St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Port Royal, VA
We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.
“Sept 14, 2025, Pentecost 14, Season of Creation 2”,
Pentecost 14 – Parables of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin
Lectionary Pentecost 14, Year C
The four readings for Pentecost 14 are bound together by the theme of God’s mercy in the face of human sin and lostness. In Exodus 32:7-14, God’s anger over Israel’s idolatry is met with Moses’ intercession, reminding us that God’s judgment is not final but open to mercy. Psalm 51:1-11 gives voice to the sinner’s plea for cleansing and renewal, expressing the personal dimension of repentance. In 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Paul reflects on his own life as a former blasphemer and persecutor, yet transformed by Christ’s abundant grace, showing that no one is beyond redemption. Finally, Luke 15:1-10 portrays God’s relentless pursuit of the lost in the parables of the sheep and coin, where heaven rejoices over even one sinner who repents. Taken together, the passages affirm that God’s nature is not to condemn but to seek, forgive, and restore, calling communities and individuals alike into gratitude and joy for divine mercy.
Pentecost 14, Year C, September 14, 2025
Podcast on the Gospel – Lost Sheep and Lost Coin
Visual Lectionary Vanderbilt, Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept. 14, 2025
The Season of Creation, Sept 1 – Oct. 4, 2025. This week meditations on nature
What is the “Season of Creation”?
The Season of Creation, 2025
Keys to the Season of Creation
Part 2 – “Meditations” from An Outline for the Season of Creation –
Individual and Group Meditations on Climate Change
Longer Meditation “Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults”
Reflections based on our relationship with nature
A Spiritual look at Climate Change
Remembering…
Holy Cross Day, Sept 14
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) – musician, writer, prophetess – and saint
I. Theme – Punishment and Grace
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
First Reading – Exodus 32:7-14
Psalm – Psalm 51:1-11
Epistle – 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Gospel – Luke 15:1-10
Today’s readings praise God’s merciful pursuit of God’s people even as they sin. The readings contrast punishment and grace. In Exodus God forgives the Israelites’ spiritual impatience and lack of trust that lead them to turn from God to an idol . The Epistle and Gospel highlight God’s graceful care, which encompasses the lost and sinful. Paul offers himself as an example of one found by God, transformed by the power of God’s mercy. In the gospel, Jesus tells stories that illustrate God’s great joy over each sinner who repents.
If God’s grace welcomes back the apostle Paul, despite his persecution of early Christians, will it welcome back the wealthy whose largess has come at the expense of the poor. Grace transforms the past, and opens us to become new creations. We still may have to face the consequences of the past; but grace leads to new behaviors and openness to expanded divine possibilities for ourselves and the good Earth.
Jesus makes clear in the Gospel that everyone falls within the shadow of salvation, regardless of their past behavior and place in society. What Jesus is doing is placing worth and value on what others had deemed worthless. The Jewish mystical tradition proclaims that when you save one soul, you save the world. This wisdom provides a creative lens through which to read the parable of the lost sheep.
Each one of us is made in the image of God; therefore, each one of us is worthy. Because of that, we are valued. We belong to God. And God will seek us out to the ends of the earth as a lost sheep, into all the cracks and darkness and lonely, lost places as a lost coin. We are not forgotten to God, even when we fall into despair, into addiction, into hopelessness.
II. Summary
First Reading – Exodus 32:7-14
Exodus 32:7-14 is from our second thread of the readings this season, in which the theme of God fulfilling the covenantal promises made with the people prevails.
Early in their journey from slavery in Egypt to the promised Land, God’s people became restless and untrusting
When Moses led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, they did not go very long or very far before they lost confidence in Moses and in the path on which he was leading them. They were camped in the Sinai desert at the foot of a mountain, while Moses was up the mountain receiving extensive instructions from the Lord. The people grew restless, then nostalgic even for the ways of their Egyptian former masters. They melted jewelry and formed an idol (or a token of rebellion against Moses) from it in the shape of a calf, then worshiped it with exuberant ceremony. The golden calf would be followed as their god. Of course the Lord is outraged, and Moses has to intervene, reminding the Lord of the covenant, lest the Lord revoke it.
