Gathering Music
Welcome and Introduction
Centering
Chalice Lighting and Opening Words
Music
Kristen Dockendorff, flute
Reading
#720 "We Remember Them"
In the rising of the sun and in its going down,
We remember them.
In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter,
We remember them.
In the opening buds and in the rebirth of spring,
We remember them.
In the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer,
We remember them.
In the rustling of leaves and in the beauty of autumn,
We remember them.
In the beginning of the year and when it ends,
We remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength,
We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart,
We remember them.
When we have joys we yearn to share,
We remember them.
So long as we live,
They too shall live,
For they are now a part of us.
As we remember them.
Music
Sharing
Music
Reading
"Blue Christmas: This, Too, Belongs"
by Tara Brach
The sound of rain, not cheerful songs
A quiet rocking chair, not traditions of the season
The early sunset, not dancing lights
Loss, tender heart, hollow soul, heavy days
Grief is welcome, a sacred part of the mourning, of the bereft, of the weeping
Amidst the celebrating, this too belongs
This too is holy
It binds us to our ancestors, the earth, the stars
Yet still
A steaming mug of tea warms the belly
The dog wags its tail and the cat purrs
There are laughter and tears, sometimes both, beside the joy
This too belongs
Sharing human suffering is connection, hearts like stones are held by all that is
Grief and light, intertwined
This too belongs
Music
Extinguish Chalice and Closing Words
"You Don't Have to be Brave"
by Rev. Tess Baumberger
You don't have to be brave.
You don't even have to be okay.
You don't have to hold your chin up
and force wayward tears back inward.
You don't have to talk about acting as though
you don't feel like a broken stained glass window,
the solvent of loss having made your mortar evaporate.
You can melt, you can shower, you can shatter, here.
We will catch all your pieces in our hands.
We will hold you as you put them back together,
Perhaps forming an image of a new life, a new self. Our love, our listening, our tears, our holding
will form new mortar for all those spaces.
Oh, we have known that solvent, too.
Music
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