Teresa’s Note: October 6, 2023

Teresa's Note

Oct 6

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Dear friends and members of University UMC:

Grace and peace! I pray you are doing well and that the rainfall and slightly cooler weather is bringing you energy and joy.

October 4 was the feast day for St. Francis of Assissi. The prayer attributed to him that begins “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace” is well known by many. I recently discovered another version of this prayer and learned that it is commonly used in AA circles. Sometimes hearing a slightly different version of a familiar prayer or scripture can provide a new insight or fresh perspective.

For the next few weeks in worship the scripture lesson will come to us from a new translation called First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. The vision for this project began with a Native American United Methodist pastor named Terry Wildman. Wildman postered a church on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona and he longed for a translation of the Bible that was more accessible to the people with who he ministered. He served as the lead translator and collaborated with members of over 25 tribes across North America to make it a reality. He says, “We believe it’s a gift not only to our Native people, (but) from our Native people to the dominant culture. We believe that there’s a fresh way that people can experience the story again from a Native perspective.’ You can read more about this translation here. And below you can read the version of The Lord’s Prayer found in this new translation. We will be using this version in worship throughout the remainder of October.

Today I also leave you with the Prayer of St. Francis and a recording of the hymn “All Creatures of Our God and King”, lyrics are based on another writing by St. Francis. And finally, find below a link to the entire poem Pastor Earl mentioned in his World Communion Sunday sermon, “Ode to Bread” by Pablo Neruda.

May something in the written and sung word speak to you of God’s love.

What a joy to be your pastor!

Teresa

Francis 3 by Catherine Nolin

O God, to those who have hunger give bread, and to us who have bread give the hunger for justice.

-Prayer from Latin America in Gifts of Many Cultures

Prayer Of St. Francis

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;

that where there is hatred, I may bring love;

that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;

that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;

that where there is error, I may bring truth;

that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;

that where there is despair, I may bring hope;

that where there are shadows, I may bring light;

that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;

to understand, than to be understood;

to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

Amen.

All Creatures Of Our God And King

This hymn is an adaptation of St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Sun” and is in our United Methodist hymnal #62 You can hear this hymn sung at Westminster Abbey below.