Some days we can’t see the joy that surrounds us. So caught up inside ourselves, we take when we should give.” These are the words from “Thankful”, just one of the songs Chorealis will sing as we take time to notice the abundance around us. Join us in stretching our gratitude muscles.
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Some days we can’t see the joy that surrounds us. So caught up inside ourselves, we take when we should give.” These are the words from “Thankful”, just one of the songs Chorealis will sing as we take time to notice the abundance around us. Join us in stretching our gratitude muscles.
The Earth Laughs in Flowers
June 15, 2024
Reverend Rosemary Morrison
Service Leader: Yvonne Mireu
Please bring a flower to share to our annual Flower Communion. This beloved Unitarian Universalist tradition started decades ago with Rev. Norbert Capek, a Unitarian minister persecuted for his inclusive values. Celebrate with us on this important and colourful day!
Order of Service:
The following video was played before the service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrt5-tz3Coc
(a compilation of songs about roses)
Chimes
Welcome and Announcements
Land Acknowledgement
Prelude
Chalice Lighting Like the First Hint of Green by Jennifer McGlothin
As the first hint of green begins to peek through the barren ground
As that little sprig grows into a healthy stem
As that stem grows into a stalk and forms a bud
As that bud slowly opens with each new day
To form a yellow daffodil
Let us be, like that first hint of green, renewed by the warm of the sun’s rays
And ready to emerge with a new energy, ready to face the day.
We light this chalice to bring a glimmer of that warmth into our space.
Hymn 63 Spring Has Now Unwrapped the Flowers words by P. Cantiones (1582)
Service Leader Reflection
Sharing Our Abundance
Hymn 402 From You I Receive (Sing 2X)
Flower Communion Blessing by Amy Zucker Morgenstern
Each of us is a flower, with a delicate beauty uniquely our own. We may be like sunflowers, turning always towards the light.
May our lives bloom like the flowers.
We may be like night-blooming cereus, only displaying our fragrant petals when it is dark and we think no one can see.
May our lives bloom like the flowers.
We may be hothouse flowers, far from our native lands, cautiously tended within a harsh and unfamiliar climate.
May our lives bloom like the flowers.
We may be gray-headed like dandelions, eager to launch the new generation with the first strong gust of wind: past our own bright youth, but ready to pass our wisdom on in precious gossamer-carried seeds.
May our lives bloom like the flowers.
Some of us, sometimes, spring up overnight and fade in the hot glare.
May our lives bloom like the flowers.
Some of us, sometimes, are roses, slowly assembling petal after tightly-wrapped petal, and revealing our full glory only when everything is in place.
May our lives bloom like the flowers.
Sometimes we are roadside weeds, loveliness bursting improbably from the dust and debris.
May our lives bloom like the flowers.
May we offer our beauty with the simplicity of flowers, expecting no recognition, hoping for nothing, giving out of what we are, and knowing it is enough.
May our lives bloom like the flowers.
Hymn 65 The Sweet June Days (words by Samuel Longfellow)
Message With Flower Celebration
Meditation
de Colores, Flower Communion Meditation by Rev. Dan Schatz- video not recorded
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LPYQsjz_ZCx4XU2La4y9CtLz9MyE5444/view?usp=sharing
Candles of Joy and Concern
Hymn 1018 ACome and Go with me to That Land (African American Spiritual)
Extinguishing the Flame
Delighted and Renewed by Rebekah Savage
As we come to the end of service, may you depart from our time together
Buoyed by the Spirit of Life,
Delighted by the warmth of our gathering,
and
Renewed in soul and mind.
As we extinguish the flame of our chalice,
may its lingering spark be carried in your heart until we are together again.
Benediction
Carry the Flame
Postlude
Unitarian Church of Edmonton (UCE)
Some days we can’t see the joy that surrounds us. So caught up inside ourselves, we take when we should give.” These are the words from “Thankful”, just one of the songs Chorealis will sing as we take time to notice the abundance around us. Join us in stretching our gratitude muscles.
