NEIL’S SERVICE OPENING. JANUARY 18TH 2015
Good morning, Everyone
I’m Neil Osborne and I’ve been a member since 1983. Actually, I shouldn’t really be up here at all, at least, left to my own devices, I wouldn’t be. I don’t know about you, or which particular happenstance or deliberate search brought you here. For me, it was one thing that one person said. Lyndl Marshall, mother of a dear friend invited me here. “Sorry” I said, (as a long lapsed Episcopalian I was uncomfortable with organized religio), …. “Don’t worry”, she said, “it’s not too organized”. Then she said that one thing …“come for my sake” “… and I did. It’s one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. Before or since.
My voyage to 80th and Lexington started when I went off to sea at age 16. On Cunard liners we’d conduct a Sunday service for the passengers…. and, while a non-believer, I nonetheless appreciated some of the rich and evocative language, particularly the sailors’ prayer … “ O Eternal Lord God, who alone spreads out the heavens and rules the raging of the seas, receive into your protection all those who go down to the sea in ships and occupy their business on the great waters. Preserve them both in body and soul, prosper their labors with good success, in all times of danger be their defense, and bring them to the haven where they would be. “
They say there are no atheists in foxholes. Well, when you are in the middle of the North Atlantic, 800 miles from the nearest terra firma in a Force 10, then, I can assure you, the power of these words, however subliminally, can be a genuine comfort.
A number of years ago I had a very pressured job involving container logistics. My saving grace was to look forward to Sunday morning at All Souls … the service, the coffee “cacophony”, brunch with friends and then across to my other church … the Metropolitan Museum. I thought that if I could just do that then I could get through another intense work week. All Souls was the haven where I would be. And for many here, I know this also to be true. Our haven provides community … in times of need and sorrow as well as times of celebration … it’s our home village in the city. It offers us a rich multiplicity of opportunities to become involved, to engage … in inreach, outreach and in advocacy.
We are here on a continuum, surrounded and suffused, both by the spirits of those who came before us, who built and sustained this place, this institution, in their time … and by the spirits of those who will follow us, years and decades hence. But for now, these are our days. Our times. Our responsibilities. There is no one else. It’s us. Together, not alone. Not alone.
Now please rise as you are willing, or able, and let us repeat together our Bond of Union which can be found in your Order of Service.
In the freedom of the truth
And in the spirit of love
We unite for the worship of God
And the service of all.
Doxology
From all that dwell below the skies,
Let faith and hope with love arise;
Let beauty, truth and good be sung,
Through every land, by every tongue.
Amen