 Good morning, please join me in a moment of centering silence. Let's sing The hymn this morning is in your hymnal. It's number 396 Welcome to the first unissary in society of Madison This is a place where curious seekers gather to explore spiritual ethical and social issues in a safe and accepting environment Unitarian universalism supports the freedom of conscience of each individual as together We seek to be a force for good in the world. I'm Maureen friend and on behalf of the congregation I'd like to extend a special welcome to visitors We are a welcoming congregation. So wherever you are, we celebrate your presence among us Newcomers are encouraged to stay for our fellowship hour after the service and to visit the library Which is directly across from the center doors in this auditorium Bring your drinks and your questions members of our staff and lay ministry will be on hand to welcome you This would be a great time to turn off your electronics Anything that might disrupt the service Experience guides are generally available to give a building tour after each service So if you'd like to learn more about the sustainably designed auditorium Which is an addition and our national landmark meeting house Please meet near the large glass windows on the left side of the auditorium We welcome children to stay with us during the service Please remember it's often becomes difficult for those in attendance to hear in this lively acoustical environment and our child Haven which is behind you and the commons are Excellent places to go when you or your child needs to talk and move around The service can still be seen and heard from both areas and now I'd like to acknowledge those individuals who help our services run smoothly To this morning your greeter was Corinne Perrin The ushers were Patrick Disharm and Ostrom and Marty Hollis Our lay minister is Tom Boykhoff The sound operator is David Brails Please note the announcements on the red floors insert in your order of service Which describe upcoming events at the society and provide more information about today's activities Again welcome We hope that today's service will stimulate your mind touch your heart and stir your spirit Out at spikes of the orange crepes skirts of poppies lifting over buttercup and daisy abundance There is nothing to compare No need for beauty to compete The voluptuous rhododendron and the plain grass are equally filled with themselves Equally declare the miracles of color and form This is what community looks like this vibrant jostle Stem by stem declaring the marvelous joining This is the face of communion The incarnation once more gracefully resurrected from winter Hold these things together in your sight Purple crimson magenta blue You will be feasting on these Long after the flowers are gone And if you will rise now in body or spirit to join together in our chalice lighting The words are printed in your order of service in the mystery of life about us. There is light It gives us a place to be to grow to rejoice together It opens the pathways to love In this place of friendship there is freedom Let the light we kindle go before us strong in hope wide in goodwill Inviting the days to come and before we join together in song if you'll take a moment to turn and greet your neighbor The words of Norbert Chopek of life We ask thy blessing on these messengers of fellowship and love May they remind us a mid-diversities of knowledge and gifts To be one in desire and affection and devotion to good and beauty May they also remind us of the need for sharing and cooperation in our common quest for understanding May we cherish friendship and community as one of life's most precious gifts May we not let awareness of another's talents discourage or separate us May we realize that the efforts of all of us the goodwill of all of us are Needed to heal and transform this troubled world May we be strengthened by the knowledge that one spirit the spirit of love unites us and May we endeavor together for a more joyful life for all Amen, and now if anyone would like to come forward, okay Hi Whoo, you got there before I did that's impressive All right, we Give me a minute while I make myself a seed or I'm gonna sit on the carpet with you and then Lord knows I won't be getting up again Here we go. That'll work. Hi. Did you see that in the order of service? Good. Good. You could help me Uh-huh Way to you see Finney Finn just room up here to come up, right? So what we're hearing is the story of the three little and the big bad Wolf, but you know what we're gonna do today. We're gonna do the opposite We're gonna do the three is that too crazy to work or you think we can do it You think we let's do it. All right Well, my friend Sean back there is even gonna show you the pictures because you got to see this pig This is a big bad pig and he's got some well, that's a beaver, but we'll get there Once upon a time there was a big bad beaver. No, no, that's just the cover. All right Once upon a time there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fur and fluffy tails who lived with their mother The first was black. The second was gray and the third was white One day the mother called the three little wolves around her and said my children It is time for you to go out into the world go and build a house for yourselves But beware of the big bad pig Don't worry mother we will watch out for him said the three little wolves and they set off Soon they met a kangaroo. Of course they did right? I'm not quite sure where this story takes place, but of course there was a kangaroo The kangaroo was pushing a wheelbarrow full of red and yellow bricks Please will you give us some of your bricks said the three little wolves? Certainly said the kangaroo and she gave them lots of red and yellow bricks So the three little wolves built themselves a house of bricks The very next day The big bad pig Came