Dear Family of Love,

Happy Being Thoughtful and Thankful Thursday! I can't believe that January is coming to a close so quickly. We have lots to be thankful for each nano-second that we live. Being thoughtful and thankful are all a part of making choices. How do we choose to be thoughtful? By our words and deeds. We choose to be thoughtful in our prayers and our thanksgivings. When we choose to be thoughtful and thankful we are choosing to connect with God and each other. Not choosing to do this makes things more difficult and often times alienating of ourselves and with each other. It's all about connecting once again with the holy in God and the holy in ourselves and each other. We must strive to find the holy in all things and all people. Not easy with all the violence that is happening in our cities, nations, and the world. We all must choose to be thoughtful and thankful so that we may be examples and lights to the world ! We must do this so that the world and everyone in it catches fire with love, mercy, compassion, and justice. Can you feel your heart homes alive with love and the holy that is dwelling with in you? Put your hand near your heart feel it beating ! God gave us one of these to make us live, love, and serve. When we inhale and exhale that is our empower station that revives, refreshes, and keeps everything in tune and our spirits take flight. God gave us lungs to house and replenish our bodies, minds, and spirits alive while we walk with God on the journey of life. Let's take time to be thoughtful and thankful as we meditate tonight. Tonight we will use The Ralph Vaughan Williams Playlist for our meditation selection tonight. Let us connect with all that is holy in all things living and each other.

God let us be thoughtful and thankful as we pray.

God we pray for rest and renewal of our bodies, minds, and spirits.
May we be mindful of our family members who cannot find rest and renewal.

God we pray for all who are awaiting the results of job interviews.
May we always be mindful of those who cannot work or haven't had the opportunity to find employment.

God we pray for all who are mourning the losses of loved ones.
May we always be mindful of our family members who are mourning alone without any loving comfort.

God we pray for all of our family members who have died and are transitioning into the Thin Places.
May we always be mindful of our family members who have died alone without family, friends, or clergy around them.

God we pray for peace in this world that wars, violence, and terror may cease.
May we always be mindful that as we are God's Children we are called to be peace makers.

God w pray for all who are suffering from mental and chronic illnesses. May we lovingly respond with comfort and compassion.
May we always be mindful of those who do not have caregivers to help shoulder the responsibility of daily living.

God we pray for all who are ill that they may be healed.
May we always be mindful of their needs and lovingly respond and help them.

God we give thanks this day for all our abundant blessings that you have given us.
May we always be mindful that these things come from you O God.

God we give thanks for our family members who are always there for us and love us when we ourselves feel unloved.
May we always seek to connect one to another in love.

God we add our additional prayers and thanksgivings and all the prayer requests from our family members and we especially pray for those who are afraid to pray and request prayers remembering this night______________________

We pray these our prayers in the Holy Name of Jesus. Amen.

For those seeking to go deeper here are the lessons and biography the feast day of Andrei Rublev.
These come from Satucket Lectionary

ANDREI RUBLEV

MONK AND ICONOGRAPHER, 1430

Andrei Rublev, born in the 1360s, died 1427 or January 29, 1430) is considered to be the greatest medieval Russian painter of Orthodox icons and frescoes.
There is little information about his life. It is not known where he was born. Andrei Rublev probably lived in the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra near Moscow under Nikon of Radonezh, who became hegumen after the death of Sergii Radonezhsky (1392).
The first mention of Rublev is in 1405 when he decorated icons and frescos for the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Moscow Kremlin in company with Theophanes the Greek and Prokhor of Gorodets. His name was the last of the list of masters as the junior both by rank and by age. Theophanes was an important Byzantine master who moved to Russia, and is considered to have trained Rublev.
Chronicles tell us that in 1408 he painted (together with Daniil Cherni) the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir and in 1425–1427 the Cathedral of St. Trinity in the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra. After Daniil's death Andrei came to Moscow's Andronikov Monastery where he painted his last work, the frescoes of the Savior Cathedral.

He is also believed to have painted at least one of the miniatures in the Khitrovo Gospels.

The only work authenticated as entirely his is the icon of the Trinity, ca. 1410, currently in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. It is based upon an earlier icon known as the "Hospitality of Abraham" (illustrating Genesis 18). Rublev removed the figures of Abraham and Sarah from the scene, and through a subtle use of composition and symbolism changed the subject to focus on the Mystery of the Trinity.
In Rublev's art, two traditions are combined: the highest asceticism and the classic harmony of Byzantine mannerism. The characters of his paintings are always peaceful and calm. After some time his art came to be perceived as the ideal of Church painting and of Orthodox iconography.
Andrei died at Andronikov Monastery on January 29, 1430 (this date is still questionable). He was canonized a saint in 1988 by the Russian Orthodox Church. The church celebrates his feast day on January 29 and July 4.
Since 1959 the Andrei Rublev Museum has been open at the Andronnikov Monastery, displaying the art of his works and his epoch.
In 1966, Andrei Tarkovsky made his celebrated film, Andrei Rublev loosely based on the artist's life, which shows him as "a world-historic figure" and "Christianity as an axiom of Russia's historical identity" during a turbulent period in the history of Russia.

from Wikipedia

Collect/ Prayer of the Day

Holy God, we bless you for the gift of your monk and icon writer Andrei Rublev, who, inspired by the Holy Spirit, provided a window into heaven for generations to come, revealing the majesty and mystery of the holy and blessed Trinity; who lives and reigns through ages of ages. Amen.

Psalm 62

⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
⁷ On God rests my deliverance and my honour;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
   pour out your heart before him;
   God is a refuge for us.
          Selah

⁹ Those of low estate are but a breath,
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.

Genesis 28:10-17

10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. ¹¹He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. ¹²And he dreamed that there was a ladder^* set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³And the Lord stood beside him^* and said, ‘I am theLord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; ¹⁴and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed^* in you and in your offspring. ¹⁵Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’¹⁶Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ ¹⁷And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’

2 Corinthians 2:14-17

14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. ¹⁵For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; ¹⁶to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many;^* but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.

Matthew 6:19-23

19 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust^* consume and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust^* consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; ²³but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

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Today's wish is that You know from the top of your head to the tips of your toes that you are loved and appreciated beyond all measure.

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Good Night Dear Family of Love! I love you ! May you be blessed this night! I give God thanks for you this night and always!

Love, blessings, and in joyful thanksgiving!

Sara