Saturday, January 31, 2026

Aphorism of the Day, January 2026

Aphorism of the Day, January 31, 2026

One might read the Beatitudes with the same counter logic as the parable about finding the presence of Christ in the hungry, the poor, and the prisoners.  The blessing is pronounced upon people in distress states not to seek such states but for the one with power, wealth, and knowledge to be wooed to find Christ's blessing in ministering to such people.

Aphorism of the Day, January 30, 2026

Our interior languaged lives are specific and individualized Large Language Models from which can come to many different language products manifesting a full range of discourses on the continuum from the highly poetic to the highly materialistic scientific, as well as naming of the visual events of our lives and the experiences of our other senses.  From our interior languaged lives comes the choreography of our ethically directed body language deeds as well.

Aphorism of the Day, January 29, 2026

The Beatitudes need to be appraised from various subject positions.  Followers of Christ who are living in oppressed conditions.  Followers of Christ who are living in privileged positions in society.  Comfortable Christians seeking devotional insights for living better.  Non-followers of Christ analyzing the sayings as a revaluation of "normal" values of seeing a comfortable life as blessed or noble/Noble, qua Nietzsche.

Aphorism of the Day, January 28, 2026

The Beatitudes question for "empire" power privileged "followers" of Christ is what side of the Beatitudes to be on?  As people with power and able to oppress, do we force the oppressed to live the winsome lifestyle of the Beatitudes for their mere survival?  Or do we use our power to make sure that the Beatitude lifestyle is not needed in the first place?

Aphorism of the Day, January 27, 2026

One can note that the state of blessedness of the Beatitudes have the disclaimer, "eventually" or that the kingdom of heaven is a current container for the suffering condition for what is called "blessed."  The Beatitudes do not promise any immediate end of the terrible condition of suffering.  This is perhaps why people of religion prefer to be on the protected side of the empires that can cause suffering and defend their people from having to suffer.  Followers of Jesus who have the protection of the empire should acknowledge their very uneasy and even hypocritical relationship with the Beatitudes.  The safest relationship to the Beatitudes and having power is to work so that none of the conditions of the Beatitude prevails.  It means being those who do not allow the conditions of oppression to prevail.

Aphorism of the Day, January 26, 2026

The Beatitudes might be called the poetry of the impossible since they confer blessings upon ways of being interiorly and doing exteriorly that are impossible.  Either we give up in futility to try to reach the standard, or we affirm the ideal as the standard because we don't set the mediocre as a standard.  By lauding the ideal, we practice the perpetual effort toward surpassing ourselves in excellence, accept our falling short it as "recovering hypocrites" while maintaining the high standard.

Aphorism of the Day, January 25, 2026

The saying what we think we think is but a tiny foregrounding of the immense background of everything else interior and exterior which could come to articulation but remains but the passive cloud of differences to what does come to language.

Aphorism of the Day, January 24, 2026

Being caught in the language loop we still try to bring to language products approximations of the more than language of the signified by language.  By using the word ALL, we use a rhetorical product to say that there is something which cannot be said or written.  Rhetorically we posit that we are becoming always already within an always already Omni-Becoming which means we can experience as cacophony the conflict of things and people being at different "ages," and just as an older individual might be at odds with that same individual at an earlier age, the age differences in experience for different persons in physical and other modes of maturity can account for the conflicts.  The same aging factors applied to social groups can give us insights to our warring behaviors.

 Aphorism of the Day, January 23, 2026

Being trapped in the language loop of using language to refer to what is not language, but hopelessly having to use more words to do so, we can only but use language to accompany the great order within and without of what is unsaid, unwritten, and yet is the Great Negligible which mysteriously permeates us in unknown ways.

Aphorism of the Day, January 22, 2026

Religious movements are the result of the manifestation of public agreement and persuasion regarding interior experience of the Holy or the Sublime as deriving from a common accessed interior Source, even as the Holy or the Sublime is also attached to and associated with Holy Figures or events which happened in the exterior "landscape" having historical registration.