prowling down the road and saw the house of bricks that the little wolves had built The three little wolves were playing croquet in the garden You will notice throughout that these are very civilized wolves When they saw the big bad pig coming they ran inside the house and locked the door The pig knocked on the door and grunted little wolf little wolves. Let me come in No, no, no said the three little wolves not by the hair on our chinny chin chins We will not let you in not for all the tea leaves in our china teapot. I like these wolves Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down said the pig So we huffed and he puffed and he puffed and he puffed. What do you think happened? Nothing, it's brick, right? The house did not fall down But this pig wasn't called big and bad for nothing So he went and fetched his sledgehammer and he knocked that house down You will also see that this pig has a lot of tools in his bag Managed to escape before the bricks crumbled and they were very frightened indeed We shall have to build a stronger house. They said just then they saw a beaver who was mixing concrete in a concrete mixer Lee of course, right? Why not? Please they said to the beaver. Will you give us some of your concrete? Certainly said the beaver and he gave them buckets and buckets full of messy slurry Concrete so the three little wolves built themselves a house of concrete No sooner had they finished then the big bad pig Came prowling down the road and saw the house of concrete that the little wolves had belt They were playing badminton in the garden and when they saw the big bad pig coming They ran inside their house and shut the door The pig rang the bell which was very kind and said little frightened wolves. Let me come in Oh said the little wolves not by the hair on our chinny chin chins We will not let you in not for all the tea leaves in our china teapot Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down So we huffed any puffed any huffed any puffed what happens when you huff and puff on concrete This is concrete right here. Anybody want to huff and puff? What it dries, right? Maybe he dried their house a little bit more But do you think it fell down? No, but the pig wasn't called Big and bad for nothing He went and fetched his pneumatic drill and smashed the house down The three little wolves managed to escape, but their chinny chin chins were trembling and trembling and trembling All right, I forgot to make a disclaimer. This story is just nuts by the way Okay, and you know you may think it's highly inappropriate for church, but we'll get there We shall build an even stronger house they said because they were very determined Just then they saw a truck coming along the road carrying barbed wire iron bars armor plates and heavy metal padlocks Give us some of your barbed wire a few iron bars and armor plates and some heavy metal padlocks They said to the rhinoceros who was driving the truck Sure said the rhinoceros and he gave them plenty of barbed wire iron bars armor plates and heavy metal padlocks He also gave them some plexiglass and some reinforced steel chains Because he was a generous and kind-hearted rhinoceros So the three little wolves built themselves an extremely strong house It was the strongest Securist house one could possibly imagine they felt absolutely safe The next day the big bad pig came prowling along the road as usual The three little wolves were playing hopscotch in the garden When they saw the big bad pig coming they ran inside their house bolted the door and locked all 37 padlocks The pig dialed the video phone and said Little frightened wolves with the trembling chins. Let me come in No, no, no said the wolves not by the hair on our chinny chin chins We will not let you in not for all the tea leaves in our china teapot Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down said the pig He can't do it. He huffed and he puffed and he puffed and he puffed and nothing But the pig wasn't called Big and bad for nothing He brought some Dynamite laid it against the house lit the fuse and The house blew up. How could a pig have well? How could a kangaroo have bricks and a rhinoceros have armor plates? I mean the whole thing is just a little on the cuckoo side Hang with me though How does a beaver have all that concrete you guys are totally right on the three little wolves just managed to escape with their Fluffy tails scorched Something must be wrong with our building materials. They said we have to try something different At that moment bear with me. They saw a flamingo coming along pushing a wheelbarrow full of Flowers What I know I'm telling you They sure are please will you give us some flowers? Finn I told you the stories on the nutty side will you give us some flowers asked the little wolves Uh-huh. They are they are way less strong than concrete. Let's see what happens With pleasure said the flamingo and he gave them lots of flowers So they built themselves a house of flowers one wall was marigolds one was daffodils one pink roses one Cherry blossoms the ceiling was made of sunflowers and the floor was a carpet of daisies They had water lilies in their bathtub and buttercups in their refrigerator It was a rather fragile house and it swayed in the wind, but it was very beautiful Next day the big bad pig came prowling down the road and saw the house of flowers that the three little wolves had built He rang the blue bell at the door and said Little frightened wolves with the trembling chins and the scorched tails let me in No, no, no said the three little wolves not by the hair on our chinny chin chins We will not let you in not for all the tea leaves in our china teapot Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down Now what would happen if he huffed and puffed at the flower house? What what do you think's gonna happen? It's gonna go right down isn't it as he took Right, he doesn't