Prelude Roots and Wings by Elizabeth Harley
Opening Words
In this period of gradual unfolding,
when we are slowly coming out of our year-long lockdown,
I invite you into this time of online worship.
For this short time,
let us put our worldly cares aside,
close our eyes and imagine ourselves
to be in our places of worship,
surrounded by members of our beloved community,
and be together, if only virtually,
for this short hour.
Chalice Lighting (you may wish to light a candle in your own home at this point. I will be lighting my chalice for worship at 11.00 am on Sunday morning) words by Cliff Reed
Kindler of the stars
and of the fire at Earth’s heart,
be with us now as we kindle this flame,
symbol of our own flickering spirits
as they reach out to you and to each other
in reverence and love.
Opening Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love,
Be with us as we gather for worship,
each in their own place.
Help us to feel a sense of community,
even though we are physically apart.
Help us to care for each other,
as we begin to come out of lockdown,
keeping in touch however we can,
and helping each other,
however we may.
We hold in our hearts
all those who have helped us
to come through this difficult time,
and all whose lives have been touched,
in whatever way,
by painful events, in their lives,
and in the wider world,
of which we are all a part. Amen
Reading Beltane from The Wheel of the Year by Celia Cartwright
In the Scottish Gaelic, Bealtuinn means ‘May Day’ and in the modern Irish Gaelic, Bealtaine means the month of May. The original meaning is ‘the good fire’ or the ‘Bel-fire’ [after] Bel, the Bright One – the god of light and fire. Bel fires were lit on hilltops to celebrate the coming of life and fertility with the Spring as crops grew. … The major feature of the Beltane festival in many lands, was jumping over the fire. Young people are thought to have jumped over to find or wed a wife / husband; travellers to ensure a safe passage; pregnant women to ensure a safe delivery; young women to ensure their fertility and so on.
Beltane is a time of renewing energy, of thanksgiving and hope. It is also… a time for dancing around the phallic Maypole, to ensure fertility, a time for ritual dances, and for young men and women to find a mate. The cycle of Summer is ushered in at Beltane, a time for warmth, sunshine and for crops and cattle to grow strong and fat, and so provide a rich harvest to last the winter….
Going a-Maying, collecting the boughs of white blossomed hawthorn overnight to parade the sweet blossom through the village / town in the early dawn, to leave as gifts upon door steps and window ledges, afforded many an opportunity for young couples to do more than collect branches, and on the soft grassy beds of the green-wood; the result of such pairings were often called ‘merrybegots’!
Alternative Lord’s Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love, here and everywhere,
May we be aware of your presence in our lives.
May our world be blessed.
May our daily needs be met,
And may our shortcomings be forgiven,
As we forgive those of others.
Give us the strength to resist wrong-doing,
The inspiration and guidance to do right,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are your hands in the world; help us to grow.
May we have compassion for all living beings,
And receive whatever life brings,
With courage and trust. Amen
Reading May Day Song by Anon.
The moon shines bright; the stars give a light
A little before ‘tis day:
So God bless you all, both great and small,
And send you a joyful May.
We have been rambling all the night,
And almost all the day,
And now, returning back again,
We have brought you a branch of May.
A branch of May we have brought you,
And at your door it stands,
It is but a sprout, but it’s well budded out
By the work of our Lord’s hands.
The hedges and trees they are so green,
As green as any leek,
Our heavenly Father he watered them
With His heavenly dew so sweet.
The heavenly gates are open wide,
Our paths are beaten plain,
And if a man be not too far gone,
He may return again.
The moon shines bright; the stars give a light
A little before ‘tis day:
So God bless you all, both great and small,
And send you a joyful May!
Responsive Prayer The Splendour and Fellowship of Life from Songs for Living (adapted)
Spirit of Life and Love,
We rejoice in this fair world; in the unfolding splendour of each morning; in the radiance of high noon; in the soft shadows of evening; in the mystic meanings of the night:
In nature’s wealth of beauty we rejoice.
In comrades of the way; in the sense of a friend’s presence; in words of love and cheer that remove distrust and doubt; in the power to help one another; in all the sharing of life:
In the gifts of companionship we rejoice.
In aged ones whose faces reveal the peace of understanding hearts; in those in the prime of life whose labour enriches each day; in little children whose innocence and laughter keep the world young:
In the unending charm of people we rejoice.
