Memory

GHUUC Order of Service May 28, 2010

Opening Song: Second Connecticut Regiment March

Welcome

Chalice Lighting “Memorial Day” by Charles Flagg

In honor of those we have known and loved in the past,
In recognition of the gifts and sacrifices they have made on our behalf,
And in our sincere hopes that we may be worthy of their memory,
 We light our candles,
We give our thanks,
And we offer our prayers. AMEN.

Chimes “Prayer for Memorial Day” by Wayne Arnason

Spirit of Life,
We enter into this season of Memorial Day surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses.
We remember, first of all, the women and men who are currently serving in the armed forces and we pray for their safe return.
We also acknowledge that there are women and men who will not return,
as we grieve their passing in the daily paper.
We pause to honor their service and their sacrifice.

(First Chime -Moment of silence)

We also pause this hour to give thanks for all the women and men who have served in the nation's armed services.
Those who have not served cannot fully imagine the experience of war, but we do know war's aftermath and the toll that it can take on the human heart.

(Second Chime – Moment of Silence)

This day remembers and acknowledges loss and so do we remember those whom we have loved and lost. We hold their names and their faces in our mind's eye. We recall the gifts they gave to us through the strength of their being, the depth of their love, the courage of their dying, and the fullness of their living.

In the Holy Quiet of this hour, their names surround us and they live with us in blessed memory. May we remain together in silence, as a tribute to all that they have meant to us.

(Third Chime - Moment of silence)

Amen

Joys and Concerns

Prayer “Memorial Day Prayer” by Barbara Pescan

Spirit of Life
whom we have called by many names
in thanksgiving and in anguish—

Bless the poets and those who mourn
Send peace for the soldiers who did not make the wars
but whose lives were consumed by them

Let strong trees grow above graves far from home
Breathe through the arms of their branches
The earth will swallow your tears while the dead sing
“No more, never again, remember me.”

For the wounded ones, and those who received them back,
let there be someone ready when the memories come
when the scars pull and the buried metal moves
and forgiveness for those of us who were not there
for our ignorance.

And in us, veterans in a forest of a thousand fallen promises,
let new leaves of protest grow on our stumps.

Give us courage to answer the cry of humanity’s pain
And with our bare hands, out of full hearts,
with all our intelligence
let us create the peace.

Extinguishing the Chalice Song: “Taps” composed by Daniel Butterfield, lyrics by Horace Lorenzo Trim

Fading light dims the sight
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright
From afar drawing nigh,
Falls the night.

Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the skies
All is well, safely rest;
God is nigh.

Then goodnight, peaceful night;
Till the light of the dawn shineth bright.
God is near, do not fear,
Friend, goodnight.

Congregational reflections

Announcements

Today’s service led by: Amy R. Walters