ST JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH
AMESBURY, MASSACHUSETTS
December 18, 2020
In Others' Words: Hope Joy Love Peace
for the week of December 20, 2020
What you need: a watch, clock, or timer; a quiet creative activity; a candle (if it's okay, or an intentional object like a cross); a Bible, if you'd like; paper; something to write with; a snack. Have your class with a sibling or other family members, or enjoy this time by yourself.
1) Begin with a transition time - Peace & Quiet: enjoy a creative activity for about 10 minutes (journaling, clay, Legos, drawing, etc.) - a time to change gears
2) Next, clear that space, or move to another space, and light a candle (or place your intentional object). Settle in, and say a prayer, like: Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105). Offer more prayers, silently, or out loud, if you want.
Our focus for this class =
HOPE LOVE JOY PEACE
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Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
-- Emily Dickinson, written ca.1861
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Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
-- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
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The Angel that presided o'er my birth
said, "Little creature, form'd of Joy and Mirth,
"Go love without the help of
any Thing on Earth."
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There is the peace that cometh after sorrow,
of hope surrendered, not of hope fulfilled;
a peace that looketh not upon tomorrow,
but calmly on a tempest that is stilled.
A peace which lives not now in joy's excesses,
nor in the happy life of love secure,
but in th' unerring strength the heart possesses,
of conflicts won, while learning to endure.
A peace there is, in sacrifice secluded,
a life subdued, from will and passion free;
'tis not the peace that over Eden brooded,
but that which triumphed in Gethsemane.
-- Anonymous
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4) Think about what you read, chat about it if you have company, look it up online (if allowed) and see if there's commentary about it – do you agree? Do you feel called to do something?
5) Brainstorm & make a poster: Top 10 Examples of Hope-Love-Joy-Peace in My Life. Take a pic; email me!
6) Snack time! Prayers first: talk to God! "I'm grateful for, I'm worried about, I ask for" etc. And/or take 5 or more minutes for centering prayer: relaxing into peace & letting thoughts go. Breathe! Enjoy your snack.
7) Finally, clean up your space(s), and say a closing prayer, like: Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. - Plato. Blow out the candle, or put away the intentional object (or leave it there if you'd like to create a little sacred area) and say out loud:
Go now in peace, to love and serve the Lord! Thanks be to God! ALLELUIA!
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Come to a ZOOM CLASS tonight! It's a PARTY
6:30pm, Friday, December 18: Zoom link has been emailed - or text Linda
Zoom youth class every third Friday!
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LMK if you want the links to past classes.
I'll let you know how our donations box is coming along - and what happens next.
Sending prayers for hope, joy, love, and peace! Linda
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Adults: Please share this email with youth. If you'd like me also to send these emails to the kids, please email me their addresses & your permission. Thanks! Linda
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