Aphorism of the Day, January 21, 2026

Public and communal religion is really only individually and privately accessed by the play of language within a person to constitute personhood straddling the known public persona and the vastly private flurry of unpublished personhood fragments.

Aphorism of the Day, January 20, 2026

In an age when everything is coming to "data," the only private place will be the private  inaccessible human interior which includes a volition switch to go public or remain private.

Aphorism of the Day, January 19, 2026

There is an arrogant presumption in the Delphic Oracle injunction, "Know Thyself."  The interior life of anyone is so vast that it cannot be known; the interior life includes us as a participating flotant on its ocean.  If theists can be honest, they would admit a co-extensivity  between participating with one's inner life and the life of the named divine.

Aphorism of the Day, January 18, 2026

Avoid the lifestyle which denies the discursive versatility of being a scientist and a poet/artist.  Don't confuse the different discursive rules which pertain to science and art.  Avoid the lifestyle which denies the discursive versatility of being a person of faith using faith discourse for faith purposes and yet being a foot on the ground science discursive practitioner.

Aphorism of the Day, January 17, 2026

Religious experience and discourse derives from the inner play of language which like over-lapping film can be projected through to create the kind of imagery which is more than empirically referent subject matter complying with the laws of nature.  It is fantastic discourse imploring us to use language in more than just common sense ways tapping into the human capacity of wonder, which for practical reasons, we encourage the child to neglect as the child becomes adult.  However, wonder capacity remains and needs other expressions in art and faith to balance one's life, not to deny the purpose of common sense and discourse of science but to give expressions to the totally private inner space which everyone has and needs to find external ways of acknowledging.

Aphorism of the Day, January 16, 2026

From our dreams and daydreams and fantasy we know that our interior linguistic states can create scenarios which can never be empirically verified in material conditions external to the internal subject.  Such non-empirical compliant fantasy creator can become lens through which we see the external world.  They help to create the myths of life and interpreters should trace the myths to the creativity of the subjects to see and project from within.  We do that for the cinema; we should do it for religious "seeing" as well.  One does not deny that subjective seeing has actually empirical consequences as in physical bodily reactions to the fantastic.  Fantastic projection can have empirical evidentiary consequences without the fantasies themselves being empirically possible.  In short, art creates emotions and  measurable reactions without being but empirically verified occasions of aesthetic experiences.

Aphorism of the Day, January 15, 2026

Time means that there is no actual present tense.  This is actually means "this is becoming."  "This is" is a false abstracted linguistic static state from "this is becoming."

Aphorism of the Day, January 14, 2025

The degree to which one uses language as being tied to the material world, even though the material world is interpreted from within a person through language, can result in one over-identifying language with the material world,  and one can be caught up in rigid even fascistic meanings, as well as greedy hoarding.  People who understand the nuances of language understand a kind of "continuum" of discourse from the materialized to the "spiritualized," or the continuous deconstructive play of signifiers challenging any final idolatrous rigid exclusive meaning adhering to a signifier.  It could be that Marx's notion of ideology attached to the material conditions of humanity was just the opposite kind of materialism to the wealth hoarders who had ideologies in place to maintain their material privilege.

Aphorism of the Day, January 13, 2026

The greatest reservoir of language products are actually the unseen private ones in the zone of the interior, in thoughts, interior pictures, but also in the unseen actions (body language deeds) which like the unobserved falling tree in the forest, still exist.  Spoken words unheard but by the person speaking to oneself are many, like the divas and divos in the showers.  The unseen, the unheard, the undone is the cauldron of preparation for the public performance of what is seen, heard, and done.

Aphorism of the Day, January 12, 2026

Writing is about trying to say many, many different things and in many, many different ways, and not being able to cease from continually trying.

Aphorism of the Day, January 11, 2026

Since the Enlightenment, science has become the new catholicity, because "catholic" means "on the whole."  Science uses a method which tries to state things which have an "on the whole" consistency everywhere in situations of the uniformity of natural causes.  Religious "truths" as catholic in practice means that a governing religious body has declared them as universally valid.  Religious catholicity moves from because we have discovered an insightful way for us to believe what we believe, everyone else should believe it too in the way that we do.

