05/27/2026
The readings from Saturday, including the "good words" quote from Chief Joseph:
Readings for Bamboo Encounter
May 23, 2026
celebrating outdoor worship since May 2019
FINAL GATHERING
Welcome to Bamboo Encounter. I invite you to sign in to the FB page and/or the event, if you would like to. Take some brochures and/or cards to spread the word. We celebrate gathering for outdoor worship since May 2019.
As we gather today, let us take a few deep breaths of fresh air, take in our surroundings, give thanks for one another, this land, for the Cherokee people, for the water source of the Tennessee River and for Lookout Mountain Conservancy.
Opening Prayer
Let there be
respect for the earth
peace for its people
love in our lives
delight in the good
forgiveness for past wrongs
and from now on a new start.
(“The Millennium Resolution”, Churches Together in England, Earth Gospel, page 123)
Scripture:
Deuteronomy 32:2 (NIV)
Let my teaching fall like rain
and my words descend like dew,
like showers on new grass,
like abundant rain on tender plants.
Zechariah 10:1 (NIV)
Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime;
it is the LORD who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people,
and plants of the field to everyone.
OTHER VOICES:
"Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life."
~John Updike
The trees now in the rain look heavy and rich all day, as commonly at twilight, drooping with the weight of wet leaves ~Henry David Thoreau
SILENT TIME FOR REFLECTION (about 5 minutes) [as you reflect on the readings in silence, notice your surroundings: what you hear, what you see, what you sense, etc.]
SHARING TIME (you are invited to share what came to mind in the silence or reflections from any of the readings)
COMMUNION (We serve by intinction (the one cup) and gluten free bread. If anyone prefers, we do have a few individual juice boxes and gluten free crackers.)
Scripture—Matthew 26:26-28 (MSG), 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (CEB)
Matthew 26: 26-28 (MSG)
26-28 During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:
Take, eat.
This is my body.
Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:
Drink this, all of you.
This is my blood,
God’s new covenant poured out for many people
for the forgiveness of sins.
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (CEB)
16 Isn’t the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Isn’t the loaf of bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one loaf of bread, we who are many are one body, because we all share the one loaf of bread.
Prayer following communion
Thank you, good God,
for the gifts I (we) have already received
from your creation this day.
Because the creation is yours
and you love it,
help me (us) to love it more deeply.
Sam Hamilton-Poore, Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God's Creation (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 2008), p. 22.
Blessing (in unison)
May Christ open your eyes
that you may see the light of creation.
May Christ open your ears
that you may hear the song of the earth.
May Christ open your heart
that you may give and receive love.
~SHP
Sam Hamilton-Poore, Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God's Creation (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 2008), p. 101.
I ended the Facebook live with these words from Chief Joseph, from 365 Days of Walking the Red Road: The Native American Path to Leading a Spiritual Life Every Day. The reading fit well and was for May 23rd:
Good words do not last long unless they amount to something. Words do not pay for my dead people. Words do not pay for my country, now overrun by white men. They do not protect my father’s grave. They do not pay for all my horses and cattle. Good words will not give me back my children. Good words will not make good the promise of your War Chief. Good words will not give my people good health and stop them from dying. Good words will not get my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk.
~Chief Joseph
Nez Perce
1840-1904