This reading begins a section on Israel’s sin and God’s forgiveness (chaps. 32–34). It serves both as a narrative sequel to the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai and as a spiritual reflection upon Israel’s repeated apostasy from the time of the exodus to the exile. The worship of the golden calf signified an adoption of the Canaanite rites of Baal. It may represent not a false god but a challenge to Moses as mediator between the people and God.
In view of the lord’s anger, Moses intercedes for the people. He reminds God that it was God’s actions that brought them out of slavery into the wilderness. He reminds the lord of the covenant that these are God’s own people, that God’s name is now bound up with theirs and that God had promised Abraham, not Moses, many descendants.
Moses uses Egypt in a unique way in his argument with G-d. “What will the Egyptians think?” And to this he adds significant names: Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob). To these God had made significant promises of continuity and a future
God changes God’s mind about destroying them all, remembering the covenant to Abraham and Sarah and to their descendants forever. Like wedding vows, God will be their God, through good times and bad, and will never abandon them completely or destroy them. Although Moses effectively ends the conversation with God’s repentance, he seems to be unable to answer to the evidence that God sets before him.
Psalm – Psalm 51:1-11
This is one of the great penitential psalms. The psalm’s title, added later, ascribes this psalm to David during the time of his repentance for the seduction of Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah (2 Samuel 11:1–12:25).
Psalm 51:1-10 is the opposite of Psalm 14: in this psalm, the singer acknowledges their own sin, their own turning away from God, and desires reconciliation and forgiveness and restoration. The singer famously asks for a new, clean heart, and a new and right spirit within them, to guide them on the path that leads to God.
The constant hope and the goal of the covenant people was to become a community in right relationship with God and one another. Sin was understood as whatever disordered relationships – it is everywhere and at every time. The psalmist seeks not merely the removal of guilt, but the restoration of a right relationship to God. Verse 4 does not exclude sin against one’s neighbor, for that was also understood as an offense against God because it broke down the covenant relationships desired by God.
The psalm also speaks to the ubiquity of God’s knowledge of us – in the hidden knowledge within us. In verse 9 we begin to feel relief. “Purge me with hyssop” refers to the priest’s sprinkling the people with the blood of the sacrifice, or as in Numbers 19:18-22, where it refers to cleansing with water. The point is made with both images – the psalmist seeks redemption and forgiveness, and it is given so that it can be heard and be the cause of praise. The verse regarding “the right spirit” might call us all back to creation again, where the Spirit reboots us into righteousness and holy living.
This psalm has a place in the Liturgy for Ash Wednesday, where it serves as a psalm underscoring the penitential nature of the day. The introduction to the psalm serves as a poignant notice as well:
Epistle- 1 Timothy 1:12-17
Paul enjoyed God’s mercy, and uses his experience as an example for potential believers.
This selection begins a seven-week series of readings from two letters traditionally attributed to St. Paul. 1 and 2 Timothy, along with Titus, are called the pastoral epistles because of their emphasis on the proper ordering of the administration and worship of the Church. Many scholars today believe that these letters were not written by Paul himself but by a later follower. Such an author may have pieced together some of Paul’s personal letters and added material that presented oral Pauline teaching which addressed later situations.
Today’s reading is a thanksgiving for Paul’s conversion, especially as it serves as a paradigm of God’s mercy in the conversion of all “sinners.” A phrase characteristic of Paul’s emphasis on tradition is “the saying is sure” (v. 15) indicating a quotation from familiar teaching or hymns.
The author intends for the reader/hearer to understand what Paul stood for, and to see in his own story, the story of Christ’s grace intended for them as well. The exaggerated list of vices that describe Paul’s former life (“blasphemer”, “persecutor”, and “man of violence”) is meant to highlight Paul’s message of grace, which is intended for the reader, ostensibly Timothy. Thus Paul serves as the primary example of grace that will abound in those who follow the Gospel of Jesus.
This passage is a beautiful statement of thanksgiving to Jesus who is the one who called the writer into this ministry, using him despite of, and because of, his faults and shortcomings to be a witness to God. Christ came into the world to save sinners. The writer is grateful for God’s blessings, grace and mercy, and that because of God’s grace and mercy the writer is able to use his whole life as a witness of Jesus Christ and of Christ’s faith and love.