Aphorism of the Day, January 10, 2026

The "objectivity" of science is a language discourse to explain what is happening outside of us in things available to our senses such that the observed consistency of behaviors can result in infallible predictions of future behaviors.  Every "subject" doing subjective/individual/different in time and space participation in "objective" events should have their subjective participation verify the objectively state law of behavior of what they observe.  Subjectivity does not exempt one from objective procedures and what is objective is merely a statistically approximate pattern of repeated subjective efforts.

Aphorism of the Day, January 9, 2026

I am mystified by my interior, you are mystified by your interior and if enough people mystified by their interiors gather to share common metaphors about their experience of mystification, the social reality of religion happens.  So what is true becomes like the Nietzsche definition of truth, the continuous repetition of a metaphor, a well-used metaphor.  It's the "democracy" of truth.  But in time and space the discovery of so many "truth democracies" has lead to clashes of parties proclaiming "my truth is better than yours."  Science has come to say there are such mystifications which belong to "aesthetic" or "feeling truths" and there are statistically quantifiable truths which has the performance outcome to attain a more "unanimous" agreement.

Aphorism of the Day, January 8, 2026

Taking a vow of silence does not remove one from the linguistic universe, it simply means that one's behavior mimes a message that could come to writing or speech.  If one refuses to write or speak, one is but fasting from two public products of language, while inhabiting a body with situational coding and body deeds which have messages embedded within their actions.  Refusing to speak or write does not end the continual internal language cloud, and the fasting from public speech and writing might create the mystery of "voluntary" impairment while limiting one's ability to interact effectively with one's environment.  It can also be an attention getter like the child who doesn't speak and has all the adults doing cartwheels trying to coax speech acts.  Cutting of the arms of speech and writing may get one attention, if that is what one wants.  It also can be manifestation of passive aggression.  It can also be a sign of resignation and self doubt and self disillusionment of, "I don't have anything worthwhile to offer to to my situation in life with other people."  Silence can also be deployed as a rest is deployed in music.  Written words have "rests" or "spaces."  Spoken word has rests which allow the distinguishing of what is heard.  A vow of silence is the choice to make speech a score of all rests and a text of all spaces.

Aphorism of the Day, January 7, 2026

The Epiphany is the proclamation that God can assume the personal and a personality, i.e., Jesus Christ as a way of affirming the anthropomorphic path as a valid way for knowing God as the extra-human who touches the interior of people with a peculiar wildness which gets domesticated for human public sharing.  The Epiphany as manifestation of God's personality which resides as a divine parasite upon the subjective personal of everyone, but without any surgical removal of human volition.  Christ is the proclamation to everyone of the great Personhood assuming connection with every person.

Aphorism of the Day, January 6, 2026

The Epiphany for Christians as manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in our lifetime can be restated as the accessibility to the God-image for everyone, which for Christians is known as the realizing the nature of Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, January 5, 2026

Within the epidermis of each person, there is a universe which might be called called "consciousness" or consciousnesses (pl) since one might have them being awake or asleep.  That one confesses consciousness is public though each person's consciousness is essentially private and inaccessible to anyone save oneself.  Consciousness is a word that forces other synonyms to imply its presence, like "feeling state."  Feeling state is again inexact in really not being equivalent with what it is supposed to signify.  One's interior universe is organized by the language forms which come to colonize how we regard our interior, and part of our interior world is the notion of having a significant agency in manipulating inner thought direction and activities which can result in agency in our external worlds.

Aphorism of the Day, January 4, 2026

Each person is an individual subject at the center of perception of one's own perceptual universe which has been socially constructed by lots of exterior input.  What makes the input individual is that the input gets mixed inside like a interior kaleidoscope and most of the mix remains private with but a tip of the ice berg having a public language product showing.  The mystery of what never gets shown is the mystery of the individual.

