My Dear Good Samaritans,

On Sunday we “return to our regularly scheduled programming” as TV stations used to declare. The choir has already begun rehearsing, preparations are being finalized for the preschool to begin next week, and on Sunday we switch back to our ‘normal’ schedule with services at 8am and 10:30am. There will also be adult formation beginning this Sunday.

We also will begin five weeks of the church’s newest liturgical season, the Season of Creation. The purpose is simple. According to the Season of Creation: A Celebration Guide for Episcopal Parishes: “during the Season of Creation, we join with Christians around the world to celebrate in prayer and action our Gospel calling to protect the Earth that God entrusted to our care.”

And this year, as we embark on this important season, I have been wondering: What is the relationship between our worship and creation? In other words how is our worship connected to the people, plants, and animals all around us? This question is surely one to ponder over these next weeks, but immediately two things come to mind that I want us to try.

The first is real bread at communion. The entire time I have been at Good Sam we have used hosts, which are fine. But, they are mass-produced and identical. They lack the nuance and irregularity that seems so prevalent in God’s creation. And, we are disconnected from their creation. To that end, on Sunday we will have communion using bread that someone in our community baked themselves. Don’t worry, though, we will still have gluten-free wafers for those who need them as well as a reserve of hosts to use for taking to people in the hospital or at home.

I know we have many people in the congregation enjoy cooking and baking. And, it is my hope that we could put together a Bread Baker Guild that comes together once a month to bake bread for communion. If this is something that you are interested in, please let me know.

The second thing I would like us to try is having a rotation of real flowers or plants in church. However, I am not suggesting that we go to a florist (although there is absolutely nothing wrong with that). I have spoken to so many of you who enjoy gardening or I have seen your gardens first-hand. As a way to honor creation wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had flowers or greenery that people brought from home to offer to God and to further beautify our already beautiful sanctuary? Again, if this is something that you might like to help with please contact me.

These are but two things that we can do right now to bring us closer to the act of creating, of bringing us nearer to the source which “the earth has given and human hands have made.”

If you have other ideas, please share them! Let’s talk and we’ll work on them together.

Fyodor Dostoevsky in his The Brothers Karamazov, writes: “Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”

Over these next weeks may we commune with nature in new ways and in doing so love each other all the better.