Celebrating Community and Creation

It’s that time of year again—Parish Weekend!  I am packing clothes and bug spray and snacks to share, and preparing to drive up to the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center in Greenfield, New Hampshire to spend a few days with over a hundred of my church friends and family.  We will have a bonfire and a talent show, share meals and canoes, and I am looking forward to renewing conversations and remembering that I belong to this community.

I'm also looking forward to some time to pay attention to the woods, the lake, the sky and the air at the camp.  This year we are especially hoping to be inspired by nature, and by discovering our own creativity in response.  Singing, painting, even some yoga are all ways we will play with our inspiration.

A few weeks ago, at the feast of Pentecost, we sang a Taizé chant after communion, the words a prayer written by St. Gregory of Nazianzus:

O toi l'au delà de tout, quel esprit peut te saisir ?

Tous les êtres te célébrent, le désir de tous aspire vers toi.

These words were also in the Eucharistic prayer from that day, and will be in our Eucharist at BCH this Sunday. 

This chant has become a touchstone for me when I wish to pray in the beauty of Creation. Being a part of the great outdoors is humbling—makes me realize that I am small and that “God is greater than our hearts.”  This song helps me to join my celebration of community and creation into prayer, my desire for the beauty of the world to reach to the One who made it. 

Wherever you are this weekend, I hope you will find a moment to feel the expansive creating presence of God in the world around you—we will all be joined in our prayer!