 Aphorism of the Day, January 3, 2026

Huxley's quote qua Blake about "cleansing the doors of perception (ergo the Band Doors) in part spurred the pharmacological approach to simulating altered or peak states to perceive one's insides and outside in a different way, with the hope of making different decisions for the benefit of the world.  Too often people are addicted to peak states no matter how they are attained and while basking in the peace of bliss the rest of the world can starve.  Peak states resulting in political and social quietism/escapism divorces one's religion from ethics.

Aphorism of the Day, January 2, 2026

Our language screens through which we bring our language products of deeds, speech, and writing to manifestation are formed passively by what we take on in their formation in our cultural/family circumstance including the self image that we have which comes from pretending to be on the outside of the language screen and looking within ourselves to code our interior with all sorts of imaging.

Aphorism of the Day, January 1, 2026

We are language using subjects who have come to know language use as a positive parasite which has grown upon us as hosts for this viral like phenomena and it has taken us over.  With language we have created within us from the external social linguistic imprinting layered orbs of linguistic screens which filter what we come to say is outside of our epidermis, but at the same time each subject can magically seem to be outside of the linguistic screens looking within ourselves and naming our interior with words like soul, spirit, ego, id, subconscious, mind, feeling, consciousness, and much more which does not have an external empirically verified reality.  Through language as language users we with amazing imagination live on both sides of this interior linguistic screen and while our subjectivity is built as an individual perceiving subject of the world outside, at the same time we attempt to fulfill the Delphic Oracle injunction to "know thyself" when from inside ourselves, we look inside ourselves.  This is the amazing linguistic jujitsu of our subjective lives.

Quiz of the Day, January 2026

Quiz of the Day, January 31, 2026

Which of the following New Testament books is most obvious in presenting a unseen parallel reality to the Christ events?

a. Romans
b. John
c. Hebrews
d. 1 Corinthians

Quiz of the Day, January 30, 2025

The first recorded biblical circumcision was done to

a. Adam
b. Noah
c. Enoch
e. Moses
f. Aaron

Quiz of the Day, January 29, 2026

The first name of the first woman Archbishop of Canterbury?

a. Elizabeth
b. Evelyn
c. Margaret
d. Sarah


Quiz of the Day, January 28, 2026

What is true about Sarai and Hagar?

a. Sarai gave Hagar to Abram to be his wife
b. Sarai was jealous of Hagar after Ishmael was born
c. Sarai mistreated Hagar
d. Sarai's mistreatment caused Hagar to flee into the wilderness
e. all the above

Quiz of the Day, January 27, 2026

Which of the following is not true regarding Abraham?

a. he gave his wife Sarai to a pharaoh
b. he had eight sons
c. his descendents were more than the stars
d. he is the father of the Jews and the Arabs

Quiz of the Day, January 26, 2026

Which New Testament book has the most references to the conversion of St. Paul?

a. Galatians
b. Philippians
c. 1 Corinthians
d. Acts of the Apostles

Quiz of the Day, January 25, 2026

What Gospel includes an account of an apostle to the Samaritan people?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, January 24, 2026

The first woman ordained as a priest in the Anglican Communion was from where?

a. United States
b. New Zealand
c. Scotland
d. Hong Kong

Quiz of the Day, January 23, 2026

What bishop who preached very long sermons, penned the words to the Christmas Carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem?

a. Samuel Seabury
b. William Temple
d. John Henry Hobart

Quiz of the Day, January 22, 2026

What biblical city is associated with the cause of humanity being polyglottic?

a. Sodom
b. Gomorrah
d. Jericho

Quiz of the Day, January 21, 2026

The word Semite derives from 

a. one of the names of Palestine
b. a tribe from Goshen in Egypt
c. the name of one of Noah's son
d. a famous High Priest

Quiz of the Day, January 20, 2026

In the post-flood divine order to Noah, what was Noah commanded not to eat?

a. pork
b. shell fish
d. temptation fruit

Quiz of the Day, January 19, 2026

One of Paul's most stinging criticisms was for whom?

