Author Archives: Elizabeth Richardson

Freedom is a dream.

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Proper 9B. July 4, 2021

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10. Look, we are your bone and flesh. [Take us in].
2 Corinthians 12:2-10. My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.
Mark 6:1-13. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

O Dreamer of Freedom, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Sometimes people at Emmanuel wonder what a lesson like the one from 2 Samuel has to do with the Gospel (or anything else in the service). It’s a great question that often comes from experiencing a lifetime of lectionary reading selections that used to fit neatly together, in which Christians appropriated the First Testament to serve the Second Testament. That has changed somewhat with the Episcopal Church’s use of the Revised Common Lectionary. 
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Vessels of God’s Grace

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Proper 8B. June 27, 2021

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27. How the mighty have fallen.
2 Corinthians 8:7-15. As you excel in everything…so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.
Mark 5:21-43. Little girl, get up.

O God who heals, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Many of you know I always begin my sermons with that prayer, amended from a prayer attributed to Phillips Brooks, once Bishop of Massachusetts. It helps me find my preacher voice, as my daughter Laura calls it. Praying it is a way to locate myself in this position of privilege, which you grant to me, and to give myself permission to say things that might be challenging, hard for me to say or hear, or both. The prayer is also a frequent reminder that truth is not predictably or reliably found, and that the seeking is what I am about, what my work with you is about. While truth is costly, it always sets us free. That’s how we know it is truth. The seeking for truth is not at all about fact-finding;  it’s about experiencing freedom and joy and spreading it all around. As Paul exhorts the people in Corinth, we are to excel in generosity in what we undertake, so that the one who has gathered much does not have too much, and the one who has gathered little, does not have too little, and everyone has what they need. (Paul was reminding the people of the Torah, by the way.) This is the vision of community that we are welcoming Cooper Henry Santulli into this morning through his baptism.
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Now is the day of salvation.

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Proper 7B. June 20, 2021

1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 10-16. Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
2 Corinthians 6:1-13. See, now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation.
Mark 4:35-41. Let us go across to the other side.

O God of our faith, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Jesus had been teaching about the Realm of God being like seed scattered on all kinds of ground, and about the Realm of God being like kudzu (well, he said mustard, but an uncontrollable weed with medicinal qualities is what he was talking about). At the end of the same day that Jesus had been teaching the crowds, when evening had come, he said, “Let’s go over to the opposite shore, to the far shore. Let’s go to the eastern side of the lake to the region of the Geresenes, to the territory of the Greco-Roman Decapolis.” He was not suggesting a vacation. 
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What a harvest!

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Proper 6B, June 13, 2021

1 Samuel 15:34-16:13.  The Lord looks on the heart.
2 Corinthians 5:6-17. The love of Christ urges us on.
Mark 4:26-34.  He does not know how.

O Startling God, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Today we are celebrating a harvest in the Church in the baptism of Baker Chapman Ryan, and we are celebrating Deacon Sunday! Baker is right here with his family and friends. Our own deacon, Bob Greiner, is guest preaching at Trinity Church in Melrose this morning, but he’ll join us for a Chapel Camp gathering on Zoom at 12:30 to talk about the blessing of diaconal ministry. We welcome back Isaac Everett, who is serving as our deacon, although he is a priest. Priests and bishops are always deacons first.
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Ha Ruach, Ha Kodesh

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Proper 5B. June 6, 2021

1 Samuel 8:4-20; 11:14-15. We are determined to have a king over us.
2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1. So we do not lose heart.
Mark 3:20-35. Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin.

O God of glory, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

I hope you heard our Deacon Bob’s sermon last week for Trinity Sunday. If not, I encourage you to go to the YouTube recording of our service on May 30. Bob had my rapt attention as soon as he mentioned three-tab file folders! I’ve been thinking all week about how much my sense of well-being has to do with my documents, paper and electronic, being neatly filed and easily retrievable. And the Church has a long history of trying to label and contain and define the mystery of the Divine. Bob reminded us that the Holy One doesn’t fit in file folders or books or whole libraries, or bricks and mortar or wood frames or even bread and wine. The Holy One cannot be reduced to words or equations, and certainly not things.

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Just Being There

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Leading up to the holidays was a very fun time at common art, of making festive art and talking about plans and memories. Having these things to look forward to helped create an uplifted spirit in the community, even with the weather getting colder. Coming back after the holidays, however, I could definitely feel a slump among everyone in the community. Many of our staff and volunteers were away last week and will be away for a little while for varying reasons. COVID also hangs very heavily over me and the community at this time. So, I felt a little overwhelmed, in addition to feeling that lull myself, I also felt that I had to make myself bigger and have more energy to fill the spaces that were now empty. I know these coming months will be a challenge to bring excitement and art making to our community because of the winter lull.

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Thanksgiving Table

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Before fully jumping into this next part of the holiday season I want to write about the great success that was common art on Thanksgiving Eve. As I had wanted to take on a bigger project with everyone for a while, I challenged myself to come up with an art activity that would engage almost the whole community around thanksgiving. While I have led one or two tables in artmaking and pulled community members in, I had not yet attempted to engage as many people as possible. This was also a good challenge for me as one of the biggest things I am continually working on is “pulling people in” to the artmaking process. I feel joy when I am able to have someone who doesn’t often engage in the art, create something.

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Farewell, Amanda!

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This week at common art we had another staff member leave us. This was Executive Director Amanda Grant-Rose’s last week. On Wednesday at a big celebration in her honor many of our community members gave speeches and goodbyes. It was wonderful to hear everybody share stories about what an impact Amanda had on their lives over the seven years she worked here. This experience made me think more deeply about how we can influence each other’s lives and my own role here at common art. Two weeks prior we had lost our barista. I spoke a little bit in my previous blog post about the effect this loss has on the community. Both he and Amanda played big rolls in the lives of our community for the years they were here.

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The Widow’s Mite

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Lately I’ve been thinking about some of the contrasts that chase us through life at Emmanuel. They start on Sunday when I walk over the small round disk embossed BOSTON GROUNDWATER TRUST, which is set into the sidewalk in front of the church. It’s one of 800 wells monitoring the groundwater that still covers the 200,000 Maine spruce-tree trunks that were steam-pile driven-in 160 years ago to keep our feet out of the soup below. Sure, I know that part of the motivation for filling the Back Bay was to keep prosperous white Protestants from decamping to the suburbs, and my Irish great-grandfather south of the tracks. But still, there’s no way to get into Emmanuel without at least an unthinking pilgrimage over that magical, invisible, upside-down forest.

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Why I Contribute to Emmanuel Church & Why Others Should, Too

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The first word that comes to mind when I think about Emmanuel is open-heartedness.  It’s clear from the moment you enter the door that all are welcome here, no questions asked, no conformity to one doctrine, one church tradition, one brand of spirituality required.  Yes, of course, it’s a Christian institution.  But there’s no requirement to comply with a physical attitude – or for that matter, a spiritual attitude – to feel comfortable here.  Kneel or stand at the communion rail, if in fact you take communion at all.  Pass the peace to those around you, whether it’s the peace of Christ or simply an expression of good will from one person to another.  It’s more than possible at Emmanuel to simply revel in the company of the like-minded – or maybe not-so-like-minded – people around you.  Drink in the music, which is what got me here in the first place. Continue reading →