July 12, 2019
Mosaics are art made from tiny pieces of colored tile or stone that are ‘pasted’ together to form an image. In the Holy Land there are mosaics all over the churches. Some of them are old, really old, from the 1st 2nd and 3rd century. My favorite sites were the ruins of these early synagogues and churches. The mosaics reveal intimate spaces, adorned with images of nature and design. As we toured, I found myself drawn to the worn, partial mosaics of these earliest believers’ houses of God instead of the completed triumphant mosaics and art from more modern days.

I can still imagine myself standing in the small footprint of loving laid stones. Somehow, I could feel the prayer that had filled the ancient spaces; just as I sense the love in the prologue in the letter to the Colossians

You (Colossians) have heard of the hope in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.

The loving truth of God discovered in Jesus that united the early followers in healing, egalitarian, communities of diverse people is still drawing people to be part of the church today.

Like those ancient mosaics, Jesus continues to transform what is broken into a whole and beautiful expression of God’s outpouring grace. The power of the church is that we are not the same we are instead united in Christ. Like those individual pieces of stone, we come together from our diverse backgrounds and form St James the Less. And like those broken shards of pottery we cannot know wholeness without knowing ourselves part of a community. 

Sense yourself part of a whole. Grounded in this beautiful creation every need thought of ahead of your arrival. Sense yourself part of a loving community of prayer and hope. Sense yourself a member of an ancient faith and part of a great throng of the healed in Christ.

With you on the Journey,

Coming Up this Weekend
Sunday, July 7th
8:00 a.m. | Holy Eucharist with Traditional Language

9:15 a.m. | Thirty Worthy Minutes: The beginning of a three week study of the Letter to the Colossians.

10:00 a.m. | Holy Eucharist with Contemporary Language

11:00 a.m. | Sweet Treats & Fellowship

11:00 a.m. | Painting Bricks for the Labyrinth
Young and old parishioners make your mark on a brick that will become the prayer path of our labyrinth to be installed in July.