a. Barnabas
b. Titus
c. Peter
d. Philemon
e. Onesimus

Quiz of the Day, January 18, 2026

How many people were on Noah's Ark?

a. 5
b. 6
c. 7
d. 8

Quiz of the Day, January 17, 2026

The Father of the monastic movement was from where?

a. Syria
b. Turkey
c. Egypt
d. Greece

Quiz of the Day, January 16, 2026

Which English word comes from the same word used for the special acts of Jesus performed in the Gospel of John?

a. miraculous
b. wonderful
c. semiotic
d. enthusiastic

Quiz of the Day, January 15, 2025

Who was Jubal?

a. children of Adam and Eve born after Cain and Abel
b. the forefather of the musical instruments lyre and pipe
c. a brother Enoch
d. the grandfather of Noah

Quiz of the Day, January 14, 2026

What famous murderer was protected by God for the rest of his life?

a. Saul/Paul
b. Pontus Pilate
c. Cain
d. Samson
e. Joab

Quiz of the Day, January 13, 2026

Why does the Orthodox Church disagree with the Western Catholic recitation of the Nicene Creed?

a. a clause was added without universal council
b. because of three words (English) "and the Son"
c. because procession is different from sending
d. because of the filioque clause
e. all the above

Quiz of the Day, January 12, 2026

What does JEDP stand for in the study of the Hebrew Scriptures?

a. source theory
b. Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, Priestly
c. Different editorial versions
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, January 11, 2026

Who refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God?

c. Peter
d. Paul
e. Stephen
f. a and c
g. a and b

Quiz of the Day, January 10, 2026

The main elements of the "Hail Mary" prayer come from which Gospel?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, January 9, 2026

God as Father is referred most in which Gospel?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, January 8, 2026

Where is Christ called the image of the invisible God?

b. Revelations

Quiz of the Day, January 7, 2026


d. Noah

Quiz of the Day, January 6, 2026

Which of the following is not true about the observance of the Feast of the Epiphany?

a. it began after the celebration of Christmas was established
b. it pre-dates the celebration of Christmas
c. it began in Alexandria
d. it was a replacement feast for the winter solstice local celebrations

Quiz of the Day, January 5, 2026

The "armor of God" is found in which of the following biblical traditions?


Quiz of the Day, January 4, 2026

The account of Jesus walking upon the waters of the Sea of Galilee is not found in which Gospel?

b. Mark 
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, January 3, 2026

Which king did Elijah anoint to reign?

a. Jehu
b. Asa
c. Ahab
e. he did not anoint a king

Quiz of the Day, January 2, 2026

What biblical person is known to have fled and sat down under a broom tree?

b. Elijah
d. Saul

Quiz of the Day, January 1, 2026

The title "King of Kings" derives first from

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Pondering Honest Readings of the Beatitudes

4 Epiphany A   February 1, 2026
Micah 6:1-8 Ps. 37:1-18
1 Cor. 1:18-31 Matt. 5:1-12



In the Bible, the Beatitudes reside on a pedestal of defining the highest state of "spiritual" living, even an impossible standard to achieve.

And it is rather comfortable to keep them on such a pedestal and admit that only the heroic ever come close to living with such advanced sanctity.

I think that rather than keeping Beatitudes on such a pedestal, that we should look at them from the various subjective vantage points of the oracle of Jesus to whom they are attributed, the recipients for whom they were originally delivered, and for the many other readers who have read these exalted words from many different living conditions.

I think that any of us with sanguine minds needs to acknowledge the insights which were expressed by Nietzsche about the Beatitudes, namely, they express slave morality.  It is a lifestyle prescription for those who have been forced into the life of oppression.  There is something disturbingly wrong about all of the inferred conditions which would make the lifestyle of the Beatitudes as necessary.

The lifestyle of the Beatitudes are a recommended Christ-like martial arts style of living for how oppressed people can live winsomely with their masters so as not to rebel and live in open revolt and be killed.

The Beatitude conditions should really deconstruct them for us in poignant ways.  First by decrying the oppressive conditions which require that oppressed people live in such winsome servile ways for their own survival.

