Notes for the Week Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany February 16 2020

Dear friends, 

Walking the dog at a park in the heart of the city, we came across this art piece someone felt called to create.  It might be the first mandala* created by a young person, just starting out on a life of creating wherein all is complexity and possibility is limitless.  It might be the work of an elderly person, who has seen much and has come to the conclusion that, at the end of the day, life really is very simple and deeply beautiful, if we would but look.  It might have been created by two people, of any age, who are deeply in love with each other and express that love through the first blooms of Spring, or perhaps by a child, for whom there are no barriers to imagination’s call to be free.  

No matter who created it, it speaks softly of magnificent human power to rise above all chaotic noise, all stretched bodies, minds and spirits yearning to feel some ease, all constant awareness of the ominous waiting to land yet again into our daily waking, and we give thanks.  We give thanks to Mother Nature for her unstoppable determination to continually renew herself, regardless of our attempts to thwart her.  We give thanks for all those who notice her undeterred announcement of presence, as if to remind us that we foolishly have no understanding of our own renewal, and that we have little or no knowledge of how this universe of many universes, really operates.  It is one moment when our arrogance is bared for all creation to see. 

We stood to admire the work for a few moments.  Humbled by its simplicity hiding so much complexity.  Perhaps it is just a simple arrangement some pretty blossoms, or maybe it’s a cry for us all to remember that beauty comes from the heart of one who loves all creation and all that exists within creation has at its heart, beauty.  When God made humankind in God’s own image, maybe that was what God had in mind.

We journey together, 

Mother Esme+

“By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, 

so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. (Hebrews 11:3

*A mandala means “circle” in Sanskrit.  The circle reminds us that life is never ending and that all is connected in life.  It represents the spiritual journey within each of us.  It is meant to assist in moving our minds from being centered the world into a more enlightened understand of our place in the universe.  The mandala offers us insight and authenticity which is ours to embrace.   Like all art, our understanding is a process.

THIS WEEK WE PRAY FOR – Toby, Charlotte; Lyman; Bill & Donna; Julie; Ruth; Sandy; Joyce; Nathan; Heidi C.; Michelle; Julia; Pene; Stephanie; Terry; Curtis; Marlene; Bruce; Yvette; Deacon Diana; Carroll; Rich P.; Beverly; Martin, and Laura..

“O God, the strength of the weak and the comfort of sufferers:  Mercifully accept our prayers, and grant to your servants the help of your power, that their sickness may be turned into health, and our sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.”  BCP 458

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A Connection from the Past

“I would like to introduce myself. I visited St. Aiden 53 years ago when Father Tom Murdock was the rector there. Since then Father Tom helped me in my undergraduate academic career and I have had good continuing relationships with some of the congregation there. When I left after graduation from the University of Oregon, I donated one of my paintings (my minor was fine art) to St. Aiden. Mrs. Rosene, one of my very close friends, who gave me your email address and whose mother was a member of St. Aiden, found that the painting is still hanging on the wall in a stairway at Murdock Hall.  I very much appreciate that the painting has been well taken care of by the congregation!

This past August, I published an edited book entitled "Trust in Contemporary Society" through Brill Academic Publishers. Its front cover is an adapted copy of the painting hanging at St. Aiden. The book was selected as an open access book by an organization called Knowledge Unlatched (www.knowledgeunlatched.org)..  

Please send my best regards to all your congregation members. 

Best wishes,

Masamichi Stephen Sasaki”

(Here is Stephen’s special message, written inside the book, 

to the St. Aidan’s congregation…..

“To all members of St. Aidan’s, I very much appreciate that the painting has been well taken care of by the congregation!  With warmest regards, Masamichi Stephen Sasaki,

October 2019”)

·         International Comparative Social Studies, Volume: 4. Editor: Masamichi Sasaki

Trust in Contemporary Society, by well-known trust researchers, deals with conceptual, theoretical and social interaction analyses, historical data on societies, national surveys or cross-national comparative studies, and methodological issues.