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A Prayer for Peace (3) (We are Praying Together with our
National Cathedral and the world.
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. —John Muir
God of calm breezes, God of stormy seas:
You created the heavens and the earth and deemed them good, yet it in this time where wildfires and hurricanes bring devastation to so many in our nation, we acknowledge the ways that human activity has damaged the earth. As we continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in harm’s way, we pray too for the wellbeing of all creation and we give thanks for the places and ways nature gives peace to our souls. Amen.
from “Twenty-five Days of Prayer,” The National Cathedral.org
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St Patrick's On-Line Worship Services
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All Saints Day
St Patrick’s Sunday Zoom Eucharist on
November 1, 2020 at 9:00 a.m.
Gather for worship with your fellow saints!
All are welcome!
Doyle Dietz Allen is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Sunday Eucharist - All Saints Day
Time: Nov 1, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3596100851
Meeting ID: 359 610 0851
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,3596100851# US (San Jose)
Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 359 610 0851
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/ktHCb5Lpz |
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New Zoom Eucharist Schedule
November 2020 - January 2021
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Sunday, November 1, All Saints Day, 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, November 15, Proper Twenty-eight, 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, November 29, Advent I, 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, December 6, Advent II, 9:00 a.m.
Friday, December 11, Blue Christmas, 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, December 13, Advent III, 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, December 20, Advent IV, 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, December 24, Feast of the Incarnation, 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 10, Baptism of Jesus, 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, January 31, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany and Annual Meeting, 9:00 a.m.
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Weekday Worship & Education
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* Due to TODAY'S power outages, Compline is canceled for October 27th. *
Compline Service, Every Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.
See Zoom Invitation below and Service Leaflet attached below.
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Sermon: The Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith
October 25, 2020
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Richard Rohr Daily Meditations
Thomas Keating: The Secret Embrace, Part Two
Falling Away from I AM
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
To be nothing
Is to consent to being a simple creature.
This is the place of encounter with
“I AM that I Am.”
When there is no more “me, myself, or mine,”
Only “I AM” remains.
Then the “I” may fall away,
Leaving just the AM. . . .
—Thomas Keating, “Out of Nothing”
In her latest book, Cynthia Bourgeault talks about the significant position Thomas Keating held in her life as a teacher and spiritual father [1]. Their relationship makes her reflections on his poetry a poignant example of how to be a compassionate witness to the suffering and transformation of someone we love. Here Cynthia describes Thomas’ journey through all the dark nights a human can experience:
In this poem, one of the last in the collection, there can be no doubt that Thomas Keating is indeed talking about an elusive third dark night, what Bernadette Roberts called “the experience of no-self.” [2] Its radical stripping is far deeper than the dismantling of our “emotional programs for happiness” that occurs in the Dark Night of Sense. It is even deeper than the fruit of the Dark Night of Spirit, which is the dissolution of the separate self into unitive consciousness. Thomas is here alluding to a third and yet more fundamental dissolution: the collapse of the self-reflective mechanism itself, that unique property of human consciousness which makes me realize “It is I who am experiencing this.” Oneness is attained not through an even more intense experience of union, but through a simple suspension of the subject/object polarity that created the perception of twoness in the first place. There is a whole new operating system at work now.
As Thomas writes, “When there is no more ‘me, myself, or mine,’ / Only I AM remains.”
When there is no fixed point of reference to “take it home to,” to make it about “my experience of I AM,” then there is only the bare “I AM.” Then even that may shed its skin. “Then the ‘I’ may fall away, / Leaving just the AM.” . . .
Those who have reflected on the biblical account will quickly catch the double meaning of the repeated use of “I AM” in this poem. It describes not only our own self-reflexive awareness; it is also the name by which God reveals Godself to Moses in the wilderness. “Who shall I tell them has sent me?” asks Moses. To which God replies, “I Am that I Am” [Exodus 3:14]. (In Hebrew, YHWH is the sacred, unutterable name of God.)
Thomas Merton said something quite like this shortly before his own death. He stated,
You have to experience duality for a long time until you see it’s not there. . . . Don’t consider dualistic prayer on a lower level. The lower is higher. There are no levels. Any moment you can break through to the underlying unity which is God’s gift in Christ. In the end, Praise praises. Thanksgiving gives thanks. Jesus prays. Openness is all. [3]
That, I believe, is the real teaching awaiting us in this poem and manifest in Thomas Keating’s own life.