In the serenity of books; in the messages of prophets, the songs of poets and the wisdom of sages; in all discovery of truth and all visions of freedom:
In free minds and in their thinking we rejoice.
In the faith that right will triumph; in heroes and pioneers of all ages who have loved justice and sought mercy; and in all fellowship of this gathering here:
In all resources of the spirit we rejoice.
Spirit of Life and Love, make us truly thankful, Amen
Reading Religion by Vincent B. Silliman, from Songs for Living (adapted)
Let religion be to us life and joy.
Let religion be to us a voice of recurring challenge to the best we have and may be; let it be a trumpet call to action that is utterly generous.
Let religion be to us the dissatisfaction with things that are, which bids us serve more eagerly the true and the right.
Let religion be the sorrow that opens for us the way of sympathy, understanding and service to suffering humanity.
Let religion be to us the wonder and the lure of that which is only partly known and understood.
Let religion be to us appreciations that are keen and enthusiastic; the eye that glories in nature’s majesty and beauty, and the heart that rejoices in human deeds of kindness and of courage.
Let religion be to us ideals that are true and right, yet ever beyond our finest achievement.
Let religion be to us security and serenity because of its truth and beauty, and because of the enduring worth and power of the loyalties which it engenders in us.
Let religion be to us hope and purpose, discovering for us opportunities to express our best through daily tasks and associations:
Uniting us in fellowship with all that is admirable in human beings everywhere, and holding before our eyes the prospect of a nobler life for all humankind, which each may in some measure help to make actual.
Time of Stillness and Reflection May we radiate hope by Reginald W. Wilde, from Songs for Living (adapted)
May we radiate hope – where others may feel only depression and misgiving.
May we radiate courage – when people grow faint-hearted and are likely to fall.
May we radiate loving-kindness and compassion – where too often the world is heartless and unconcerned.
May we radiate contagious good humour – where impatience or indifference is common.
May we radiate tolerance and the desire to understand – where people are too often judged by mere labels or without real inquiry.
May we radiate unselfishness and generosity – when too often the world is ruled by mere self-advantage.
May we radiate an unremitting desire for truth – where people are frequently blinded by passion, or greed, or uninformed prejudice.
[silence]
May we do all these things without pride or pretension or self-consciousness.
Amen
Musical Interlude A Welsh Wedding by Elizabeth Harley
Address Beltane
Beltane, which is the Pagan festival celebrated on 1st May, is the third Spring festival of the Pagan year. The first is Imbolc, celebrated on 2nd February and the second is the Spring Equinox, celebrated on 21st March. As Celia Cartwright wrote, “The cycle of Summer is ushered in at Beltane, a time for warmth, sunshine and for crops and cattle to grow strong and fat, and so provide a rich harvest to last the winter.”
It is also, as she wrote, “a time of renewing energy, of thanksgiving and hope.” As we slowly come out of lockdown, I can sense all these things in the world around us. Last Saturday, the Annual Meeting of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches was held, on Zoom. It too was a time of renewing energy, thanksgiving and hope. More than two hundred Unitarians from all over the country (including many from the Midlands) attended, little tiles on several screens. It was strange, but not strange. There were many familiar elements, conducted in an unfamiliar way. The whole was presided over by our President, Celia Cartwright, with clarity, compassion and grace.
Towards the end of the day, Celia handed over the reins of the Presidency to Anne Mills, of Bury Unitarians and Anne chose to share a reading from The Plague by Albert Camus, at the point when the people were coming out of the worst of it – like we are now. It included these words: “A rent had appeared in the opaque veil that had for many months surrounded the town; the radio-bulletins implied that the gap was widening; people would finally be able to breathe. And this slight difference reflected the vast distance that people had moved towards hope. Once the tiniest scrap of hope existed, the plague’s effective reign was over. Throughout the next month, they reacted in contradictory ways, veering from excitement to depression.” Anne commented, “The novel, written in 1947 is, nevertheless, very relevant to what we’re experiencing at present: hopes and optimism that the pandemic is fast vanishing, and will soon disappear completely.”
It is fitting that we are celebrating Beltane now, as a time of renewing energy, thanksgiving and hope, as more and more people are getting vaccinated and the death toll from this dreadful pandemic slowly starts to diminish. So I thought it appropriate to reflect on how we might be, how we might act, as congregations, and as a District, as the “new normal” is gradually established.
