November 2019
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Pastor’s Reflection
This is that time of year when our lives are gradually becoming a little more hectic. This is all for a good reason. Celebrating the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are wonderful opportunities each year to reconnect with family and friends. It is equally important to reconnect with the religious values that these celebrations represent. There is no doubt that we face serious commercial distractions in our efforts but the holidays come packed with moments of profound religious significance.
Thanksgiving is a celebration that comes to us from the religious tradition of our Colonial past and is deeply rooted in biblical teachings. A Thanksgiving celebration is described in the Torah, albeit without turkey. While gratitude is an appropriate element in our daily prayer we gather with family and friends in a more formal way on Thanksgiving Day. This allows us to enjoy an additional blessing, the blessing of attachment and being together. In our contemporary world where we seem to be living parallel lives and we seem to be running in different directions, gathering together with family and friends is a special moment of grace.
I know also that we can still lean on tradition to guide our efforts. As children, we somehow believed that family celebrations just managed to happen. Once we leave the kids table, we understand the effort that is required. Family doesn’t just happen; it needs nurturing and support. Church is the same. It happens because of the nurturing of many members in different ways. Fundamentally, it takes showing up.
My fondest wish for you this Thanksgiving is that you enjoy the embrace of family and friends in your giving thanks to God. Whether you are cooking the turkey or traveling for hours, enjoy! Thanking God while being in the warm presence of loved ones is receiving blessing, while you are being thankful.
Sunday School Corner
It's hard to believe we're already this many weeks into this year's Sunday School year! In the past couple of months, the kids have been learning about Joshua and Jericho in "Walls and Waves", the life of Abraham and how God always keeps His promises in "The Promise Keepers", and we're closing out the calendar year with the Christmas story in "Glow Tell It On the Mountain". Our new curriculum from Better Bible Teachers includes group activities, skits, and games, and the online lesson access has been a great help in coordinating team teaching of our great class of kids.
Huge thanks to my teachers: Cindy and Tyler Smith, Tammy Bilodeau, Jeri and Steve Cranshaw, and Karen Trudel! If you'd like to help out by taking a week, we'll be setting up the January teaching assignments and onward soon. No long term commitment required! See Amy Brown or simply attend the next announced teachers' meeting when we next gather after church.
Sunday School Superintendent,
Amy Brown
Christmas Concert
You are cordially invited to celebrate the Christmas season with Soprano Jerilyn Pearl Cranshaw and pianist Nikita Zabinski.
ABOUT: Join them as they tell the Christmas story with well- loved carols and seasonal compositions.
This year’s concert is bound to put you in the Christmas spirit with the addition of Lime Rock Baptist Church’s own Caitlin Rivet and Helena Widmann. Be prepared to be wowed by the harmonies of this Christmas Trio. You don’t want to miss this!
DETAILS: Sunday, December 8, 4:00pm at Lime Rock Baptist Church 1075 Great Rd, Lincoln, RI
TICKETS: Sold at the door $15 adults & $8 age 12 and under.
Lime Rock Christian Zen
The meditation program for the Advent/Christmas Season will continue with an interfaith approach to contemplative prayer, synchronizing Christian Contemplative practice within a Zen Buddhist format.
On December 3rd Fr. Kevin Hunt, O.C.S.O. a Trappist Monk and Zen Master will present the evening’s teaching: “Christian Spirituality on the Zen Path.” Fr. Hunt is a priest and a member of a Catholic Contemplative religious order. As someone who is also a Zen master, he is well equipped to integrate elements of Buddhist and Christian spiritual traditions.
The December 17th meeting will include a “tonglen” compassion meditation practice. This will be led by Rev. Eugene Dyszlewski, a Dzogchen practitioner. Compassion is a staple to Christian and Buddhist spirituality. The Dalai Lama often remarks “Compassion is essential in the initial stage, in the intermediate stage, and in the final stage of spiritual development.”
The group meets bi-weekly at Lime Rock Baptist Church, 1075 Great Road, Lincoln RI 02865. Originally organized by the Rev. Eugene Dyszlewski, the program is now also under the shared supervision and leadership of two lineage holders from the Daystar Zendo, Sensei Cynthia Taberner and Fr. Kevin Hunt, Roshi. The sessions include zazen, kinhin and a dharma teaching.
New members are welcome and Rev. Dyszlewski will provide an orientation to contemplation for people unfamiliar with the practice. There is no cost associated with this program.
All are welcome! If you are interested in starting a practice or simply curious about meditation, please join us. If you have an established practice and wish to join us, we would love to have you sit with us. We appreciate the the blessing of your presence. For more information about the program please consult our webpage or contact Rev. Eugene Dyszlewski at rev.Gene@icloud.com or 401-345-7291.
Journey to Christmas
The Pastor and the Board of Deacons invite everyone to join us in making a prayerful journey to Christmas this Advent Season. We encourage everyone to take an opportunity to spend a moment each day to read and to reflect so that we might better appreciate the mystery of Christmas through the lens of the Gospel. We can invest in our spiritual resources while engaged in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas shopping season.
The Christmas blessing is God’s gentle intrusion into the world and this might better be understood in moments of quiet prayer. We have made available several booklets with Bible verses and reflections to help everyone on their Advent pilgrimage. Blessings!!!
Save the Date:
12/22 10AM – Children’s Christmas Service
12/24 10PM – Christmas Eve Service
這光在黑暗中照耀
“… this light shines in the midst of darkness.” - John 1: 4
On the last Sunday of October, while Rev. Gene was on retreat, The Rev. Peter MacInnis officiated at the worship service. Rev. MacInnis served a church in China for a number of years and brought with him a woodcutting of the “Parable of the Sower,” made by a Chinese Christian, with culturally relevant images. Peter gave us an opportunity to celebrate how Christianity has such a universal relevance and worldwide presence.
While the Gospel was brought to Asia during Apostolic times, Christian communities were not fully established in China until the 5th and 6th centuries. This was years before Christianity was brought to the German sections of the Frankish kingdom and centuries before Christianity came to Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Today, there are 54 million Christians in China, although it represents only 4% of the country’s population.
It may be novel, if not a little unusual, for us to see a depiction of a parable of Jesus that is embellished by Asian foliage, Chinese style buildings and a farmer in Asian style clothing. Nevertheless, we might imagine that Chinese Christians may be equally surprised to see a manger scene sitting next to an evergreen tree in our sanctuary at Christmas. It is quite typical for cultural elements to be synchronized with Christianity everywhere it took root. It makes sense that God would speak to us in the language that we understand and that our understanding of God’s message would take on many of the characteristics of our culture.
Pasta Dinner
Thank you to Muriel Andreoni & Co. for hosting the pasta dinner on November 2nd. It was a delicious night of fellowship and fundraising.