We should have our own reading dishonesty about the Beatitudes deconstructed if we live more in the comfortable lifestyles of the "masters" than the lifestyles the "slaves."  We are highly dishonest if from our comfortable lives we pretend to have an intimate identity with the very condition which generated the Beatitude lifestyle.

Let's be honest about what a healthy and salutary life means.  It means freedom from a downcast spirit, it means freedom from mourning, it means freedom from persecution, it means living in peace, it means not having people speak evil of you, it means having enough of the resources of the earth to survive, it means having enough to eat and drink, it means to live with people who practice forgiveness,  and it means to be and have people who discern God's presence.

For the original recipients of the Beatitudes and for the many oppressed people in the history of the world, including the many oppressed people by people who have claimed to be Christians, the Beatitudes was a survival discourse to live with the worst conditions of the human inhumanity.

We in our modern and Enlightenment Era have presumed to change the human condition with forms of government which have had the goal of ameliorating the blatant realities of the master/slave dialectic.  We have proclaimed the value of the individual within democracies where people have a greater equal status to control their own destinies so as not to have to live as slaves of others.

As much as we may think that we have achieved in the advancement of human rights for all, we have not prevented the perpetual return of the deliberate or unconscious exploitation of those who have power, wealth, and knowledge over those who do not have power, wealth, or knowledge.

So, how can we now re-read the Beatitudes in our post-modern era with projections of how Christ as a Good Shepherd might be manifest through us, who have a substantial degree of wealth, power, and education?

First, we should be active in every way possible to eliminate the master/slave conditions of class warfare and of the exploitation of the weak by the strong.  In short, we should be working to eliminate that very conditions which required the heroic virtues of the Beatitudes as being but the winsome living habits of slaves before their masters.

To receive the Spirit which drives Beatitude living, while we are not oppressed, means that we work to encourage and refresh the spirits of those who are dis-spirited.  we work to comfort those who are mourning the harmful events what what has happened in their lives.  We work to make peace, not to ameliorate the wealthy and powerful to "treat people better;" rather we should make peace the basis of all relationships.  We should do self work to clarify our motives so that we might see the divine because we have checked our egos at the door.  We should stand against all bias, prejudice, and injurious speech and make empathy the principle of living together.  We should find what is "right" beyond our own social setting which privileges our own affinities. We should learn forgiveness and mercy as the code of surviving among imperfect people trying to surpass themselves in future states of perfectibility.

In short, for those who have the relative comfort of adequate power, wealth, and knowledge, we should channel the Spirit of the Beatitudes in the perpetual task of overcoming the master/slave dialectic which always tempts people hell bent on the will to power, especially the will to power over others.

Or as the prophet Micah wrote:  We should do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly before God.  Amen.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Sunday School, February 1, 2026 4 Epiphany A

 Sunday School, February 1, 2026    4 Epiphany A


Theme:

How do we live in a world that sometimes is not fair?

Jesus lived in a world that was not fair for many people.  So how does a person live when life is not always fair?  Do we respond in a cruel way when we are treated cruelly?  Do we try to fight evil by being evil ourselves?

Jesus had some advice which might seem difficult.  He said to love our enemies.  He said we should not use evil to defeat evil; he said we should overcome evil with good.  Why did he say this?

He said this because he believed that God had made us and this world good.  So goodness is what is normal in life.  When people are bad, they are not acting normal.  So we need people who can act with normal good behavior to be examples of how to live.

The Beatitudes are recommended ways for us to learn how to practice a very good life, a happy life, a blessed life.  What are the secrets to happiness?
1-Not being so proud that one thinks that one does not need God’s Spirit.  If we are poor in spirit we will appreciate God’s Holy Spirit in us.
2-We need to be merciful and forgiving and that will help us to know mercy for ourselves.
3-We need to be peaceful and people who make peace with each other.
4-We need to do everything for the right reasons not for selfish reasons.
5-We need to be humbly patient and learn self-control.
6-We need to be willing to suffer for doing the right thing.
7-We need to desire what is right more than food or drink.