need dynamite for this one does he as he took a deep breath ready to huff and puff He smelled the soft scent of the flowers it was fantastic and Because the scent was so lovely the pig took another breath and then another instead of huffing and puffing he began to sniff He sniffed deeper and deeper until he was quite filled with the fragrant scent his heart grew tender and he realized Just how mean he had been Right then in there he decided to become a big Good pig and he started to sing and to dance The Tarantella as pigs do when they have a change of heart at first The three little wolves were a bit worried it might be a trick But soon they realized that the pig had truly changed so they came running out of the house They started playing games with him first They played pigpaw and piggy in the middle and when they were all tired they invited him into the house They offered him tea and strawberries and wolf berries and asked him to stay with them as long as he wanted The pig accepted and they all lived Happily ever after All right, you know what we're gonna stick together right here As our kids choir sings and I want to say that this is the Last time that they'll be singing for us for this This year just like it's the last time you have classes today And we are really really grateful that they come to rehearsals on wednesdays And they show up here really early on weekends and they stretch and they yawn rose. That's what we do And so when they are done singing if you will join me in giving them a big round of applause As our way of saying thank you for all the good work they do Published in the reflects on the question. Can you use talk about evil actual value closely related to open mindedness? But deeper and harder to practice is spiritual humility In the aftermath of the holocaust and world war two In response to liberal religions inflated estimation of human nature rinholds neber a progressive christian theologian Argued that the problem with people is the tension between our creature lee and divine sides We are animals he said, but we are also conscious and spiritual The problem he argued is that we consistently overestimate ourselves This leads us to harm one another and to create support or not resist systems of oppression If we are spiritually humble We can call out evil without pretending we don't have to be on guard for it within ourselves This is where religious liberalism Even though it has underestimated humankind's capacity for evil in the past Has something important to say We are called to balance the naming of evil in the world with the need to be humble and on guard for it Not as the dangerous other that would try to trick us But mingled right here with the best of ourselves And we must call it when we see it If we are in touch with reality, we must be willing to use the word evil We need the word to describe parts of the human experience Out of respect for the people who are harmed And also because only after we name it can we ask the next question Where is god or grace in this? And then if we listen we'll hear the answer Because it's implicit in the next question What can we do? And I invite you now to rise in body or spirit for our next hymn Which is number one in our hymnal The creation of the flower communion that we celebrate today Norbert and Maya Chopec, Unitarian ministers in Prague First celebrated this ritual with their congregation on June 24th 1923 Chopec's goal was to create a form of communion that was relevant to his people and their experience He knew that many carried baggage with traditional forms as he himself did He opted to bring together two foundational principles of his ministry Love for god's creation and what it offers to our spirits and the power of community He asked that everyone bring a flower These were collected at the door by the children of the congregation They were brought ceremoniously to the altar where they were blessed using the words that we used a little while ago Then in a special ritual each member of the congregation was invited to solemnly approach the altar Take a flower other than the one they themselves had brought It was in this way by seeing the bright and beautiful arrangement made by the collecting of the flowers And the gift of beauty in receiving a flower that the power of community was brought forward Community is created Chopec said by the gifts each person brings to the table And we are each sustained by what we receive from one another It was a tremendous success And when Maya Chopec came to the United States to tour and speak in 1939 She brought the flower ceremony with her She would not return to Prague until after the war Now in 1939 Hitler's armies began their occupation of Czechoslovakia In 1940 the Gestapo began monitoring the services at Chopec's church Not long before his 70th birthday The American Unitarian Association and its president Frederick May Elliott offered Chopec and an associate passage and an assurance of work in the ministry here This promise of support would allow Chopec and his associate to return safely to the United States They refused preferring to stay with their parishioners and the church Chopec founded So that he could concentrate his efforts on encouraging them in the troubling times When would his people need him more? On March 28th 1941 Chopec and his youngest daughter Zora were arrested Zora was arrested for listening to foreign broadcasts a serious offense Chopec was charged with the same but also with high treason With several of his recent sermons quoted as evidence Before his death in 1942 at Dekau Dr. Chopec's courage in the face of torture and starvation was a source of inspiration to his fellow prisoners While in the camp he led the prisoners in worship Using the flower communion ceremony as the ritual Each prisoner brought what flowers they could find in the camp to a service And at the end they took with them a