Rev. Dr. Nancy Parent Bancroft
Click to listen to the service & sermon.
The story begins with Sister Nancy preparing to make her final vows. She’s finding, however, that she is no longer experiencing the fervor that she had when she entered the convent seven years earlier. She is asking what many of us have been asking when we read the headlines: Gaza, Ukraine, all that’s happening in our government. Sister Nancy is asking (Music) “Where Are You?”
The story ends reassuringly with what hopefully we have experienced often, when watching majestic waves crash, seeing the sun rise on a clear summer day, being the recipient of an act of kindness, felt the consolation of being forgiven, (Music) You Arer Here.
Between these two songs is the story of Nancy and Tom, how they met and what happened. But it’s our story because our son happens to be a playwright. It could be anyone’s life. Try to remember when you were twenty – the dreams that you had, the plans, what you envisioned your life would be like. Remember all of the twists and turns – the opportunities that surfaced, the disappointments that devastated you but led to new prospects, choices and decisions that you made that opened doors to new adventures. Most of us aren’t where we thought we would be. And likely that life has been peppered frequently with the question, “Where are you?” and hopefully, the reassuring response, “You are here!”
Because, regardless of what has transpired between the question and the reply is a search for meaning in the every-day events of our lives. And what gives us meaning? Living out our call, our vocation. And regardless of our career choices, our various roles and activities, we all have the same deepest call- To reflect the Divine. Just as a breathtaking sunset, or the detail beauty of the inside of a flower highlights the Creator, we have the power and the privilege to make God present by listening, caring, responding to need – by being our best selves. Hafiz wrote:
Everything You Do Is Sacred
Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.
Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside
When you can finally live
With veracity
And love.
Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.
This is the time
For you to deeply compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.
Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.
There are things that we can do to help the Divine shine through. Perhaps we need to shave off some of our ego: Let go of our need to be recognized, admired, acknowledged or appreciated. Maybe we need to sharpen our listening skills, or simply take the time to listen more and talk less. What we need to do to be our best selves is different for each of us, but we can try to eliminate what is in the way of the Divine shining through.
We are all created in the image of the Divine. We are not perfect but we are precious beyond measure and we are equipped with so may ways to let God’s love shine through us. What a privilege!
I have felt God’s love and care from so many of you here. The smiles, words of encouragement, cards, messages, calls, food, rides, even fixing my kitchen cabinets so they don’t keep banging when the house if full.
After prayer and much talk, I have terminated chemo treatment and entered hospice. It was just delaying the inevitable with more negative effects and less benefit each time. This decision means that I will likely have less than three months to live, and I have no idea what that journey will be like. Will it be a quick decline or will I get good days for a while? But I’m reassured that God, to whom I am returning, remains with me. And your love, the Divine shining through you, reminds me of that. Thank you.