Rev. Megan
Berkowitz
Rev. Amy
Clark Feldman
Pastor Amy
October 13, 2023
We pray for all who are in harm’s way.
We hold them in our hearts.
We hold all the children in our hearts.
We hold all the elderly and the vulnerable in our hearts.
Our fate is bound up in theirs.
We pray for all who have died; may their lives be for a blessing.
We pray for all who work for an end to this killing and violence.
We pray for our friends and neighbors who are mourning,
who are afraid, who wait for news.
God, with all the desperation of our hearts we plead:
may it be true that peace will yet come.
For all that cannot be fully expressed in words,
when words have poor power, we still pray.
Amen.
A chaplain’s interfaith prayer in war
Beloved, I had another reflection planned for today, but it has been hard for me, as I’m sure it has been for you, to turn my heart and mind away from the heartbreak of the war in Israel and Palestine. My prayers have been especially with my Jewish family, friends, and colleagues, some with loved ones in Israel, and others deciding as late as this morning whether to send their children to school given antisemitic threats and calls for violence here in the US. At times like this, we turn to our faith looking for answers and hope. The answers may not always be clear, but in our faith, a way forward towards hope, compassion, and peace does always emerge. In gathering together, praying together, grieving together, wrestling with our faith and discerning how to move forward in love together, there is always hope.
This week’s scripture reading is the story of Ruth and Naomi, two women from different lands and religions who reach across their differences with a love that changes history. The Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO), of which UCW is a part, sent a note to clergy this week – not a statement, but a call for each of us in that very diverse group to stand alongside one another in a common place of grief. The note said, “More is called for than shared grief, of course, but shared grief is one way to offer and receive solidarity in this season, even amidst our differences. And it is one opportunity to practice love in the service of justice.” Come this Sunday to worship with hope, pause and pray for peace, and consider where love is calling you. There is much work to be done, dear church. May we do it together with God’s guidance.
With Blessings and Peace,
Pastor Amy
Peace,
Amy
Past Posts
- From Our Pastors
Rev. Megan Berkowitz
June 6, 2025 It’s very fitting that our Annual Meeting falls on Pentecost this year. As we remember the Holy Spirit filling the early church and moving them into meaningful action, following in the Way of Jesus, we, too, experience the movement of the Spirit in our own church community. Learn More - From Our Pastors : May 30, 2025Rev. Clark Feldman
May 30, 2025 The Psalmist wrote so many centuries ago (or maybe just yesterday), “As the deer pants for water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” It’s such a vivid image – this poor deer panting in thirst and exhaustion. How far has it run over dry and scorched land? What a relief to dip its head towards a cool stream; its thirst quenched. Learn More - From Our PastorsRev. Megan Berkowitz
May 23, 2025 We’re heading into a season of joy, celebration, community, and preparation for the future over the next several weeks, and I wanted to be sure to lay it all out in one place so you can plan and save the dates. This weekend, we’ll celebrate and dedicate our new accessible pews in worship and have the second meeting of the spring New Members class immediately following. Learn More - From Our Pastors: May 16, 2025Rev. Amy Clark Feldman
May 16, 2025 As some of you know, I was away for part of this week at a program for clergy and spiritual directors. Each morning began at 7:45 a.m. with worship; and ended around 9:00 p.m. with worship. Spiritual leaders from around the country each led one of the first five services; with each service focusing on one of the five senses – taste, touch, smell, hearing, sight – knowing that Jesus engaged and experienced all the senses in his very human, embodied, incarnate ministry. Learn More - From Our Pastors: May 9, 2025Rev. Megan Berkowitz
May 9, 2025 I had a lot of interest in the prayer structure I shared during last Sunday’s worship, so I wanted to write it out for you here. If you’re feeling like you’re not sure how to pray or what to say, sometimes a little scaffolding can help get you started. Don’t think that this is the ‘right’ way to pray though — any way to pray that leads you to open your heart to God is the right way! Learn More - From Our Pastors: May 2, 2025Rev. Megan Berkowitz
May 2, 2025 There is very little in the Gospels that tells of Jesus after his resurrection and before his ascension. This period gets 5 weeks in the liturgical calendar, but only one or two stories in each Gospel at most. As Pastor Amy shared in her sermon last Sunday, after the Resurrection, Jesus spends some time eating with his disciples, even sharing a grilled fish breakfast on the beach with them one morning. Learn More - From Our Pastors: April 25, 2025Rev. Megan Berkowitz
April 25, 2025 On Easter morning, we sang the hymn “Now the Green Blade Rises,” with its refrain: “Love is come again like wheat that rises green.” While it raises questions for me every year about how much pronunciation has changed in the last hundred years (did been/green and again/lain really rhyme?), it so beautifully captures the confluence of Easter and the coming of Spring in the Northern hemisphere. Learn More
