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An outreach of the Rockwood Community Church of Rockwood, Maine
Week of March 14, 2004

The Log Chapel
"The Heart within the Heart of the Moosehead Lake Region"

"Celebrations of Life and Ministry"

Prayer:


God of love,
As in Jesus Christ you gave yourself to us,
So may we give ourselves to You,
Living according to Your holy will.
Keep our feet firmly in the way
Where Christ leads us;
Make our mouths speak the truth
That Christ teaches us;
Fill our bodies with the life
That is Christ within us.
In His holy name we pray.

Book of Common Worship



Reflection:

Years ago, William Blake wrote, “and then in the rejuvenesence of the year, comes Christ, the Tiger!”

The “rejuvenesence of the year!” Everything is being rejuvenated and coming alive with newness of life as spring comes to the woods. After a long, cold winter, one begins to look for signs of the coming spring! Spring is the harbinger of hope and new life.

First the bare ground appears after a long winter’s white blanket has hid it from our sight. The ice then starts to melt and in sporadic patches of open water pairs of migrating ducks appear on their flight further north. How can you live in the north woods and not mention the joy when one night you hear the welcomed call of the loon echoing across the lake as though it is announcing that the ice has “gone out,” and spring will soon arrive.

The days get warmer and the evening’s tranquility is punctuated by the energetic choruses of the peepers joining in to welcome this inevitable rejuvenesence of the year. The robins start to build their nests while their larger cousins, the eagles, are already starting their families. Early of a morning, the woodpeckers can be heard pecking on the hollow trees deep in the woods. It is not long, as I noticed this week, before the humming birds come exploring for their sweet tasting drink to keep those little energetic bodies and wings functioning for the weeks of warmth ahead.

The trees and bushes are heavy with buds and the leaves begin to fill all the gaps in the forest as Mother Nature clothes herself in a fresh, full gown of green leaves and white blossoms. Even the movement of the creatures of the wild is evident as the moose are more obvious and the deer go bounding about, while the skidish quail and stately turkey feed along the roadway.
It is the rejuvenesence of the year!

“… comes Christ the Tiger.

“I have often wondered why the poet used that imagery. I have come to think that he was saying that Christ can be counted on to come into your life and mine, dispelling the cold, and the darkness, replacing them with warmth and light. He comes with an energy and a power to produce new growth and becoming. His presence is solitary and regal like the incomparable tiger and you and I cannot thwart Him, avoid Him or ignore Him.
“… and then in the rejuvenesence of the year comes Christ, the Tiger.”

This week I read a quote by the monk, Thomas Merton, who in a book entitled “When the trees say nothing” writes, “When warmth comes again to the sea the Tritons of spring shall wake. Life shall wake underground and under the sea. The fields will laugh, the woods will be drunk with flowers of rebellion, the night will make every fool sing in his sleep, and the morning will make him stand up in the sun and cover himself with water and with light.”
It’s that time again!

Dr. Robert L. Veon



Prayer Concern List:

Let us pray for Peace in our time for all time!
“Whatever you ask in my name I will do it.”- Jesus

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Union Church
P.O. Box 368
Greenville, ME 04441
207-695-2496