The closing is very interesting and is perhaps the remains of an ancient doxology that was used in early Christian worship.
Gospel – Luke 15:1-10
Luke writes his gospel for a community undergoing transition. Jesus’ original followers were poor Jews. But now the situation shifts so that Luke’s audience is composed primarily of respectable people who have an annoying way of looking down on others for a variety of reasons.
Luke 15:1-10 contain the first two of three parables in this chapter—the most famous, the Parable of the Prodigal Son, is not included in the lectionary this time. But these first two parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin are also important. Here Jesus is gathered with both the sinners (tax collectors and their ilk) and the supposedly righteous (the Pharisees and the scribes). What Jesus does and says will come under the close scrutiny of both camps.
Jesus was eating with sinners, welcoming them, and that some of the religious leaders were complaining about it. In both of these parables, the protagonist pays attention to something that normally would be forgotten about soon after—a lost sheep, a lost coin. It would have been ridiculous to leave 99 sheep behind to go after one lost sheep. Losing just one was probably a miracle that you didn’t lose more. Same with losing a coin. If you lost a $100 bill but had 9 more of them, you might be a bit angry that you lost it, but you would get over it soon. You certainly wouldn’t be going out and inviting your neighbors to celebrate once you found it
Luke 15 describes God’s joy at homecoming of sinners. The trilogy of Luke describes three states of being lost: wandering off ignorantly, being lost in the shuffle, and choosing to go astray. None of these states is beyond God’s redemption. At any moment we can turn around to awaken to God’s grace
Jesus uses the unwearied search of a shepherd for a lost sheep or of a poor woman for a lost coin as an image for God’s unchanging love toward the sinner. God’s constant seeking-out of the lost is manifested in Jesus’ redeeming ministry. God’s love takes the initiative; the sinner’s response is repentance. But rejoicing is the central note of these parables, for there is no mention of penitence.
Like Nathan, who convinces David of his sinfulness, by getting him to identify with the poor neighbor of his story (see Psalm 51, above), so Jesus seeks to have the hearer, whether sinner or scribe, to identify with the one who has lost either sheep, coin, or son
There is also the connection in this parable to the others. The shepherd risks the flock, to some degree, by leaving them to find the lost sheep. But, perhaps more importantly, the ninety nine cannot be fully saved apart from the lost sheep. They will remain ninety nine and not experience the wholeness of the perfect number, one hundred. Salvation is relational; our salvation is connected to the well-being of others. We cannot be complete without the salvation of others. The joy of heaven is found in the welcoming home of every soul.
The two parables in today’s reading make the same point. They answer those who criticized Jesus for having any dealings with the outcast and despised. It was a strong ancient principle, especially among the Pharisees, that one should not associate with sinners. “Sinners” were both those who led immoral lives and those whose occupations were considered sure to lead them into immorality—tax collectors, shepherds, etc. “Sinners” could not hold office or act as legal witnesses.
Jesus makes clear that everyone falls within the shadow of salvation, regardless of their past behavior and place in society. What Jesus is doing is placing worth and value on what others had deemed worthless. The Jewish mystical tradition proclaims that when you save one soul, you save the world. This wisdom provides a creative lens through which to read the parable of the lost sheep.
Both parables speak to the implicit value of things. People—human beings, their very lives—are valuable to God, every single one. And when society starts saying you’re worthless, you might start believing it—and ending up in addiction, depressed, and feeling completely useless to the world. But Jesus says “You are valuable—You are precious to God.” Jesus would rather leave the 99 who know who they are to find the one that has been rejected and left for dead. Jesus would rather spend all the time looking to find one who was lost than to forget and move on. People are more valuable than lost coins or even lost sheep
This 12 minute podcast was constructed by NotebookLM from the following sources provided to it:
1. The Gospel story
2. 2025 Commentary by E. Trey Clark from “Working Preacher”
3. 2013 Commentary by Lois Malcolm in “Working Preacher”
4. 5 examples of art work
5. 2 poems – “Bad at Math” by Rev. Joanna Harader
and “The Parable of the Lost Coin” by Lucy Wall
6. Excerpt St. Peter’s sermon Sept 15, 2013
An alternate to this podcast is to read the Briefing Document. The Briefing Document is here
Click here to view in a new window.
