Merry Month of May 

Order of Service - Script 

for Sunday: May 28, 2023

The Merry Month of May 

What makes May merry? We’ll explore some possibilities. 

NIUU, Charles and Victoria, Pastor Fred 

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Victoria

Announcements and Welcome Hymn #188: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmMp0OKHgTA 

Come, Come, Whoever you are, 

Wanderer, Worshiper, Lover of Leaving, 

Ours is no caravan of Despair,

Come, yet again, come! 

VICTORIA

Lighting the Chalice: 

CHARLES

Spirit of life, bring to us beauty

By Judith L Quarles

As we light the Chalice, we seek reminders of the wonders of Spring: 

Spirit of life, bring to us beauty—the beauty of snowdrops and tulip shoots.

Bring to us strength—the strength of torrents of spring streams and the quiet strength of roots pushing deep into the ground for nourishment.

Bring to us pleasure—the pleasures of maple syrup sticky and sweet on our tongues and the wind grabbing a kite and taking it high—if only we could go too!

Bring to us wisdom—the knowledge that new life springs up without help. In spite of everything we do or don't, green shoots will bring in the spring; grass and weeds and dandelions will appear.

Bring to us love—springtime love has magic in it. The children look cherubic, the parents look eager, the lovers look lost, the seniors look satisfied. Let springtime love be a part of our lives. Spirit of life, come to us that all the energy and power of spring will make us tall and smiling and expectant. Amen.

VICTORIA

Opening Words: ­­­

A Springtime Prayer

By George A Tyger

Oh power of springtime,

Spirit of green grasses and warm breezes;

Goddess of creativity

of birth

of life renewed

You sing all about us at this time.

The birds call your sacred name.

Buds burst forth with your vestment.

The sun reaches higher into the sky

shining the light of this new day

through the windows of your cathedral,

this world.

Oh power of springtime

forgive us our speediness

and our racing before your

eternal grace

that we do not see

the miracle world we share.

Open our eyes with your warmth

and our hearts with your beauty

slow our minds with awe and wonder.

Dear Spirit of green grasses

and warm breezes;

let us find here

in these moment of quiet

the grace of your breath

as we breathe into our bodies

the spirit of spring.

PASTOR FRED

Hymn #61: Lo, the Earth Awakes Again 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mpjuSZUfOs 

Lo, the earth awakes again — Alleluia!

From the winter’s bond and pain. Alleluia! 

Bring we leaf and flower and spray — Alleluia!

to adorn this happy day. Alleluia!

Once again the word comes true,

Alleluia! All the earth shall be made new. Alleluia!

Now the dark, cold days are o’er, Alleluia!

Spring and gladness are before. Alleluia!

Change, then, mourning into praise, Alleluia!

And, for dirges, anthems raise. Alleluia!

How our spirits soar and sing, Alleluia!

How our hearts leap with the spring! Alleluia!

VICTORIA

Covenant: 

Love is the spirit of this church, and service its law

This is our great covenant:

To dwell together in peace,

To seek truth in love,

And to help one another. 

VICTORIA

Joys and Concerns (with lighting of candles of caring) 

CHARLES

Story: 

Blessed Are the Magic-Makers

By Teresa Honey Youngblood

October 10, 2018

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

One glorious spring day, I was on a field trip with a group of middle school youth, venturing a short way down the Florida National Scenic Trail.

We were aiming for a small swimming hole about a mile in on a new section of the trail, but about halfway there, we heard and then saw an arresting sight up ahead: two large Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes who, upon hearing us come around the bend, had coiled their considerable bulk and were making a bone-chilling noise with their impressive tails, their heads held aloft half a foot off the ground. We felt awed and chastened to have encountered them. Still, after waiting in vain for ten minutes for them to move on, we turned and went back the way we came, intending to find an alternative route to the spring.

But the alternative path we chose was through a section of grass that, while free of venomous serpents, was full of very large, very sharp sand spurs — a fact that we somehow missed until our whole group was a ways in.

We could see the main path to the swimming hole ahead, but we had to pick our way through the spurs to get there. Behind us, of course, were the rattlesnakes. In the midst of our homegrown Scylla and Charybdis, what did the youth do? They started playing.

