Call to worship
When we come together for worship, you and I give three gifts.
One gift is to myself, for acknowledging that despite my failings, I deserve the comforts and challenges of church. It is a routine, but it is my routine, and I hold it sacred. I make it sacred by a free choice, and so I come.
The second gift is to those we have come to worship with, who look to our faces for connection, community and love; who look to our hands for comfort and good works; who look forward with longing to our discerning and listening ear; who look to our minds for our thoughts and our dreams; who look with love upon our strengths and failings alike, as we walk together toward a better life for all humanity.
The third gift is to the world; we are here, we are here, we are indeed here; we have within our walls, in our sanctuary, a place of welcome, not just for the dwellers but for the seekers. For some of us make this a home, and some make it an oasis in life’s journey. Beacon Unitarian Church is both these things and much, much more, and will be better, richer, wiser still. It is more of the abundance of life and spirit and mind that we want, not just for ourselves; as we light the chalice today, let us think of these gifts, and open our hearts to the song.
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From our solitude, we come to worship in community. From our own pettiness, we seek refuge; from the hatred that batters our lives, we seek respite; from the entrancing distractions and vices of the world, we seek a defense. Come worship, and let work and trouble and anxiety depart for an hour in the light of our beloved community.
Chalice lighting words
“Let us speak our truth with love. Let us listen to the truth of others with openness, with intention, with love. Let us bring our love into the light of of this chalice, and with love bring all that we are into the service of every person living and yet to be born.”