 4 th Sundays at Farnham with Morning Prayer (except June 9 th , which is Communion because it's Pentecost.)

at belle isle state park on saturday, july 20 th with "music by the river." more details to follow. The summer E-pistle schedule is twice a month: the next one will be June 18 th . Lesson pages for June 9 th & 16 th services are linked, below.

PNNMP has a pre-season summer speaker lined up at St. John's church in Tappahannock (216 Duke St., 22560) at 6:00 p.m. on June 14 th to discuss the restoration of this 1850 frame Carpenter Gothic genre church. The regular Summer Speaker Series begins on June 18 th at Wellford Hall, St. John's Warsaw with Barbara Heath speaking about Archaeology at Coan Hall in Northumberland County, also at 6:00 p.m.

On the Fall Calendar

September 15th - Return of Children's program during services at St. John's

September 20th - 22nd Parish Shrine Mont weekend

A CELTIC INVITATION time sensitive - note registration deadline   John Philip Newell and his School of Celtic Consciousness are coming to the Northern Neck in a three day event to be located at Grace Episcopal Church in Kilmarnock on October 29 th , 30 th and 31 st . This is a very special opportunity to be in a learning environment with John Philip and others beginning or continuing to explore the creative way of Christian thought and life that emerged in the British Isles after Christianity arrived there with Roman occupation. Over the centuries Celtic Christianity encouraged a Christian consciousness nourished by a creative interweaving of Scripture, Tradition, and Creation honoring the interconnectedness of life and the Divine Love at the heart of all creation. This vision offers a way of living, moving and being that so many of us living within the beautiful landscapes (and heartscapes) of our “River Country” already are drawn to.   Linked here is the full information on this opportunity. Please take the time to consider what this event may have to offer you. The registration deadline is June 25 th . I plan to attend and would love us to bring together a group, however small, to share this experience together, including carpooling. I will be available after church this coming Sunday (June 9 th ) to discuss this opportunity with anyone who might be interested. Also, I am setting aside next Tuesday afternoon (anytime between 4-6 p.m.) in the Clopton parlor at St. John’s to meet with those of you who might be interested. Or, simply contact me by phone (804-436-7581) or email . “Scholarship” funds may be made available for those interested. Torrence

at St. John's this week....

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

picture courtesy of Torrence Harman "Taking a bite out of the Bottom"

Across Richmond Road from St. John's pictures (above & below) courtesy of Courtenay Altaffer

In the Church

(updated) Service Assistant's Schedule

June 9th Lessons

June 16th Lessons

Sunday June 9 th Holy Eucharist wear red for Pentecost Joint Congregation service 10:00 a.m. at Farnham no service at St. John's Sunday June 16 th Holy Eucharist Joint Congregation service 10:00 a.m. at St. John's no service at Farnham

Sunday June 23 rd Morning Prayer Joint Congregation service 10:00 a.m. at Farnham no service at St. John's Sunday June 30 th Holy Eucharist "Queen Anne Sunday" Joint Congregation service 10:00 a.m. at Farnham no service at St. John's

In the Parish Hall

Come Worship With Us Sunday Service this week 10:00 a.m. Farnham Church Farnham, VA

Farnham Church St. John's Church ‌