different flower than the one they had brought To symbolize their sense of community Fortified by his words they held together despite the grim rigors of the camp After the war survivors testified that that humble Unitarian minister Could not have been sent to a place where he was more needed As I reflect on the life of Norbert Chopec I wonder what he would have thought of the hymn that we sang just moments ago There are many images that I adore in this hymn By faith made strong the rafters will withstand the battering of the storm This hearth though all the world grow chill Will keep you warm I love the idea that our faith our belief in the goodness of life The goodness of one another the belief that we can work together to create peace and justice That this faith keeps our community together Keeps us coming back here time and again And together we face the evils and the wrongs of the world And we hold tight to the hope that it and we Can change It's the last line of the hymn that has always troubled me and I wonder if it troubled you as well With laughter drawn the raucous shout And though these sheltering walls are thin May they be strong to keep hate out And hold love in Norbert Chopec knew that he couldn't He wouldn't and he didn't keep hate out and he most certainly did not live a life That held love in May nothing evil cross this door Evil is not a concept that we bring up often in our congregations Years ago. I led a discussion group on the topic of evil and I have to tell you it was a tough night We realized at some point that we couldn't come up with a working definition for the word that we would all agree on We weren't ready or able to name anything or anyone as evil And we were incredibly reluctant to consider using that word on ourselves or any of our own actions At one point someone said well, this was good in theory But honestly I come here because you don't make me think about it The daughter of the great unitarian religious educator, so phialion faz once criticized her own religious education For failing to address the reality of evil for wanting to keep hate out even out of our discussions We spent 95 of our time studying good people doing good things And we skipped very lightly over the dreadful parts of humanity. She said I was taught not to be judgmental not to observe or register the negative behavior of others Consequently, I grew up uninformed about destructive human behavior I was incompetent to observe it accurately And I was very unskilled in how to respond to it and ashamed to even talk about it She wasn't the only one who questioned our liberal theology's ability to deal with the more unpleasant side of human nature Rosemary Bray McNat current president of our star king school for the ministry Tells the story of when she met Coretta Scott King Rosemary was being considered to co-write Coretta Scott King's autobiography And she met with her in her editor's office During an hour of wide-ranging conversation Rosemary mentioned that she was in seminary to become a unitarian universalist minister King gave her a look of respect And of delight Oh, I went to unitarian churches for years even before I met Martin. She said Explaining that she had been since college a member of the women's international league for peace and freedom Which was very popular among unitarians and universalists And Martin and I went to unitarian churches every time we were in boston What surprised and saddened rosemary was what came next The gist of it was something like We gave a lot of thought to becoming unitarian at one time But Martin and I realized we could never build a mass movement of people if we were unitarian Rosemary shares that this statement pierced her heart and troubled her mind then and now It caused her to question her own faith and what this faith might have been like if Dr. King decided to cast his lot with ours Though from the very start of his theological training, he revealed a decided bent toward liberal religion By the time his faith had been tried by the civil rights movement King had said no to the sunny optimism of liberal faith An optimism frankly untested in the heat of the battle For liberty and dignity for all people In his famous essay pilgrimage to non-violence published in 1960 he wrote There is one phase of liberalism that I hope I will cherish always And that is it's a devotion to the search for truth And it's refusal to abandon the best light of reason It was the liberal doctrine that I began to question The more I observed the tragedies of history and our shameful inclination to choose the low road The more I came to see the depths of evil and the strength of sin I came to feel that liberalism had been all too sentimental concerning human nature and it leaned toward a false idealism I came to see that this superficial optimism concerning human nature Caused it to overlook the fact that human nature and reason are darkened by evil Now a lot has happened in our communities and in our world since king wrote those words And I believe that if he visited today He might find a shift in our awareness and acknowledgement of the harsh realities And he may find that our sunny optimism has dimmed just a bit Whereas 50 plus years ago it was commonly believed that evil and sin were very Ununitarian concepts Today the world looks different Our children are being raised in a world of Columbine and Newtown A post-September 11th world and we can no longer teach them To turn away and ignore the destructive sides of human nature We have lost some of our innocence, but I do not believe that we have given up our hope We liberal religious people who believe in the inherent goodness the worth and dignity of each and every person Have to grapple again and again with the realities of this life May nothing evil cross this door In our world today no matter how hard we may try Evil does indeed cross our doors We know it is