Listen!

 

1Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

19As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

 

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Samuel Reading to Eli the Judgments of God Upon Eli’s House

COPLEY, John Singleton

1780

Wadsworth Atheneum

Hartford, Connecticut

United States of America

 

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20240601904040919&code=ACT&RC=56458&Row=3

 

 

 

 

You must remember, family is often born of blood,

but it doesn’t depend on blood.

Nor is it exclusive of friendship.

Family members can be your best friends, you know.

And best friends, whether or not they are related to you,

can be your family.

~ Trenton Lee Stewart

 

 

 

 

I’ve begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it.

It has a quality and a dimension all its own.

It talks to me sometimes.

I feel myself alive in it.

It talks.

And I can hear it.

~ Chaim Potok

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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   Sondra Kellogg and Suzanne Koczon-Shipley at Rotary

 

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Kay LaMontagne was our speaker and led us in conversations about peace.

 

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Kay’s daughter and son, Melanie D’Evelyn, Kenny D'Evelyn

 

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Kay recommended a booklet by Christine Boschen, daughter of Rotarian Ginny Boschen.

To order, click here:

https://convergeforward.com/

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Our discussion topic

 

 

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Van Farnsworth hosted our Book Club in her lovely home.

 

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Sharron Leonard, Marianne Moritz, Joan Evashevski,

Lynn Gilbert, Carolyn Alexander

 

 

 

TAKE YOUR CHOICE – Alex Noble

How are you greeting each day? Is it with an attitude of expectation and confidence? Or do you rise with a sense of depression and dread? You have a choice. And as the day unfolds, there are more choices, moment by moment. The day is an empty canvas. The shapes and colors the canvas gives back to you will be the shapes and colors you put there. The shapes and colors are yours to choose. You can see through the eyes of hope or the eyes of despair. You can make music with your laughter, or you can call down thundershowers with your tears. You can build or you can destroy. You can experience abundance or poverty. You can love, or you can hate. The choices are there, each minute, each hour. There is no neutral ground. Each moment makes its demand on you as you paint away on the canvas that is your life. Every thought, every mood is a conscious choice.

https://lorimcnee.com/life-imitates-art-attitude/

 

 

 

 

June 2, 2024  Second Sunday after Pentecost [Proper 4B]

Previous OPQs may be found at: 

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

2:23One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” 27Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

3:1Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Mark 2:23-3:6

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

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Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

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LECTIONARY

1 Samuel 3:1–10 (11–20) 

Psalm 139:1–6, 13–18 

2 Corinthians 4:5–12 

Mark 2:23–3:6

 

 

THE WORD:

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In her book Einstein and the Rabbi: Searching for the Soul, Naomi Levy writes:  “Some think of the Sabbath as a day of prohibitions — you can’t do this and you can’t do that.  But the Sabbath is actually a day of permission.  A day when we give our souls permission to dream again.  How long can we keep racing around, spreading ourselves so thin, contorted by stress and worry?  There’s so much within our grasp that we keep missing.”  

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us to embrace the spirit of the Sabbath as a time to re-connect with the love of God by putting aside the busyness of our lives in order to re-engage with those we love: family and friends who are the presence of God in our lives.   

The Sabbath calls us to stop in the busyness of our week to contemplate the goodness of God in our midst.  Such holy “time” can instill in us an awareness of God at work in every molecule of creation and a spirit of gratitude that sanctifies every day that God gives us.

Jesus exalts compassion and mercy as the heart of our praise to the Father whose compassion for his sons and daughters knows neither limit nor condition.  In healing the man with the shriveled hand on the Sabbath, Jesus calls us to remember and give thanks for the goodness of God in our lives by our seeking to mirror God’s justice, reconciliation and peace.

https://connectionsmediaworks.com/sundaygospel.html#june2a

 

 

First Reading 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)

1Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

19As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

1   O LORD, you have searched me and known me. 

2   You know when I sit down and when I rise up; 
          you discern my thoughts from far away. 
3   You search out my path and my lying down, 
          and are acquainted with all my ways. 
4   Even before a word is on my tongue, 
          O LORD, you know it completely. 
5   You hem me in, behind and before, 
          and lay your hand upon me. 
6   Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; 
          it is so high that I cannot attain it.

13  For it was you who formed my inward parts; 
          you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 
14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 
          Wonderful are your works; 
     that I know very well. 
15       My frame was not hidden from you, 
     when I was being made in secret, 
          intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 
16  Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. 
     In your book were written 
          all the days that were formed for me, 
          when none of them as yet existed. 
17  How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! 
          How vast is the sum of them! 
18  I try to count them — they are more than the sand; 
          I come to the end — I am still with you.

Second Lession 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

5For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 8We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. 11For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 12So death is at work in us, but life in you. 

Gospel Mark 2:23-3:6

2:23One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. 24The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” 25And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” 27Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; 28so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

3:1Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” 4Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.