Sharing This Sacred Time

From The Rev. Miriam Saxon 

One of my favorite spiritual writers is Frederick Buechner.  In his short essay on holiness Buechner defines a holy place as a place which, for reasons known only to God, "God uses for sending God's love to the world."  I often think of this description while sitting in our sanctuary, especially when there participating in our bi-monthly Evensong service.

Our new Evensong service has been in place for nearly three months, and we now have a core of parishioners who love this simple and deeply spiritual service and try to regularly attend.  Several of those attending have shared that they also enjoy the social gathering after the service because they have made new friends there.  So I want to encourage more parishioners to join us at this 5:00pm service on the 2^nd and 4^th Sunday evenings of each month.  The church is beautiful and soothing as we sit in silence in the glow of candlelight surrounding the altar.  The prayers we are using are in the Celtic tradition, with much material from the innovative New Zealand prayer book.  The songs we sing are simple tunes, some of which are in the gentle Taize tradition, and offer a time for singers or non-singers simply to listen to lovely music. 

Now that we have begun our journey through Lent, I want to encourage each of you to consider attending one of these times for prayer and quiet reflection as you start a new week.  I know I have appreciated the opportunity to be still and quiet, in the presence of The Holy, and I look forward to sharing this sacred time with you.