The Season of Creation is an optional season for the church year from Sept 1 through the feast day of St. Francis.
For the most part, the seasons of the church year follow the life of Jesus: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter. The remainder of the church year encompasses Pentecost season (or Ordinary Time), which celebrates life in the Holy Spirit.
For centuries, our theology our theology has focused on relationship with God and our human relationships with one another. The Season of Creation focuses God’s relationship with all creation and with our relationship with creation (and with God through creation). It highlights our role in understanding and addressing address the ecological problems we face today as a part of God’s creation.
“Fun fact: planet Earth is 4.5 billion years old. Mankind? About 140,000 years old. Let me put that in perspective: If you condense the Earth’s lifespan into 24 hours, that’s one full day, then we have been here on this planet for… …drumroll please… …three seconds. Three seconds, and look what we’ve done….”
Prince Ea’s annotation for the video.
“The Symbol for the Season of Creation 2025 is the Garden of Peace inspired by Isaiah 32:14-18.
“The symbol is characterized by a dove carrying an olive branch bringing life to the Garden of Peace. In the Biblical story of the flood, the dove plays the role of the blessed messenger: The dove sent out by Noah returns to the ark with a fresh olive branch in its beak, signalling that the flood is receding.
“As the flood story begins with a situation where “the earth is filled with violence” (Genesis 6:13), the return of the dove with the olive branch came to be known as a sign of new peace.
The Biblical text for this year is Isaiah 32:14-18. The symbol shows two sides – On one side, the tree is barren and the landscape exploited. On the other side, the tree is lush and green, in a flourishing landscape. Above is a dove, carrying an olive branch in its beak
“The prophet Isaiah pictured the desolated Creation without peace because of the lack of justice and the broken relationship between God and humankind. This description of devastated cities and wastelands eloquently stresses the fact that human destructive behaviours have a negative impact on the Earth.
“Our hope: Creation will find peace when justice is restored. There is still hope and the expectation for a peaceful Earth.
“To hope in a biblical context does not mean to stand still and quiet, but to act, pray, change, and reconcile with Creation and the Creator in unity, repentance, and solidarity.”
For centuries, our theology our theology has focused on relationship with God and our human relationships with one another. The Season of Creation focuses God’s relationship with all creation and with our relationship with creation (and with God through creation). It highlights our role in understanding and addressing address the ecological problems we face today as a part of God’s creation.
“Imagine a great circle. God encircles everything else in this circle.
Inside the circle is a second circle, and that circle is us. We human beings encircle the rest of creation, at the center of the circle. Look at the word, earth. If you move the letter “h” from the back of this word to the front, the word “earth” becomes the word “heart.”
We are going to look at 6 keys to the Season of Creation
1 God as Creator The Spirit of God moving over the face of the water created the earth. Creation is also on a journey, it is ongoing constantly in a process of being made new.
The Bible speaks of a God who is not passive or distant, but active and involved. God here exercises divine power through peaceful means. God creates by the word “In the beginning, God designed a home, a home in which God dwells, a home in which God delights, a home which God calls good. The earth is God’s home…”Nothing goes to waste in this creation. All this creation has a purpose, and every bit of this creation depends on every other bit of creation.”
I his letter to the Romans, right up front, Paul makes this statement.”Ever since the creation of the world, God’s eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things that God has made.
The goal in worship then is to deepen our understanding of God as Creator, to celebrate God’s role as Creator, and to examine and deepen and widen our own relationships with God, creation, and with one another. How are we impacting creation which God said was “good.”
This week is individual and group mediations around creation.
Meditations on climate change offer a rich opportunity to weave together Scripture, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Anglican tradition’s emphasis on stewardship of Creation. These meditations are designed to foster reflection, lament, hope, and action.
Framing
These meditations to our Baptismal Covenant, where we promise to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being,” which can be extended to all of God’s Creation.
These are designed for personal prayer time, perhaps in a quiet space at home, in a garden, or before a church service.
Example 1: A Meditation on Romans 8 (Lectio Divina Style)
Lectio Divina (“Divine Reading”) is an ancient practice of praying with Scripture.
