Dear Friends,

Today, Rev. Maureen Andrew, a community member who was ordained a priest in Roman Catholic Women Priests on August 10, 2013 is celebrating her Mass of Thanksgiving. Maureen will be a missionary of our Spirit of Life Community

ministering primarily to GLBTQ community to whom she has been ministering over the years. Our gospel today is about persevering in prayer and persevering in working for social justice. Maureen surely embodies that. Come celebrate with her and with Spirit of Life today at 5pm Eucharist. Maureen has chosen this prayer adapted from Ted Loder’s Guerillas of Grace as an opening ritual. It serves as our inspiration for you this week:

O God, let something essential happen to us,

          Something more than interesting, or entertaining, or thoughtful.

          Something awesome, something real.

Change us, God, somewhere inside where it matters.

            A change that will take root deep within us

            and help us dare the dangerous deed.

Let something essential and passionate happen in us now.

          Strip us of our illusions of independence and self-sufficiency.

          Give us the courage to share what we can.

O God, let something essential and joyful happen in us right now.

           Something like the blooming of hope and faith. Like a grateful heart.

           Like a surge of awareness of how precious each moment really is.

Remind us again and again tonight, Sophia-Wisdom, that now, not next time,

            is the time to take off our shoes, to see Your face in the flaming bush

            and in the smiling face.    Amen

                                                 (adapted from Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder)   

At The Spirit of Life, we as a community, strive to be reflectors of God’s love and compassion in our live and our world. We work to lighten each other’s load, by walking together and helping one another through prayer and action. We invite you to come and experience life in our community as we contemplate in prayer and move with justice at The Spirit of Life. Through our time of prayer and sharing together, we work together to grow in our self-understanding and in our relationships with God and with God’s people. We celebrate the gift of our faith and the responsibility that is ours as followers of Jesus Christ.  It is our prayer that what we as a community experience in our praying together will overflow into the rest of our lives, making us more fully human and more ‘whole’….holy!  We invite you to join us in this endeavor and journey with us as we seek to grow in our love of God and to grow in our capacity to be living expressions of God’s loving peace and justice in our world.

May you find joy as you explore and experience God’s love and care for you, and my your heart become a landscape of peace and justice for all people.

Ron and Jean

REMINDER: Sunday Eucharist is held at 5:00PM during Daylight Savings time.    (It’s getting close: remember, we will return to our earlier time on November 3 when Eastern Standard Time resumes.)