In our third reading, Vincent B. Silliman has some wonderfully aspirational ideas of what our faith might mean to us – and not only to us, but to our local communities. Let me share some of it with you again:
“Let religion be to us a voice of recurring challenge to the best we have and may be; let it be a trumpet call to action that is utterly generous. Let religion be to us the dissatisfaction with things that are, which bids us serve more eagerly the true and the right. Let religion be the sorrow that opens for us the way of sympathy, understanding and service to suffering humanity. Let religion be to us ideals that are true and right. Let religion be to us hope and purpose, discovering for us opportunities to express our best through daily tasks and associations.”
I believe that our Unitarian communities can both reflect and inhabit these high ideals. And I also believe that our ability to do so could make all the difference in the weeks and months ahead. Because the return to normal life is not going to be easy. I am afraid that the long-term fall-out from the coronavirus will be both difficult and complex to deal with. Not only the effect on people who have lost loved ones, although that of course is the worst, but also the number of jobs lost, companies closing down, will lead to great changes in our economy, and not for the better. Not to mention the emotional and psychological effects that being in lockdown, in isolation, for so long has had on too many people.
So we will need all the kindness, all the compassion, that we have shown to each other during this time, to work together towards a better, more compassionate society. Because the shocking truth is, that although humankind has suffered greatly during these weeks and months, the rest of creation has thriven. Seas and rivers are less polluted, the air is cleaner, and the knock-on effects of those benefits on the natural world have been widespread. We will need to build on this breathing space “when it is all over”, rather than going back to our old polluting ways.
We will also need hope and all the “renewing energy” we can lay our hands on, in order to make the transition to the “new normal” a positive one. In her wonderful book, The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown shares her research about how we can practice what she calls wholehearted living, which is what we will need to do in the weeks ahead. One of her ten guideposts for doing this is, “Cultivating a resilient spirit: letting go of numbing and powerlessness.” Which is where hope comes in.
If we go back to the legend of Pandora and her box, Hope was the only virtue left to humankind when she had let all the others escape. And my dictionary defines hope as, “expectation and desire combined; feeling of trust”, which I guess is how most of us think of it. Brené, who is an accomplished sociological researcher, thought so too, and was shocked to find that, “hope is not an emotion; it’s a way of thinking or a cognitive process.” In other words, it is a way of believing that can be learned.
I’d like to share what she says about how hope happens: it is when “we have the ability to set realistic goals (I know where I want to go). We are able to figure out how to achieve these goals, including the ability to stay flexible and develop alternative routes (I know how to get there, I’m persistent and I can tolerate disappointment and try again). And we believe in ourselves (I can do this).”
She also grounds the ability to be hopeful in a foundation of spirituality, which she defines as, “the belief in connection, a power greater than self, and interconnections grounded in love and compassion.” I would also argue that it is much easier to find hope, to be hopeful, and resilient, when we have a belief in something greater than ourselves. This might be a higher power, which some of us might name ‘God’ or ‘Spirit of Life and Love’, or it might be a belief in the worth of working towards a lofty goal, such as world peace, an end to poverty, the spread of compassion – whatever.
It has been an eventful year, in our own lives, in the life of Unitarian congregations and in the wider world. Some of us have faced bereavement and grief, others have faced life-threatening or less scary but still serious health issues and all of us have watched the wider world seemingly going to hell in a hand-basket. While we have been unable to meet in person for most (or indeed all) of the time since the first lockdown began, more than thirteen months ago, we have managed to find other ways of being in community, through online services, Zoom meetings and gatherings, informal pastoral care of each other, and have continued to try to make the phrase, “beloved community” a reality. That is having hope. That is what we must strive for, as we begin to open our doors once more.
In the words of Carolyn McDade’s wonderful hymn, “And I’ll bring you hope, when hope is hard to find, and I’ll bring a song of love and a rose in the winter time.”
As we set our faces to the future, may we reaffirm our Unitarian values. May our hope and enthusiasm for building beloved community be rekindled and may we commit to becoming living banners for our precious faith. Amen
Closing Words
Spirit of Life and Love,
open our hearts and minds
as we move out of lockdown
into our future.
Give us hope to rebuild
Our beloved communities,
And to reach out to those in need.
May we return to our everyday world refreshed,
may we share the love we feel,
may we look out for each other,
and may we keep up our hearts,
now and in the days to come,
Amen
Postlude Lady of Lewesdon Hill by Elizabeth Harley