Staying Safe and Staying Connected
Good Morning Saint Stephen’s Church,
We continue our life of daily prayer. The Lord be with you!
Today’s Prayer
Lord, thou art in me and shalt never be lost out of me, but I am not near thee till I have found thee. Nowhere need I run to seek thee, but within me where already thou art. Thou art the treasure hidden within me: draw me therefore to thee that I may find thee and serve and possess thee for ever.
Walter Hilton, 1396
Walter Hilton studied at the University of Cambridge before becoming a hermit and later joined the Augustinians at Thurgarton Priory, where he remained for the rest of his life. His major work was The Scale [or Ladder] of Perfection, written separately in two books. The first teaches the means by which a soul may advance toward perfection by destroying the image of sin and forming the image of Christ through the practice of virtue. The second distinguishes between the active, ascetic life and the contemplative, mystical life and describes the early stages of mystical contemplation, apparently from Hilton’s own experience. Because of its sober and methodical character, The Scale became and remained a popular devotional classic through the 15th and early 16th centuries and is regarded as the finest treatise on contemplation written in the late European Middle Ages.
From Our Prayers of the People
Today, let’s pray:
For all affected by the coronavirus around the world. For the leaders of the nations that they may work together for the common good as the outbreak spreads. May barriers that divide be brought down that bonds of trust may be strengthened to benefit the entire human family.
For our Government Leaders: Donald Trump, President of the United States; Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York State; Gary McCarthy, Mayor of Schenectady
For those on the frontline: police, firefighters, EMTs, postal workers, sanitation workers, grocery personnel, delivery and transport workers, and all who must report to work because what they do is essential for our well-being, health, and safety.
For those on the Parish Prayer Chain: Sue, Art, Jeanne, Chris, Walter, Theresa.
For those who are homebound: Stephen, Pauline, Joan, Janetand Marilyn.
Those who are imprisoned: especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.
For those in need of healing: Cindi, Peter, Mary Frances, Debbie Trawick, Budd and Joe.
For all the blessings of this life.
For Daniel R – today is his baptismal anniversary!
For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Today is the focus of the Primates’ Task Group’s call for a period of prayer and repentance in the Anglican Communion.
For all who have died: especially Sara, William, Emma, Dorothy, Glenn and Clark.
For one another.
Something to share
An ‘old airman’ associated with the parish sent us this and said that it has helped him in the past! If you have a poem or any other inspirational writing you would like to share, please send it to us.
High Flight (An Airman’s Ecstasy)
John Gillespie Magee Jr.
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, nor even eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
News and Updates
Schenectady Clergy Against Hate holds a virtual service on Zoom with prayer and songs of healing on Thursday, April 2nd. Due to the generosity of our virtual hosts the Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady, up to five hundred individuals can zoom into the event in addition to various opportunities to call in or watch elsewhere online. Community members of all faiths and all those of goodwill are encouraged. All you have to do is click on this link by 6:30pm, Thursday, April 2nd, and it should take you to the service. https://uuma.zoom.us/j/199805063
Reminders
If you did not receive a phone call this last week from a member of the Vestry and you would like to be added to the communication list, please let us know and share with us the best telephone number(s) where we can reach you. We will add you to the list right away.
If you have an update/news, a prayer or poem or something inspirational you would like us to share with the congregation, please send it to us. Please also send us any prayer requests. We will incorporate these into the Morning Prayers as best we can.
Our church campus is closed. All parish meetings and gatherings are canceled and postponed until further notice.
Be careful what you read online. There are reports of false information circulating in an attempt to create fear and confusion. And, God forbid, always remember – any online or texted-based solicitation from me for money is A SCAM. Do not reply to such messages. Delete them.
Our goal is for all of us to stay in touch and connected in this time of isolation.
Share this news, and spread some love, not the virus!
Be of good courage. We are in this together, and we will be together again soon. God bless you and may God be with us in the days ahead.
Peace,
James+