A few of the more athletic youth sprinted ahead, and then jeer-cheered the rest of us on as they picked the spurs from their socks and skin. As one made her way out of the pokey grass, she joyfully tossed her tennis shoes to a classmate wearing flip-flops. A few held hands in a vertical line and danced their way through, the first saving the two behind her from the brunt of the burrs.

Neurochemically, panic and euphoria are kissing cousins. Blessed are the magic-makers — often our children and youth, and some lucky adults who retain the charm—who can transmute one to the other in the most unexpected and needed moments.

Prayer

Gods, thank you for mirth, for merry-making, for jokes and laughter and silliness. Help us to not forget that playfulness is one of your favorite tools.

 VICTORIA

Meditation: 

Spirit of life, bring to us beauty (repeated here for meditating on it)

By Judith L Quarles

Spirit of life, bring to us beauty—the beauty of snowdrops and tulip shoots.

Bring to us strength—the strength of torrents of spring streams and the quiet strength of roots pushing deep into the ground for nourishment.

Bring to us pleasure—the pleasures of maple syrup sticky and sweet on our tongues and the wind grabbing a kite and taking it high—if only we could go too!

Bring to us wisdom—the knowledge that new life springs up without help. In spite of everything we do or don't, green shoots will bring in the spring; grass and weeds and dandelions will appear.

Bring to us love—springtime love has magic in it. The children look cherubic, the parents look eager, the lovers look lost, the seniors look satisfied. Let springtime love be a part of our lives. Spirit of life, come to us that all the energy and power of spring will make us tall and smiling and expectant. Amen.

PASTOR FRED

Sermon: 

As this Merry Month of May is about to end, I want us to think together about what the month means and what it represents. 

In the first place, it’s a time for the celebration of Spring. 

Spring is a time of renewal, greening the areas of the countryside around us that have turned other shades in response to cooler weather. 

The time of renewal is one reason May is called the Merry Month. 

Climate change is in the process of turning May into a month that resembles June more than anything else. 

Where I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, May was the first truly, uncomfortably hot month on most days and in most years. 

For us in our more temperate climate, May has most often represented a long stretch of pleasant weather, no longer too cold and not yet too hot. 

I remember one of my earlier years in the PNW feeling quite resentful when temperatures reached 90 degrees before the end of May! 

Premature Summer-like heat is more characteristic of May these days than the pleasant coolness of the transitional month. 

If premature Summer heat is to be the case, I hate to think of what July and August will be like in the long run of the future! 

Anyway, May is definitely a month of transition. 

In May we are moving from Spring toward or into Summer by the time this month is ending. 

The heat is not yet too uncomfortable on most days, but we are clearly moving in that direction. 

May is about more than climate and weather, as are most months. 

The principal holidays of May are May Day, the first day of May, and Memorial Day, the last Monday of May. 

In Medieval Europe, May Day was a holiday to celebrate High Spring in a number of ways. 

My own introduction to the concept came from the movie, Camelot. 

It was one of two movies that I clearly remember going to see on the big screen in my teenage years. 

The other movie was Ben Hur. 

Both of those movies made a significant impact on my youth. 

Camelot was released in October of 1967, the year I turned 16. 

I’ll never forget Vanessa Redgrave singing, “The Lusty Month of May!” 

May Day also includes the celebration of the Workers of the World whose efforts feed and clothe all kinds of people. 

For most socialist countries, May Day is International Workers’ Day, a holiday and a time of major celebration. 

In fact, outside of the U.S. May Day is Labor Day. 

In addition, the word, Mayday, is spoken as a single word and repeated three times, as a universal call indicating an emergency that threatens lives. 

There is something profoundly appropriate about the Mayday call because the month of May could prove to be the one month of the year that will be most affected by global warming. 

All living things on Earth will be deeply impacted by the changes in climate that are starting to be seen all over our planet. 

We humans are finding our lives threatened by the changes in a variety of ways that are likely to get worse. 

Food production may become more difficult, and temperatures from May through September could become nearly unbearable in most places in the northern hemisphere. 

Sea level rise is already causing some coastal communities to consider relocating many of their inhabitants of low lying areas. 

If we are to survive the coming changes in the climate, it will likely be necessary for everyone to make sacrifices for the good of all. 