References:
[1] Cynthia Bourgeault, Eye of the Heart: A Spiritual Journey into the Imaginal Realm (Shambhala Publications: 2020), 173.
[2] Bernadette Roberts, The Experience of No-Self: A Contemplative Journey (Shambhala Publications: 1984, ©1982).
[3] Thomas Merton, conversation before his trip to Bangkok (1968), See David Steindl-Rast, “Man of Prayer,” Thomas Merton, Monk: A Monastic Tribute, ed. Patrick Hart (Sheed and Ward: 1974), 89.
Excerpted with permission from Cynthia Bourgeault, Thomas Keating’s The Secret Embrace (2020), online on-demand course. Full details available from Spirituality & Practice at https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/course/view/10274/thomas-keatings-the-secret-embrace
Epigraph: Keating, “Out of Nothing,” The Secret Embrace (Temple Rock Company: 2018), poem VI.
Image credit: Alta Pink (detail), James Turrell, 1968, installation.
Inspiration for this week’s banner image: To be nothing / Is to consent to being a simple creature. / This is the place of encounter with / “I AM that I Am.” / When there is no more “me, myself, or mine,” / Only “I AM” remains. / Then the “I” may fall away, / Leaving just the AM. . . . —Thomas Keating, “Out of Nothing”
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"Love God, Love Your Neighbor"
Dale Sechrest
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St Patrick's Receives Becoming Beloved Community Grant
for Dunbar and Kenwood Schools
St Patrick’s has received a $5000 Rapid Response Grant from the Episcopal Church in support of the children and families at our neighborhood schools, Dunbar and Kenwood schools. Earlier this Fall, the Parish donated $5000 for WiFi hotspots and food to the schools. The Becoming Beloved Community Team is coordinating with the schools to provide funds for home enrichment supplies, books and food. For more information about, or to donate to this ministry, contact Laurie Boone-Hogen at Lauriehogen@gmail.com or send a check to St. Patrick’s Church, noting in the memo BBC Schools.
Below is a summary of the Becoming Beloved Community with Dunbar and Kenwood Schools Ministry’s work addressed to the Grant Committee:
It is with gratitude and pleasure that I write a summary of how the Rapid Response Grant will be used in support of the children who attend two small elementary schools in our neighborhood, the Dunbar School in Glen Ellen and the Kenwood School in Kenwood. These children, mostly from Latino families who provide the work in the vineyards of our Sonoma Valley, are directly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and suffer disproportionately due to their socioeconomic status. Recently, the problems have been intensified due to the raging fires in our area resulting in layoffs in the vineyards. In an article on October 18, 2020 in our local paper, The Press Democrat, a headline expressed the raw emotion of one of the Latino workers, “There is no work. I feel very anxious, like I’m not serving any purpose.”
Due to the required Distance Learning, these children have not been able to attend school, but must have the technology in order to have access to the required learning. Given that in the Dunbar School, 82% of the children are below the poverty line and 58% are learning English for the first time, being at home, means that technology is either non-existent or misunderstood. Additionally, childcare is “baby-sitting” a number of children, not distance learning or engaging in enrichment activities. All this is on top of being food insecure! The same challenges exist in the Kenwood School, but with 25% below the poverty line and not quite as many learning English for the first time.
Therefore, after meeting with the principals of both schools as well as talking with the librarians and a few teachers, the Becoming Beloved Community team has identified several areas of need and a long-term program to help address them. This includes that St. Patrick’s has established a special fund, The Becoming Beloved Community with Dunbar and Kenwood Schools (BBC-Schools) which initially funded $5000 of technology for Distance Learning and gift cards for groceries. The Rapid Response Grant of $5000 will be deposited into this account and used as described below.
Food insecurity is an ongoing challenge for a large percentage of the families. Our first response is to communicate specific information to all families as to the area food banks as well as to offer food certificates to those most needy. These families are identified by the schools and the certificates are given out by the schools.
At this time all children have chrome books provided by the school districts and St. Patrick’s has provided the necessary “hot-spots” for all families so that the children can access Distance Learning. Both principals indicated the great need for the children to have books at home that they can keep and read as well as “Take a Break “kits of board games, puzzles, art supplies and equipment that promote physical activity, away from the computer screen, such as jump ropes, balls, hula-hoops etc. These are things that the children enjoy doing and provide opportunities for artistic expression, socialization with siblings and physical exercise. The Rapid Response funds will be used to supply all children in both schools with books on a regular basis and “Take a Break” Kits.
