Toward the end of an early morning walk, I found myself drawn to a small boat in a harbor full of large and beautiful vessels. The picture that formed around it brought to mind these words of William Butler Yeats: “We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather around us that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet.” One of our opportunities as church is to accompany one another into clearer and fiercer life.

Mayfield Fellowship Meeting Recap

A delicious summer potluck, two tables full of people, and Molly’s program wrap-up on this summer’s Hearts to Art camp resulted in a rich Fellowship meeting on Thursday. Thank you to all who were able to be there.  If you would like more information on Hearts to Art, there are some printed materials in the Gathering Area. The next Mayfield Fellowship meeting will be on October 10, noon, at Oakcrest, hosted by Ann W. After lunch the program for that day will be presented by Hope Haven regarding homelessness and youth. More information will follow closer to the October meeting time.

August Intergenerational Labyrinth Walks  — August 11 and 25

Our first August intergenerational labyrinth walk is scheduled for this Sunday, August 11, 9:00 am. People of all ages, those who have walked before and those who have not, are invited to join us in this very old and yet very contemporary spiritual practice.  This Sunday we will walk with these words from Gunilla Norris: “How we walk this life is our own journey. But what we come to be is the gift we are to share with others.”  Come walk with us on Sunday.

Northern Illinois Food Bank

You can currently support the Northern Illinois Food Bank with financial gifts in the offering plate and food bank box and with jars of peanut butter. Peanut butter is a sought after item that food distribution sites never have enough of. Our peanut butter drive is being sponsored by the Deacons through the end of September.

Outdoor Worship – Sunday, September 8, 2019

A beloved tradition at Mayfield is our outdoor worship service on the second Sunday in September.  The last few years the Monarch Waystation has provided a lovely site for this service.  This year’s meal following the service will be slightly different.  We are taking a year off from grilling and will enjoy a potluck picnic.  You are asked to bring a main dish, a side dish, a salad, or a desert to share.  Mark your calendars and plan to be there on September 8.

A Garden Note

The anonymous words below were passed on from Joyce to Wilma and then to Martha. They are printed in this week’s memo with thanks both for all who garden in the Monarch Waystation, the Gravel Garden, the Shade Garden on the north side of church, and other areas here and there on our property and for the holy mystery the surrounds all growth and fruition.

My Garden

I worked in my garden a while today, and God was there; and I heard Him say: “Those roses of yours and the columbine, with the jasmine sprouts that now entwine the old south wall near the kitchen door, are very pretty. But let’s look them over and see if we can’t separate the things you do from the part I take.”

“You planted the seed,” the Master said. “You watered and tilled the flower bed.  But did you make the small seeds grow and draw their substance from the morning sun that gives them strength to carry on? Did you paint the blossoms of blue and gold? Did you give them fragrances or did you hold the shape and form of each lovely bloom? Or did I do that and give you room to work with me in the garden?” I turned and the voice I had heard had fled. But the words He spoke disturbed me much. For I thought I gave those plants the touch that made them grow in a vigorous way. But He spoke again, and I heard Him say: “Your garden and mine,” and this puzzled me. For I had learning and felt I should know what seeds I should plant and how they should grow, but this new doctrine of God and me changed my garden; and now I see that it no longer is my own, but God’s and mine, and ours alone; so, now when I plant, I have God for a guide and we work that garden side by side.