present in our world We know it when we encounter it because it contradicts everything we love about humanity And what is our response? I find wisdom in our somewhat ridiculous story today of the three little wolves and the big bad pig What was the first way the wolves tried to keep the danger away? Build walls strong sturdy walls of brick and concrete and barbed wire and armor plates But did it keep the danger out? No The wolves learned as we have learned that you can't keep the dangers out You can't keep the hate out no matter how hard you may try When we build those strong walls to keep others out, they are often walls made of fear alienation Mistrust doubt and dread and we know they don't work These are not the walls we want to surround our community The wolves built a house of flowers A permeable house a house of beauty that allowed the breezes and the bees and could have been easily destroyed Yet when they met their danger the big bad pig With that openness that willingness to trust and risk they were all transformed I know that this story is far too simplistic for our real world problems Houses of flowers are not going to lead to happily ever afters and maybe there is no happily ever after But I want to believe that we are the people who will try What is the alternative to building more thick walls of hate alienation Polarization and fear Martin Luther King once said that hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear Only love can do that The alternative is digging deep Finding our original wholeness, which is kindness and living from that place of openness Opening our minds, our lives and our hearts toward one another My colleague that many of you know and love, Mary Ann Macklin, says that Unitarian universalism is a blessing to this world because it demands hope It saves lives and it has the audacity to care Here in this Unitarian universalist community, we know we cannot keep hate out And we will not hold our love in We will be the people who meet the hate with love We stand on the side of love. We are the love people In 2008 when a man walked into the Tennessee Valley UU congregation and opened fire because those liberals were ruining our country UUA President Bill Sinkford said these words Inspired by the UUs of Knoxville, Tennessee We are rededicating ourselves to the mission of this faith Which is to welcome the stranger To love our neighbor To work for justice To nurture the spirits of all who seek a religious home And to help heal this wounded world We will not give in to fear We will meet hatred with love We will continue to work for justice Our hearts and our doors are open Unitarian universalists today and always Stand on the side of love Today as we celebrate another flower communion Created by a man who stood on the side of justice and love Who faced his fear with opening his heart to those around him and bringing comfort and hope until his final days We remember that our Unitarian universalist faith tells us that the face of evil is the face of alienation Of separation of us and them And them And our faith tells us that the only response in the face of evil and hate is to look deep within Connect with the best in each of us Opening the door of compassion and remembering our place in the common family Or as Norbert Chopek would have told us May we realize that the efforts of all of us the goodwill of all of us Are needed to heal and transform our troubled world The message is clear over and over and sometimes against great odds We are part of a love that compels us to create peace seek truth Unite with those who look and sound like us and those who don't Heal creation Hold one another in compassion Demand hope Save lives and have the audacity to care Today and always May our hearts be open May our arms be strong may our voices be clear as together we let our love out As far and as wide as it may go I now invite you into the giving and receiving of the morning's offering You will see in your order of service. It is dedicated in its entirety to our partner church program That program supports our 24 year relationship With a small village in rural transylvania in najoita and the unitarian parish there It also supports a unitarian universalist high school student in the philippines There is a table in the commons We will have someone there to answer your questions about that program and we thank you for your generosity Who have served us well for many years? Three of the staff members we're recognizing today have been with us for 10 years As I call each of your names if you're here, which I hope everybody is will you come up so I can recognize you Dan Dan Carnes is a member of our facility staff serving as weekend custodian In his role. He is a perpetual mover a master of transitions Moving tables chairs and other equipment to the appropriate location for the next f us event He cleans up after us. He troubleshoots for us. He sometimes films special events He helps with live streaming our services When needed and make sure the audio visual equipment is ready and working for services and special events Dan grew up in f us as the youngest son of harry Carnes and ann gollickson He loves to cook and hopes to become a chef or a filmmaker or both in the future Tom miskelly serves as dan supervisor. He comments about dan his comments about dan include the following The weekend custodians at f us are vitally important to The smooth functioning of the events that occur here The personal pride dan takes and his work is obvious every day Reliable completely dependable dan expertly works behind the scenes making all the logistics and technical stuff work Thanks, dan Janet swanson is next Janet taught Children's religious education classes for 10 years prior to taking over the summer fund program in 2005 Janet also participated in the first offering of quest Which is our two-year adult faith and development program In 2007 