As we continue to meet with the principals and assess the needs of the children and families, the St. Patrick’s BBC-Schools team will make adjustments and continue to engage not only the parishioners of St. Patrick’s but reach out into the larger Kenwood community to support the ongoing needs of these children and families. The Rapid Response Grant has made it possible for us to launch our program and immediately attend to the most urgent needs of these children. We are most grateful.
LBH:10/17/20
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What is ECS?
Episcopal Community Services is an outreach arm of the Diocese of Northern California. Our primary goal is to assist congregations develop and sustain ministries focused on human rights advocacy, human service or health programs, or lay leadership/empowerment programs.
ECS does this through offering grants for Mission Development; Warren Dunning Memorial Grant for service to the least, the last and/or the lonely with emphasis on new or growing ministry; Rt. Rev. Barry L Beisner Grant for human rights advocacy, human service or health programs, or lay leadership & empowerment programs; and the Jane and Jerry Lamb Grant for ministry with young people.
In addition, ECS is fund of knowledge on developing and sustaining various kinds of programs.
Among the 2020/2021 grants are
- for “Bilingual Parent Communication” to St. Luke’s, Calistoga, for support salaries of bilingual teachers in the full-day pre-school and child-care center.
- for “Prosper Placer Project” to St. Luke’s, Auburn, to work with families willing to take concrete steps to help themselves by matching families with volunteers.
- For “Partnering with the Jesus Center” to St. John’s, Chico, to replace fruit trees, etc.
 Because of the restrictions of Covid we are making an impassioned plea for monetary assistance. In 2020 we dispersed $16,000 in grants. This is money that was donated in 2019. The money that you donate today will go to 2021 grants. Please be generous.
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City Connections of Santa Rosa News letter
Expanded COVID-19 Testing Opportunities
The County of Sonoma has added new pop-up testing sites to help better reach residents disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, including adding new sites in Santa Rosa. Each site is open weekly as follows:
- Tues, 1:30pm. to 4pm, Andy's Unity Park, 3399 Moorland Ave., Santa Rosa
- Wed, 9am. to 11:30am, Healdsburg Day Labor Center, 405 Grove St., Healdsburg
- Thurs, 1:30pm to 4pm, Roseland Library, 779 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa
- Fri, 9am to 11:30am, Burton Avenue Recreation Center, 7421 Burton Ave., Rohnert Park
Call (707) 565-4667 for an appointment. Residents are encouraged to be tested regardless of whether they have symptoms or have been exposed to someone who is COVID-19 positive. The goal is to test more of our community for the coronavirus, help our community isolate, and hopefully interrupt the spread of COVID-19 in our community. READ MORE
Now Open: All Personal Care Services
The California Department of Public Health updated their guidelines this week, to allow all personal care services to operate indoors with modifications. The update applies to all counties, including those in Tier 1 Widespread/Purple. Personal care services, including esthetic, skin care, electrology, body art professionals, tattoo parlors, piercing shops, and massage therapy, must follow existing state guidance to create a lower risk environment for employees and the public. READ MORE
Recovery News
Immediate Red Cross Financial Assistance Available for Glass Fire Survivors
Households severely impacted by the Glass Fire may apply to the Red Cross for immediate financial assistance. The Red Cross is providing $450 to households whose homes have been destroyed or sustained major damage. Apply at redcross.org/apply or call 800-733-2767 by October 31.
New information is also available for Glass Fire survivors on the following topics:
City to Consider Adding Glass Fire-Impacted Properties into Resilient City Combining District
On October 27, City Council will consider amending an urgency ordinance to include properties impacted by the Glass Fire. Originally adopted to assist residents following the October 2017 wildfires, the Resilient City Combining District ordinance updated City zoning code to allow properties impacted by a wildfire to enter into a streamlined permitting process to better facilitate their rebuild. To date, this ordinance has spurred the completion or the construction of over 2,200 homes within the City. If passed, this amended urgency ordinance will expand this process to those homes and properties damaged or destroyed by the Glass Fire. READ MORE
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We Salute our Firefighters
A message from Sonoma County United In Kindness
As a community, we all need to send a message of gratitude to the fire fighters who heroically battled the raging heat, fire and wind to save lives and homes, and protect our communities during the recent Glass and Shady wildfires.
