abbotsford parish church@clydebank@scotland

worshipalternative
(june 17th 1999)

This is just a selection of the words and images that go together to make the worshipalternative	forgiven not forgotten
	Introduction During music (The Corrs: Forgiven not forgotten) symbols of forgiveness are brought into the centre of the worship area. The area is a circle of candles with a pile of folwerrs in the middle. The symbols are places alongside the flowers.   Water Cross Bread Chains
	Statement This is a place of love Where forgiveness is free Where what we are Who we've become What we shall be Is wrapped up in a promise That we are loved Through and through That our names are known And whispered constantly from the lips of God That while the darkest moments And the most painful episodes The most corrupt events of our lives Will be forgotten We won't Forgiven,   Not forgotten. Loved,   Not rejected. Cared for,   Not abandoned. This is a place of love You have come home
	Prayer Holy One Whispering our names Each syllable something of beauty That you have spent time with Creating Forming Loving into life Heaven's work of art You know each breath Each tear Each millimetre of growth You know Because you have filled each with grace Each is something holy Wrapped in the love that formed it The desire The craving The longing That is yours For each of us (Whisper everyones names) To our core you love us You love the sound of our names The way they form on your lips You love our desires The way they speak deep down about each of our needs You love our pleasure, our excitement, our warmth The way your creation relishes life Our lover Our soul-giver We are known all the way through And you take pleasure in knowing us So be it
	Meditation Every person had a cut flower for this meditation. It was a very simple time of meditation and thought.   My mother, who was a native American, taught me a very special way to pray called the Sacrifice Flower prayer, which she adapted from the heritage of her people, the Seneca Iroquois. Like all mothers, she could always tell when something was bothering me. She'd say to me, "All right, Jo, I think it's time you went outside and find yourself a Sacrifice Flower. So, I'd go looking for a flower. The flower was supposed to be special, one that meant a lot to me. As a girl, I picked dandelions, hollyhocks, and daises. So, I usually picked one of them. In addition, Mother said I was to be very careful with the flower because it had been selected for a holy purpose. I lovingly cupped it in my hands so nothing would happen to it. When I got home, I did as my mother instructed and told the flower what burden I wanted lifted and taken to God. How was the flower to do this? Remember, this was a Sacrifice Flower, one that was going to die. The idea was that as life went out of the flower, it would carry my prayer to God. That meant, of course, the flower was not to be placed in water. I had a shelf in my room that I liked to use for my Sacrifice Flower because it was sort of private and yet I could see it as I went in and out. Every time I saw the flower, I could see it giving its life for me and I could imagine my prayer being carried to God. That was true even when I was elsewhere and was just thinking about the flower. Either way, I had a strong sense my prayer was being heard. My flower and I were in union. Sometimes it took a few days, sometimes a couple of weeks. When the flower finally died, I would take it outside, say good-bye to it, and thank it for giving its life for me and for delivering my prayer. Then I would bury it so it would have a chance at a new life, and I always hoped it would come back as an even nicer flower. After the story a soloist sang 'O Lord you search me and you find me' by Bernadette Farrell and then asked to take their flower away as their own sacrifice flower.
	Sending out Leader: Say your name. It is your own. Say your name. All is forgiven. Say your name. You are filled with grace. SILENCE Forgiven not forgotten All: We go out Reconciled Renewed Remembered

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