she was asked To join the quest planning group and was hired as the quest spiritual program director in 2008 Her current position is director of adult spiritual programs, which includes quest adult religious education and campus ministry In this position, she's responsible for developing Coordinating and facilitating adult programming for f us Kelly crocker serves as janets supervisor and has this to say about janet Janet is a great gift to our adult spiritual development programs She has a creative mind. It's able to bring new and vital programming to this community Programs that inspire that bring forth healing That cause us to question and to always want to learn just a bit more Her kindness permeates all her work and brings deep connections and strong relationships among our members Thank you. Janet Linda Warren Linda Warren joined the staff of f us's assistant music director in 2005 The latest position in a church music career that began when she was in college Along with playing hymns for f us worship services Linda accompanies the society choir the meeting house chorus and children's choirs She also works with other church music ensembles such as the chime choir the recorder quartet And the string band We are blessed whenever we get to hear her perform on the harp Dan Bronner is linda's supervisor and shared this information about linda Linda is a consummate professional She is always prepared always on time Linda brings a lifetime of experience to her work here at f us and is a great team player I'm honored to be her colleague. Thank you So the fourth staff person we're recognizing today has been us has been with us for the past 15 years 20 years Leslie Leslie knows how long she's been here So Leslie Ross serves as the director of religious education This position requires her to provide leadership coordination and program development for our children and youth from infants through high school Leslie recruits trains and supports our 100 plus volunteers And selects and develops curricula for the church school classes Each year she organizes our annual art in the right place fundraiser as well as our teen's habitat for humanity work trip Kelly crocker serves as leslie supervisor. She states that Leslie brings a passionate commitment to the spiritual guidance Of our children and infuses all of her work with dedication integrity and joy She's creative resourceful amazingly well organized and innovative Innovative right and brings this program to life year after year with her generous and compassionate spirit. Thank you Heather is the final person we're recognizing today Heather has been the children's and youth choir director at f us for the past 20 years The numbers in the three choirs have grown over the years with membership now approaching 80 young choristers Ranging in ages from four to 18 We're lucky to be enjoying their music on this flower communion weekend Heather also blesses us with her beautiful voice as a featured soloist during the year A parent of children who participated in the choirs Noted that heathers involvement as choir director children's choir director Added depth to their family's experience at the f us community Her non-judgmental teaching style welcomed singers of all abilities Creating confident young singers And these children and youth have a special intergenerational connection to the congregation as a result of their participation in f us services Another tells us Heather has invested her wednesday evenings for 20 years in the music education of our children and youth of f us She taught them not only music but focus pride professionalism in the community of choir For many she's become a mentor and over time a valued friend to the young adults of our congregation In closing on behalf of the f us personnel committee and all the members of staff of f us We thank dan janet Linda leslie and heather for their dedication Their commitment and their hard work on behalf of first unitarian society Now as we prepare to leave this place I invite you to take one of these flowers Take a different one than the flower you brought Take it not to keep forever and ever nothing is forever Take a flower as a symbol of gratitude for the beauty we did not create Of gratitude for blessings we do not deserve Of gratitude for joys which come unexpected Take a flower as a symbol of your participation in the community of this congregation The community of humankind Community of all living things the universal community If by chance you did not bring a flower take one anyway Take a flower as a symbol that beauty and grace and joy and love are not matters of reciprocity Our ushers will be bringing the vases of flowers Out to the commons and as you leave today, please take a flower from these bouquets We have created together Knowing that in this spirit we share in the long history of religious freedom And the power of our faith Remember that the flower you hold in your hand is the gift of a friend Brought in good faith to this community and a reminder Of the history we inherit as we walk the paths of our journey May these earthly symbols remind us of a deeper truth That in the days of our joys and in the days of our struggles we are never truly alone And if you will rise now in body or spirit for our closing hymn number 163 We are today ever thankful for the persistence of flowers and open ourselves to their long wisdom Often they grow in spite of terrible winters and miserable summers May we remember that strange beauty greets us in unexpected places As if there is a particular grace that is stronger than indifference When we tend our gardens with love and care the reward will be greater than the effort May the flowers ever speak to us of wonders and glories yet to be Of hopes fulfilled if we remember to tend our gardens and our homes With patience and wisdom and love Blessed be go in peace. Please be seated for the postlude