The intensity of the fire and the magnitude of devastation became apparent as the smoke and air-borne ash clouds lifted. A short drive up Los Alamos Road, Channel Drive, the Skyhawk neighborhood, or Highway 12 dramatizes how close the fire came to destroying many more homes in east Santa Rosa. The same is true for Napa, St. Helena and Calistoga.
Our Firefighters' judgment and determination are apparent from the open fields, vegetation and fences which burned, while houses were saved. They worked long hours while exhausted, battling flames and extinguishing hot spots. It's not easy to stand up to raging flame, heat, smoke and unknown additional dangers, in steep, rugged terrain, and to win. It takes special character and determination to risk your own life to save others.
A big shout out to every one who directed the work and served on the frontlines, including prisoner firefighters who stepped forward with exemplary courage and character — and to our police departments for their contributions, all under incredibly stressful conditions.
This is the time to show acts of kindness towards those who are impacted in our community. We need to seek out those who may need help and render ultimate acts of altruism. This is the time to exhibit once more that Sonoma County is United in Kindness.
If you are looking for a way to help, here are links to groups providing needed local assistance in response to the wildfires and the Covid-19 pandemic:
• Undocufund (https://undocufund.org/)
Provides COVID-19 and Wildfire relief to Sonoma County immigrant
workers and families.
• Direct Relief (https://www.directrelief.org/)
Funds medical sites in communities hit by disaster, including
a targeted program for northern California Wildfire recovery.
Sonoma County United In Kindness is a project of the Interfaith Council of Sonoma County. So far over 1500 individuals have signed the Declaration along with endorsements by 40 different local congregations and community groups. We commit to bring all people together, build enduring community bonds, and collectively oppose any acts of violence or hatred in beautiful Sonoma County.
Please Join Us!
. CLICK HERE . to read and sign our United In Kindness
Declaration Of Unity
For further information, to endorse the Sonoma County United In Kindness campaign or to volunteer, contact us at UnitedInKindness@interfaithsonoma.org
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Weekly Calendar
Tuesdays: Morning Coffee Hour
Let's meet over coffee! 10:00 a.m. Hosted by Eleanor Albon. Send a note to Eleanor Albon and she will ensure you receive a Zoom invitation. ralbon@aol.com or 281-610-8043
Tuesdays: Compline
Let's share Compline together! 4:00 p.m. Hosted by Priest Doyle.
Wednesdays: Parish Bible Study
Join Priest Doyle for our Parish Bible Study: The Gospel of John 9:00 a.m., hosted by Priest Doyle.
Thursdays: The Women's Bible Study
Grow in your faith & walk with God! 9:30 a.m. Send a note to Miriam Casey and she will ensure you receive a Zoom invitation. mlcasey7@yahoo.com or 650-380-2747
Thursdays: Sacred Ground, a Film-based Dialogue Series on Race and Faith” with Bob Wohlsen & Sharron Simpson 1:00 p.m.
Thursdays: Happy Hour:
Enjoy your favorite beverage with a friend! From 5:00 p.m- 6:00 p.m., hosted by Anne and Rick Phillips. Send a note to Anne and Rick Phillips and they will ensure you receive a Zoom invitation. aywphillips@comcast.net or 707-888-0642. Happy Hour will now meet monthly on the first Thursday of the month.
Fridays: The Men's Bible Study:
Grow in your faith & walk with God! 8:30 a.m.
Send a note to Tom Allen and he will ensure you receive a Zoom invitation. ctetfa@sbcglobal.net or 214-766-7209
Second Saturday of the Month: Women's Breakfast:
Fellowship over breakfast, a cup of coffee, or just to visit with us! 8:30 a.m.
Send a note to Eleanor Albon and she will ensure you receive a Zoom invitation. ralbon@aol.com or 281-610-8043
** Women's Breakfast will meet on the second Sa turday of the month. Our next Zoom gathering will be November 14th**
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"Anything is Possible"
Rheva Henry | Bethel worship
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Let us pray.
Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns in you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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Please Support Saint Patrick’s Episcopal Church Ministry
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Please remember that if you choose to mail your gift, our mailing address is P.O. Box 247, Kenwood CA 95452.
Thank you!!!
If you choose to mail in your gift, please consider to send checks only. This is for your security.
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Priest Doyle Dietz Allen Contact Information
Email: stpatricksrector@gmail.com
Phone: 520-268-0366
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9000 Sonoma Highway
PO Box 247
Kenwood, CA 95452
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