When we learn to live this way, we learn to live by overcoming evil with good behaviors.  When we live this way, we have the following rewards: We know we live in God’s kingdom.  We know that we are God’s children.  We know that we can see God at work in our world.  We know that we are God’s children who have inherited all the beauty of this world.  We know that we will have a future reward.  We know that we will have a good afterlife.  We know that we will be forgiven for not being perfect. 

Sermon:
  How do we live when we discover the world is not perfect?  We need some rules to follow?
  And when do we discover that the world is not perfect?  When we find out we cannot get everything that we want.
  As children, we learn that we cannot have everything that we want.  And we cannot do everything that we want.
  At the playground, there may be only two swings; but there are 10 children who want to swing.  What do we do?  We have to learn to share, right?
  Maybe we’re playing baseball, and we want to be the best hitter, but there might be someone bigger and better at hitting the baseball.  Is that fair that someone is bigger and better?  What do we do?
  Maybe we make a mistake and we push someone out of the way to get to a toy…or maybe someone pushes us.  What do we do?  We have to say, “I’m sorry.”  And when someone says, “I’m sorry to us.”  What do we do?  Do we stay angry or do we forgive?
  Remember we might think that a perfect world is where all of our wishes come true and where we get everything that we want.  But there is no such perfect world.  So, we have to live with the one that we have.  So, Jesus gave us rules on how to be happy in a world that is not perfect.
  Jesus said, we can be happy, if we know that we are poor without God and without each other.  We are rich if we have each other and we have God.  So, I should not pretend to be the only person in the world who can get everything that I want.
  Jesus said we can be happy, if we know that we cannot have everything at once.  If God is our father, then we know that in this life and in the next life we will have time to receive the joy of everything.
  Since we cannot have everything, it means that we will lose some things.  We will lose favorite toys, we will lose our health when we get sick.  We lose important pets and people in our lives when they die.  And when we lose, we can learn to be happy when we are able to help other people when they lose things and when they are sad.  There is a joy that comes when we help others.
  Since this world is not perfect and since you and I are not perfect boys and girls or men and women, we must learn how to live with our not being perfect.  So, Jesus said that to be happy we have to forgive and be forgiven.  We have to have mercy.  That means saying, “I’m sorry” when I hurt someone or make a mistake.  That means I don’t stay mad at someone when they hurt me and when they say that they are sorry.
  Since there are so many different people.  And many people want the very same things, and we all believe different things; we can either fight or argue with people.  Or we can be people who make peace.  We make peace by sharing and by being fair.  Jesus said that we will be happy as children of God, if we learn how to make peace.
  Jesus said we will be happy if we have pure hearts.  What does not mean?  I think it means learning to want things in life for the right reasons.  Wanting to be strong to help the weak.  Wanting to be rich to help the poor.  And if we learn to do all things because we care for others, we will see God because that is how God is.  God is loving and caring.
  And then there is a very hard rule.  Jesus said, we are happy if we aren’t the bully.  It is better to be weak than to be strong and hurt other people.  Jesus said that we will find a great reward, if we refuse to be the bully and suffer for doing what is right.
  So, Jesus gave us rules for living in a world that is not perfect.  And we are not perfect either.  But even though we don’t live in a perfect world, we can follow these rules of Jesus and still learn to be happy.
  



Family Service with Holy Eucharist
February 1, 2026 The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Gathering Songs:
Here  In This Place, Christ Beside Me,  Just a Closer Walk, Peace Before Us