Preparation: Find a quiet place. Light a candle to symbolize the light of Christ. Take a few deep breaths to center yourself. Read the passage slowly, three times.
Scripture: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now.” – Romans 8:19-22
Example 2: A Sensory Meditation on Stewardship
This meditation uses a physical object to ground the prayer.
Preparation: Go outside and find a natural object: a stone, a fallen leaf, a bit of soil, a flower. If you are indoors, hold a small glass of water.
These are designed for a small group, a formation class, or a special service. They are more interactive and communal.
Example 1: A Litany for Creation
This can be done in a service, with a leader and the people responding. The response can be spoken or sung.
Leader: Let us pray for God’s Creation, for the earth our home. In the midst of beauty and splendor, we give you thanks, O God. For the soaring mountains and the depths of the sea, People: We thank you, Lord.
For the vibrant forest and the quiet desert, People: We thank you, Lord.
For the song of the bird and the buzz of the bee, People: We thank you, Lord.
Leader: In the midst of suffering and degradation, we cry out to you, O God. For the warming oceans and the acid seas, People: Lord, have mercy.
For the burning forests and the thirsty lands, People: Lord, have mercy.
For the creatures driven from their homes and the people displaced by drought and flood, People: Lord, have mercy.
For our greed, our wastefulness, and our indifference to the groaning of Creation, People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: In the midst of hope and challenge, we offer ourselves to you, O God. For scientists, engineers, and planners working for a sustainable future, People: Strengthen their hands, O God.
For activists and advocates who speak truth to power, People: Embolden their voices, O God.
For farmers, gardeners, and all who till the soil with care and reverence, People: Bless their work, O God.
Leader: Grant us the courage to change our habits, the conviction to seek justice, and the faith to be co-workers in your renewal of all things. Give us hopeful hearts, that we may see in the pains of this present age the birth of a new heaven and a new earth, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. People: Amen.
Example 2: A “Stations of Creation” Walking Meditation
This can be done outdoors on the church grounds or indoors with images at different “stations.”
Facilitator: “We walk today to remember our connection to the earth and to pray for its healing. As we walk, let us do so with reverence and attention.”
The following is an excerpt from Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Facing History & Ourselves, “An Offering” from Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults”, last updated July 26, 2024.
“Our people were canoe people. Until they made us walk. Until our lakeshore lodgers were signed away for shanties and dust. Our people were a circle, until we were dispersed. Our people shared a language with which to thank the day, until they made us forget. But we didn’t forget. Not quite.
“Gods of Tahawus
“Our family spent summer canoe camping in the Adirondacks, and every day began with my father pumping the tank on the Coleman stove for the morning coffee.
“I can picture my father, in his red-checked wool shirt, standing atop the rocks above the lake. When he lifts the coffeepot from the stove, the morning activity stops. We know, without being told, that it’s time to pay attention. He stands at the edge of camp with the coffeepot in his hand and pours coffee onto the ground in a thick brown stream. My father lifts his face to the morning sun and speaks into the stillness, “Here’s to the gods of Tahawus.” The stream of coffee runs down oar smooth granite to merge with the lake water. Then and only then does he pour out steaming cups of coffee for himself and my mother. So begins each morning in the north woods. Gratitude, the words that come before all else.
“I never questioned the source of those words, and my father never explained. They were just part of our life among the lakes. But their rhythm made me feel at home, and the ceremony drew a circle around our family. By those words, we said, “Here we are.” I imagined that the land heard us and murmured to herself, “Oh, here are the ones who know how to say thank you.”
“Tahawus is the Algonquin name for Mount Marcy, the highest peak in the Adirondacks. It’s called Mount Marcy to commemorate a governor who never set foot on those wild slopes. Tahawus, “the Cloud Splitter,” is the true name, invoking their essential nature. Among our Potawatomi people, there are public names and true names. My father had been on Tahawus’s summit many times, and he knew it well enough to call them by name. I imagined that this beloved place knew my true name as well, even when I myself did not. When we call a place by name, it is transformed from wilderness to homeland.
“Do you know the Indigenous names of the places you live? If not, how can you find out?
“Sometimes my father would name the gods of Forked Lake or South Pond or Brandy Brook Flow, wherever our tents settled for the night. I came to know that each place was home to others before we arrived and long after we left. As he called out the names and offered a gift, the first coffee, he quietly taught us the respect we owed these other beings.
