Service for February 1 - mother tongue foreign land

I put together this service of morning prayer for our regular Monday service in the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva. It will be used on Monday 1 February as we pray for and with the peoples and churches of Britain and Ireland through the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle.
Now I just have to spend my weekend trying to write a sermon, then probably there will be so much snow noone will actually be there!

Musical preparation

Words of welcome

Almighty God,
unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid:
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love thee, and worthily magnify thy holy Name;
through Christ our Lord. (Book of Common Prayer 1662)
Amen.

Remain seated to sing Thuma Mina 167

Psalm 8
O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honour.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Reading from the Hebrew scriptures Genesis 11:5-9
The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

We stand to sing verses 1-3 of St Patrick’s Breastplate
I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

Rublev by Rowan Williams
One day, God walked in, pale from the grey steppe,
slit-eyed against the wind, and stopped,
said, Colour me, breathe your blood into my mouth.

I said Here is the blood of all our people,
these are their bruises, blue and purple,
gold, brown, and pale green wash of death.

These (god) are chromatic pains of flesh.
I said, I trust I make you blush,
O I shall stain you with the scars of birth

For ever. I shall root you in the wood,
under the sun shall bake you bread
of beechmast, never let you forth

to the white desert, to the starving sand.
But we shall sit and speak around
one table, share one food, one earth.
copyright (c) Rowan Williams
From the poems of Rowan Williams

We stand to sing verses 4-6 of St Patrick’s Breastplate (beware the music changes completely for verse 5 and back again for verse 6)

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Reading from the Acts of the Apostles 2 1-4, 7, 8, 11
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? … 11 in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power."

Meditation – from mother tongue to foreign land

Stand to sing: Come my way my truth my life

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
such a way as gives us breath,
such a truth as ends all strife,
such a life as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
such a light as shows a feast,
such a feast as mends in length,
such a strength as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:
such a joy as none can move,
such a love as none can part,
such a heart as joys in love.


Prayers of intercession
As we enter into prayer we remain seated and sing (music on final sheet):
God be in my head
And in my understanding
God be in my eyes
And in my looking
God be in my mouth
And in my speaking
God be in my heart
And in my thinking
God be at my end
And at my departing.

From the rising of the sun to its setting, let us pray to the Lord.
That the people of God in all the world may worship in spirit and in truth,

We pray to you, Lord God.
For all people in their daily life and work;
For our families, friends and neighbours, and for those who are alone.

We pray for the nations of the earth that they may seek after the ways that make for peace; remembering today and this week especially countries of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. We pray also for our home countries

Loving God, we pray for the people of Haiti in their time of great need.
Lord, comfort them in their pain and their distress.

For this community, for all who work in this place
For all who work for justice, freedom, and peace.

For the just and proper use of your creation.
For the victims of hunger, fear, injustice and oppression.

For all who are sick, in mind or in body;
For those who minister to the sick, the friendless, and the needy.

For the peace and unity of the Church;
For all who serve God in this world.

Silence and time for free prayer …

Sing: God be in my head …

We rise to say the Lord’s prayer each our different languages

Blessing

Thuma Mina 167

A poetic meditaiton on the "fanua" by Faautu Talapusi

The following poetic reflection was written by Faautu Talapusi and offered as part of morning worship on 11 August 2008. The word "fanua" means placenta and also land in Samoan and in Maori as well. You can find the full order of worship which this meditation was part of here.

Instead of a reflection, I would like to share with you a poem entitled – I am the fanua. I hope it expresses my personal reflections and thoughts on today’s readings.

I am the fanua
The placenta buried in my ancestral land after childbirth
I am the pute
The umbilical cord buried and my link to my fanua

I am the fanua
The land which holds my history, my life, my death
I am the fanua
The land of my people, my ancestors, my descendents

I am the fanua
That which bonds me to the air, the earth, the sea
I am the fanua
That which binds me to the plants, the animals, the fish

I am the fanua
My mother's pain and joy in giving life
I am the fanua
Mother earth's pain and joy in giving life

I am the fanua
God's beautiful and unparalleled creation
I am the fanua
God's undying and steadfast love

I am the fanua
Wailing in despair at my self-destruction
I am the fanua
Dying of a slow suicide

I am the fanua
Expecting God's revelation
I am the fanua
Believing in God's promise

I am the fanua
You are the fanua
We are the fanua.

copyright (c) Faautu Talapusi/WCC

Are we part of the crowd or are we among the witnesses? A Poem by Manoj Kurian.

The following verses by Dr Manoj Kurian who works with the WCC HIV/AIDS programme was inspired by Setri Nyomi's sermon which you can find here.

Are we part of the crowd or are we among the witnesses?

Are we part of the crowd ?
Swayed by the influential and the appealing?
Making convenient compromises,
Preserving and expanding our power and status;
Oblivious of the Messiah among the vulnerable and the poor;
Broadening the highways of our selfish desire;
Obstructing the narrow paths;
That lead to the reign of God.

Are we among the witnesses?
Striving consistently to know God;
In creation, community, in the other and in oneself;
Reflecting truth in our own lives and all that we do.
To recognize the crucified Christ amongst us;
To be with and work with the suffering and the tortured;
For the liberation of all creation;
From the shackles of greed and exclusion.

Striving consistently to see the risen Lord;
In creation, community, in the other and in oneself;
Working for liberation in all we endeavor.
Humbly persisting to be transformed, to transform the world.
In victory and in failure;
In joy and in pain;
In solidarity and in betrayal;
Are we among the witnesses or are we with the crowd?
copyright: Manoj Kurian / WCC