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
People: And Blessed be God’s Kingdom, Now and forever. Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.
And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.
Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Here In This Place (Renew # 14)
Here in this place new light is streaming, now is the darkness vanished away; see in this space our fears and our dreamings brought here to you in the light of this day.  Gather us in the lost and forsaken, gather us in, the blind and the lame; call to us now, and we shall awaken, we shall arise at the sound of our name.
Here we are young, our lives are a mystery, we are the old who yearn for your face; we have been sung throughout all of history, called to be light to the whole human race.  Gather us in, the rich and the haughty, gather us in, the proud and the strong; give us a heart so meek and so lowly, give us the courage to enter the song.
Here we will take the wine and the water, here we will take the bread of new birth, here you shall call your sons and your daughters, call us anew to be salt for the earth.  Give us to drink the wine of compassion, give us to eat the bread that is you; nourish us well, and teach us to fashion lives that are holy and hearts that are true.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.
People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray
Almighty and everlasting God, you are able to rule all things both in heaven and on earth: Mercifully hear our prayer requests, and especially in our time grant us your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia
O God, you have made us! Alleluia
O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia
O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia
O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia
O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia
O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia


A Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord.
Peope: Thanks be to God


Please read with me from Psalm 139
Put your trust in the LORD and do good; * dwell in the land and feed on its riches.
Take delight in the LORD, * and he shall give you your heart's desire.

Litany of Thanksgiving: Chant: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:
For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!
For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!
For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!
For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!
For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!
For work and for play. Thanks be to God!
For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!
For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!
For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.
   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Jesus taught his disciples these lessons:  You will be happy in God’s kingdom if realize that you are not the only person in the world, but you are rich with friends and the presence of God.  You are happy and comforted when you help others, because your sad experience now helps you to minister to those who are sad.  You are happy when you don’t hoard the gifts of this earth, since God is your father, you will inherit everything.  You are happy when you desire justice as much as you desire and need food and water, because you will be full of joy.  You are happy when you forgive others because then you will know that God forgives you too. You will be happy when you do everything with the best motive for then you will see God everywhere.  You are happy if you are always making peace, because that proves that you are sons and daughters of God.  You are happy if you are mistreated when you are standing for justice, because doing justice means that you are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.  You are happy and can rejoice even when things are said against you because you follow me; remember that you are not alone.  Many great prophets have been mistreated too.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.
People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon:

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.
Since God is so great and we are so small,
We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.
We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and
     resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.
We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is
     welcome.
We believe that Christ is kind and fair.
We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.
And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany of Asking:  Chant: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.
For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.
For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.
For the good health of those we know to be sick. Christ, have mercy.
For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.
For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be with you always.
People:                        And also with you.

Offertory: Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

 Offertory Song:  Christ Beside Me   (Renew! # 164)
1          Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me—King of my heart;  Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me—never to part.
2            Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand, Christ all around me—shield in the strife:  Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising—light of my life
3          Christ be in all hearts, thinking about me, Christ be on all tongues, telling of me; Christ be the vision, in eyes that see me, in ears that hear me, Christ ever be.
4  Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me—King of my heart; Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me—never to part.


Doxology (Stand)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist.
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”
All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
All are born into the family of God by Baptism.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his family to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts
We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.

Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we
   Forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;
You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah Jacob and Rachael.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  
  this food and drink that becomes a part of us.



And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, “Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this Holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ; and that his  presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By  Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory
 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing, (Children may rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father (Sung): (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.
Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.
And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.
As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.
Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.
But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.
Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.
Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread
Celebrant:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration.

Communion Song: Just A Closer Walk With Thee (LEVAS # 71)
Chorus: Just a closer walk with thee, Grant it Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
I am weak but thou art strong; Jesus keep me from all wrong; I’ll be satisfied as long As I walk, let me walk close to thee.
Through this world of toil and snares, If I falter, Lord, who cares?  Who with me my burden shares?  None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee.
When my feeble life is o’er, time for me will be no more; Guide me gently, safely o’er to Thy kingdom shore, to thy shore.



Post-Communion Prayer
Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;
We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.
And His Presence has been known to us.
We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers
    and sisters in Christ.
Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the
     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,
As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Peace Before Us (Wonder Love and Praise # 791)
1-Peace before us, peace behind us, peace under our feet.  Peace within us, peace over us, let all around us be peace.
2-Love before us…. 3-Light before us….4-Christ before….

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 
People: Thanks be to God!  

Aphorism of the Day, February 2026

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