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Welcome, Readings, and Prayers

Welcome – Taylor Williams

Readings – “We Should Talk About This Problem” by Hafiz, read by Shanna Swiers

There is a Beautiful Creature
Living in a hole you have dug.
So at night
I set fruit and grains
And little pots of wine and milk
Beside your soft earthen mounds,
And I often sing,
But still, my dear,
You do not come out.
I have fallen in love with Someone
Who hides inside you.
We should talk about this problem—
Otherwise,
I will never leave you alone.

“The House I Grew Up In” written and performed by Ben Wise

I grew up in a house made of shame, shame in the walls, shame in the halls, shame on you, shame on us all. In this house was a nice little family, two boys and a dog, a mom and a dad and all the things you’d put in your house if you wanted it to be nice. In this house the dad was nice, the mom was nice, the boys were nice, but just above their smiles they had eyes that were half-closed even in the best of times.

I grew up in a house made of shame, shame in the attic, shame in the basement, shame in the shadows behind our family picture on the wall. It wasn’t so bad most of the time, because shame isn’t like violence it’s more like silence, it’s more like a glass jar full of lightning bugs—you can see everything but hear nothing and there’s not quite enough air in there for everyone to breathe.

There was shame in the water and shame on the plates, dinner’s at seven and don’t be late. Mom started drinking about four so by the time you came through the door she’d be feeling better and you’d just have to let her; don’t say a word, don’t trust what you see, we all just have to let her be.

I grew up in a house made of shame, no one to blame, my mom was a drinker and hers was too shame was in the lines of her face and the angle of her shoulders; she didn’t want it that way but she couldn’t escape it until the day she died, age 53.

I grew up in a house made of shame where no one ever shamed me, we all loved each other it was just the air we breathed, we breathed it in and we breathed it out, I breathed it in and I breathed it out, and when I did out came words that formed the story I have told about myself: you’re bad before you’re good, you’re wrong before you’re right, you better pray for a long, long time before you go to sleep at night.

Well it just so happened that was the same story my preacher told me at church every Sunday. Same story my brother told me after he walked through the halls of that house. I believed every word they said, still trying to get those voices out of my head, probably won’t till I’m dead. My brother hasn’t spoken to me in four years, and every night I try to drown his voice with at least four beers.

I grew up in a house made of shame, and when I moved away I put a miniature model of that house right inside my chest so I could have that familiar feeling everywhere I went. It melded with the architecture of my bones. Its paint flaked off into my blood. By the time I got married all I knew how to do was be nice and apologize, and by the time I got divorced all I had done was practice those things, over and over and over again.

I had no idea how to recognize that I am good, it took me years to realize that I am good. I got this story of shame from my house and it’s not the one I want anymore, it’s all wrong in a million ways but its gonna take me a couple of days—to replace criticism with praise, never with always, shadows with radiance, lies with truth, eyes wide open to the wonders of this world and the wonders of myself, the wonders of you and me and us, and love—which is the real beginning and end of the story. Yeah you can rebuild that house inside your body—build it with your body: the material is you.

From “Why the World Doesn’t End” by Michael Mead, read by Khoe Winchester

Our job is not to control or comprehend everything, but to learn which story we are in, and which of the many things calling out in the world is calling us. Our job is to be fully alive in the life we have, to pick up the invisible thread of our own story, and follow where it leads.

Prayers of the People – Shelby Hall

Time with Children – We’re All Wonders by R. J. Palacio, read by Andrew Ragsdale   

Hey kids, join us for activity time!

Sermon, Benediction, and Alleluia 

Sermon – “Shadow Stories: From Separation to Sacred” by Taylor Williams

“Amazing Grace” performed by Tyler J. Allen

Benediction – From the St. Hilda Community in Great Britain, given by Taylor Williams and Sandy Reimer  

God forgives you
Forgive others
Forgive yourself…
Take this forgiveness seriously 
Live with loving kindness 
And let your generosity and compassion 
Be the signs of your gratitude. 
 

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Here are the UCG friends celebrating a birthday this week.
Happy Birthday!

Betsy Harris 08/02

Fletcher Crowe  08/09 

Josephine Palmer  08/09 

Lucia Nelson  08/10 

Stewart Lollar  08/11  

Arwynn Collins  08/11 

Griffin Adams  08/12 

Margaret Johnston  08/13 

Christoph Seubert  08/13 

Billy Stechmiller  08/14 

Paul Garrow  08/14 

Jane Emmeree  08/14 

Beth Hinrichs  08/14 

Dylan Fitzpatrick  08/14 

Isabel Coutts  08/15 

Omari Najm-Cary  08/15 

Johan Telg  08/15 

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Sunday Seminars – Join us this morning!

Sunday Seminar at 11:15am – “Getting to the Roots of Climate Change” with Isaac Augsburg. He will talk about understanding four major systems of oppression and how they relate to climate justice. To get to the roots of the climate crisis, he will say we must work on creating a healthy environment that will ensure a livable future where we not just survive, but flourish. Join here!

Sunday Seminar at 12:30pm – Holy Zoom. Taylor Williams and Shelby Hall will be available on our Zoom account to talk and share. They’ll be prepared to talk about the online worship experience, but with no set agenda other than hoping to see your faces and have a chance to touch base. Join here!

Film Discussion – “Good Trouble” – UCG’s own Racial Justice Committee will host a Zoom discussion today at 2PM. Click here for the zoom discussion. Watch the film by purchasing a $12 ticket to stream John Lewis: Good Trouble $12 ticket to stream John Lewis: Good Trouble and $5 goes to support UCC justice ministries. In order for the UCC to get the $5, viewers need to use this specific link to watch “Good Trouble.” Learn more about the film at johnlewisgoodtrouble.com.

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Please note: While the Church Office remains closed, we are still available by phone or email from 9am – 4pm, Monday – Friday.