This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
As we celebrate this day,
We also come into this safe space.
This space where we're called by God to reconnect with the holy,
The sacred,
And also reconnect with ourselves.
To remind ourselves that we are beloved and blessed.
So as you come into this space,
Allow the safety,
Security,
And comfort of this space be for you and with you.
Allow the seat that you're in to care for you in these next few moments.
If you can,
Allow your shoulders to rest easy.
If you can,
Allow your back to lean entirely on the back of the seat.
If you're comfortable,
Close your eyes or rest your gaze just ahead of you.
Begin to breathe.
Integrate into your breath an appreciation,
An appreciation for the gifts you've received this week.
Gifts can be large or small,
The sun rising,
The breath within you.
Those all seem pretty large to me.
So now acknowledge the giver of those gifts.
Center yourself on God's grace.
The one who cares for and nurtures you and all of creation.
God's providential goodness is with you and for you.
God has been with you this entire week.
So I invite you now,
Centering yourself on God's grace and God's peace,
God's goodness and providential care.
Let's take a few moments to review our week.
In the review of your week,
If your mind wanders or a feeling comes up,
Recognize the thought,
Recognize the feeling and find your breath again.
So practice of allowing thoughts and feelings,
Asking ourselves,
Can I be with this?
So often we move to reactivity whenever a thought comes up or a feeling comes up.
Can I be with this?
They're just thoughts,
They're just feelings.
Return to your breath and review your week.
You you you you you In the review of your week,
Something might have come up.
Something that happened in a morning or an afternoon or evening.
Maybe it was a mistake or a misstep,
Miscommunication.
Take a moment to recognize it,
Realize it.
If you can,
Name it.
Name the thought,
Name the feeling and in this moment ask God to forgive you for that.
You Now that you have this forgiveness from God,
Take the holy boldness,
The sacred courage to forgive yourself.
It's one thing to ask God for forgiveness and it's something wholly other if we allow that mistake,
Misstep,
Miscommunication,
Even sin to be there to keep informing our thoughts,
Feelings and actions.
I think that's why forgiveness is so hard.
It's not imagining that an almighty,
All-powerful,
All-knowing God can forgive.
We can all imagine that.
It's imagining forgiving ourselves that becomes challenging.
Let's meet that challenge with grace.
Now let us set our intention for this week.
This morning we're focusing on the parable of the lost sheep in the Gospel of Matthew.
In the Gospel of Matthew,
The main actor is the sheep.
To be found and discovered away from the 99 by God.
God is seeking us out in the wilderness,
In the thicket,
Away from all of those things,
All of those ones who try for us to be in lockstep,
Uniform action with.
For some strange reason,
Jesus uses this parable of finding the one to remind ourselves that Jesus,
That God,
The Shepherd,
Is looking for our best selves,
Our true selves,
Those parts of our lives that we know God blessed us,
That makes us unique.
So the intention for the week is to find your breath in difficult moments when you feel like you've wandered away from what group think might be and be discovered by God.
Walking away from those things that are potentially unloving,
Unforgiving,
And being for yourself,
Maybe even discovering for yourself the belovedness that God has with you and for you.
Our intention this week is to lose our lives so that we may find it in God's beloved care.
Take three cleansing breaths.
And that last breath is our benediction.
Go in peace,
And may the peace of Christ be with you all.
Amen.
