 Tycho and Michael Jenkins, Victoria Smith, and Eunice Benton Barreling through modern life without a pause is just plain unhealthy! Making time to move our too-sedentary bodies, to get outside into the natural world, to be still and reflect – to get up on a mountain top, even, and let a magnificent view inspire us! – these practices can restore and nourish our bodies, minds and spirits. This morning we will reflect on the value of such practices and we will focus especially on the role The Mountain can play in these parts of our lives. Founded thirty-five years ago by Unitarian Universalists who wanted a special retreat place in the southeast for all ages, THE MOUNTAIN, located in Highlands, NC, is a rich and inspiring spot in the world. This morning we will honor the need in all of us for learning and inspiration and honor this special place that southern Unitarian Universalist can call their own.
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 The observance of Lent was created to honor a great Prophet's time in the wilderness. We, too, can use this time to seek our own disciplines and find at-one-ment with the Spirit. While own wildernesses may seem a world apart from Jesus', they are important places not to overlook. Explore Lent's gift of in-between time. Experience this time fully, and come to understand the blessings that are also in it. We will be cared for even in wilderness, with love and tenderness. Michael Jenkins will be our Service Leader 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ' Twill be in the valley of love and delight. Joseph Brackett (1797–1882) On March 8, Pam Coe and other members of the Oxford Quaker Friends will be a part of our Sunday Service, helping us to understand that, in the words of Phillip Gulley, “...to be a Quaker is to live out as best we can the virtues of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality.” Living life simply leads one to perceive “success” differently than most of American society does today. At the end of one's life the person who has true wealth, defined in Quaker terms, might say, “A banquet was spread before us, and we partook of the most substantive fare life had to offer: love, joy, compassion, community, generosity, and more. This is the abundant life of which Jesus spoke—and not just Jesus but also other great teachers that God has given our world. Collectively, they teach us that outward treasures have no inward profit, and that those lives that are arrayed against the plainest velvet, like precious gems, will possess the greatest beauty.” (Gulley: Living the Quaker Way, 57). Please join the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Oxford as we learn life lessons from the Quaker Way. Mari Kuhnle will be the Service Leader. |
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