“I knew that in the long ago times our people raised their thanks in morning songs, in prayer, and in the offering of sacred
“ tobacco. But at that time, my family didn’t have sacred tobacco and we didn’t know the songs. They’d been taken away from my grandfather at the doors of Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
“My mother also had a ritual of respect. Before we paddled away from any sampling place, we had to make sure it was clean. “Leave this place better than you found it,” she reminded us. We also had to leave wood for the next person’s fire, with tinder and kindling carefully sheltered from rain by a sheet of birch bark. I liked to imagine their pleasure, those other paddlers, arriving after dark to find a ready pile of fuel to warm their evening meal. My mother’s ceremony connected us to them too.
“On Sundays, when other kids went to church, my family would go out along the river to look for herons and muskrats or to the woods to hunt for spring flowers or on picnics. The words came along. This time, the pot was full of bubbling tomato soup, and the first drink poured was for the snow. “Here’s to the gods of Tahawus”—only then would we wrap mittened hands around our steaming cups. These offerings were made only under an open sky and never back in town where we lived.
“Ceremony
“As I grew to adolescence, the offerings began to leave me angry or sad. I heard in the words a message that we did not belong because we spoke English and that ours was a secondhand ceremony. Somewhere there were people who knew the right ceremony. People who knew the lost language and spoke the true names, including my own.
“In the same way that the flow of coffee down the rock opened the leaves of the moss, ceremony brought the dormant back to life. Ceremony opened my mind and heart to what I knew but had forgotten. The words and the coffee called us to remember that these woods and lakes are a gift. Ceremonies large and small have the power to focus attention to a way of living gratefully and awake in the world. It may have been a secondhand ceremony, but even through my confusion, I recognized that the earth drank it up as if it were right. The land knows you, even when you are lost.
“A people’s story moves along like a canoe caught in the current, being carried closer and closer to where we began. As I grew up, my family found our tribal connections that had been frayed—but never broken—by history. We found the people who knew our true names. And in Oklahoma, when I first heard the sending of thanks to the four directions at the sunrise lodge—the offering in the old language of the sacred tobacco—I heard it as if in my father’s voice. The language was different, but the heart was the same.
“Ours was a solitary ceremony but fed from the same bond with the land, founded on respect and gratitude. Ceremony is a vehicle for belonging—to a family, to a people, and to the land.
“Now the circle drawn around is bigger, encompassing a people to which we again belong. But still, the offering says, “Here we are.”
“Still, I hear at the end of the words the land murmuring to herself, “Oh, here are the ones who know how to say thank you.”
“Today, my father can speak his prayer in our language. But it was “Here’s to the gods of Tahawus,” that came first, in the voice that I will always hear.
“At last, I thought that I understood the offering to the gods of Tahawus. It was, for me, the one thing that was not forgotten, that which could not be taken by history. The knowing that we belonged to the land, that we were the people who knew how to say thank you. Years later, I asked my father, “Where did the ceremony come from? Did you learn it from your father and he from his? Did it stretch all the way back to the time of the canoes?”
“He thought for a long time. “No, I don’t think so. It’s just what we did. It seemed right.” That was all, or so it seemed.
“Weeks later, when we spoke again, my dad shared, “I’ve been thinking about the coffee and how we started giving it to the ground. You know, it was a boiled coffee and there’s no filter. If it boils too hard, the grounds foam up and get stuck in the spout. The first cup you pour would get that plug of grounds and be spoiled, I think we first did it to clear the spout.” The whole web of gratitude and the whole story of remembrance was nothing more than the dumping of the grounds?
““But, you know,” he continued, “there weren’t always grounds to clear. It started out that way, but it became something else. A thought. A kind of respect. A form of thanks. On a beautiful morning, I supposed you could call it joy.”
“That, I think, is the power of ceremony: it marries the mundane to the sacred. The coffee to a prayer. What else can you offer the earth, which has everything? What else can you give but something of yourself? A homemade ceremony, a ceremony that makes a home.
Credit Line: From Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Text © 2022 by Lerner Publishing Group. Illustrations © 2022 by Nicole Neidhardt.