Memorial Day, the holiday near the end of May, is a time for all of us to remember those who sacrificed in the past for the good of their homes, nations, and people. 

Some of those who sacrificed gave their all, including their lives, for the defense of their countries. 

The whole month of May is like a Rite of Spring, but how much longer that will last under the conditions of our time is anyone’s guess. 

Yet this is not intended to be a doomsday sermon. 

May is a paradigm of transition. 

We may be able to learn from the month of May how to cope with the transitions in our own lives. 

If we can think of change with the same kind of hope and positive approach that the month of May often provides, we can find joy and well being under almost any and all circumstances. 

After all, where there is no change, there is no life. 

Static, unchanging conditions would not allow for growth of any kind. 

In the science fiction world of Star Trek, they have “stasis units”  that can maintain an environment in which there are no changes at all, and any living creature can stay alive only a very limited time inside them. 

Even though change is vital for ongoing life, there are all kinds of change. 

Good changes or bad changes can happen. 

I want to define good changes as those that encourage the development and the evolution of life, versus bad changes that tend to discourage life and survival. 

Of course, for all kinds of living things, something that is good for one life form may be, and often is, harmful for another life form. 

The conditions that favored the development of life in the early years of our planet’s existence would be almost impossible for most of the life forms of today to survive. 

As change becomes more and more widespread in our world, there will be challenges for all living things to live and thrive. 

Those of us who are aware of the rapid changes in our environments will have more and more responsibility for the adaptation of the living creatures with whom we share our small, rocky world. 

Times of transition call for increasing attention to our own ability to adapt and the ability of plants, animals, and, yes, other life forms, to grow and thrive in new ways along with us. 

The “Merry Month of May” can offer us a paradigm of transition that moves from one kind of environment to another. 

As temperatures rise from one season to the next, our planetary conditions will be affected. 

What is good for one kind of life will be more difficult for another. 

We can learn and adapt, but we will have to do so together. 

Our species that regards itself as far superior to others, so much more intelligent, is largely responsible for the times of change that we are entering all over the world. 

It seems to me that it is therefore also our responsibility to find ways to adapt ourselves and to help other forms of life to do the same. 

One of my favorite life forms that will need to adapt with us is the Water Bear. 

Their more formal name is the tardigrade. 

They are among the most numerous and adaptable life forms in our world, although their small size (about one millimeter or less than 1/16 of an inch in length) and their strange appearance may make them less popular to look at than many other creatures. 

What is a Water Bear?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkom1gCkovU 

Or 

Display photo. 

These tiny creatures can survive conditions that would kill most residents of Earth. 

The story is told that a small number of Water Bears hitched a ride on the outside of a space shuttle and survived a trip into space. 

The presence of these amazing creatures among us can serve as a call to action, reminding us that we are responsible for many lives, not only our own. 

The example of May, including MayDay, calls us all to heed the warnings of our times. 

If we do, we may just survive in the long run. 

Amen

So Let it Be

Blessed Be

Congregational Response 

Offering Information 

Charity of the Month: 

Kootenai Environmental Alliance

Our Mission

To conserve, protect and restore the environment,

with a particular emphasis on the Idaho

Panhandle and the Coeur d’Alene basin.

Many communities worldwide are helping their

citizens adapt to climate change,

and KEA is working to educate

locals on the effects of climate

change in this region.

Donations

to our Charity of the Month, NIUU pledges and regular church offerings can be mailed to NIUU at:

NIUU

P.O. Box 221

CDA ID 83816

CHARLES

Extinguishing the Chalice :

As we extinguish the chalice flame we remember the joy, peace, and well being of our shared faith within our world. We go forth from this place renewed in hope for better days for ourselves, for each other, and for all people. Life is growing and thriving from the seeds we have planted in the soil and in our hearts. So let it be. 

Closing words: 

VICTORIA

Closing Words for Seasonal Transitions

By Andrew Pakula

May you know fully and deeply the blessings of each of your heart's seasons

The inward turning of Winter

Springtime's lush renewal

The effortless, steady growth of summer

And autumn's rich harvest

May your passage from season to season be blessed—

Eased by hands to hold, and by the light of love to guide you on.

Closing Circle