Hello everyone.
I hope everybody can hear me, if anyone gets any problems with the
sound do let me know. This is our first live service on Zoom
at Newcastle on Tyne Unitarians,
so it's a little bit of an experiment
and I will -  just a moment whilst I pause that -
there - so, hello and welcome to this, our
first virtual Flower Communion, welcome to all. As I said, a little bit
of an experiment, so if there are any
technical glitches I hope you'll bear
with me, but most importantly, welcome to all who
have joined us.
Normally, of course, with Flower Communion, we would ensure that people have
actual flowers with them as we gather
together for worship,
either brought with you to the service, or chosen from the vase at the
entrance to our worship space. However, obviously, we are not meeting in
person today, though we are doing so in spirit.
Hopefully we will soon be together in person.
So today we will exchange the flowers of
our hearts, and I'll talk a little more
about that just a little further on in the service.
So now I would like it if we said
together our call to worship ,and I will put that up on the screen, one
moment, and now let us say together our call for worship.
In this our worship we celebrate the
beauty of the earth
which is our home, manifest to us
especially at this season
in the loveliness of flowers.
We celebrate also our coming together to
make a community of worshippers,
each of us bringing ourself, symbolised
in the flower of our hearts
that each has placed with the others as
we enter this, our chosen sanctuary.
We come together also to remember
and give thanks for human sacrifice
which has enriched
our heritage and bought for us the freedoms we enjoy.
Praise be to the divine within our lives
for all that is beautiful,
all that is shared, all that is given and
received in love."
And now I will light our chalice for the gift of this day and for our
community of spiritual nurturing and compassion,
we give thanks. We light this chalice
as a symbol of our faith. We light this
chalice to celebrate the inherent worth and
dignity of every person, and to share that love which is
ultimately beyond even our cherished reason,
that love which unites us all.
And now we will have our first reading. This is 'Introducing
the Flower Communion'. I think many of you
know that this service is based upon
the first Flower Communion service we
had at Newcastle on Tyne Unitarians
led by Fiona Tait, who has sadly passed away
as of last week. I will speak a little
more on Fiona,
on what she brought to us and how much
she meant to us, later in the service.
But these are the words that she and Helen Pettigrew put together
for the first service just to introduce it.
Our service today has been inspired by the
Unitarian Universalist
Flower Communion service and originated
by Dr
Norbert Capek, founder of the modern
Unitarian movement in Czechoslovakia,
as it was then. For some time he had felt
the need for a symbolic ritual that
would bind people more closely together,
but the format had to be one that would
not alienate any who had forsaken
other religious traditions.
He introduced the Flower Communion service to his church
on June 4th 1923, turning to the native beauty of his
countryside for the elements of a communion which
would feel genuine to them,
inviting members of the congregation to
bring a flower of their choice
either from their own gardens or from
the field or roadside. 
It was such a success that it was held
yearly. However, when the Nazis took control of
Prague in 1940, they found Dr Capek's gospel of
the inherent worth and beauty of every
human person
to be too dangerous to the Reich to be allowed to live.
Dr Capek was sent to Dachau where he
was killed the following year
during a Nazi experiment. It was a cruel
death for such a gentle man,
but his message of human hope and
decency lives on
through his Flower Communion which is
widely celebrated today
by Unitarians throughout the world.
The significance of the Flower Communion
is that, as no two flowers are alike,
so no two people are alike, yet each of
us has a contribution to make.
Together, the individual flowers will
form a beautiful bouquet,
this common bouquet that we will create
would not be the same without the unique
addition of each individual flower. And thus it is
with our church community,
it would not be the same without each
and every one of us. Thus, this service is a statement of our
community. And now I'm going to invite everyone to
share the flowers of our hearts. So, normally, we would each bring a flower
with us or take one from a vase at the
entrance of our worship space.
but as we're together virtually today,
we're going to do it in a different way,
and I'd just like to acknowledge here
this was actually Reverend Winnie
Gordon's idea, which she shared with us
in the Inquirer magazine.
So, this year I have asked everyone to
bring the flowers of your hearts.
What that means is that I ask everyone
to think of a value
that means something important to your
well-being.
Some of you will have done this already,
and perhaps brought a flower or an
object with you to represent it. Others may need a little
time now to think about this.
So, I have brought with me a flower of my
heart. This of course is an actual flower!
So I'm going to start, then the way we'll do this after I've
talked about this flower of my heart, is that, I think, we'll go in
alphabetical order as best as I can
manage.
I'll speak each person's name, after that
each of us can say what we've brought
with us, although if you would rather not that's
absolutely fine, please just say 'I'll pass' or something
like that, and you are still
very welcome to choose a flower at the
end of this service. I'm going to write down the flowers of
everyone's hearts, I will show them on the screen at the
end of the service, and we'll each pick one. So
please just do what you feel comfortable
with. I'm going to start.
Something that has meant a great deal to
me recently
is friendship. I don't think any of us
would have
got through the last few months without
the support of our friends and loved
ones. This is, I think some of you may
recognise the sort of rose, this was given to- it's from a bush
that was given to me by my friend Jenny when I moved into my
home. This is the 'Forever Friends' rose,
and friendship means a great deal to
me right now. So I've just brought this
rose with me ...Thank you so much for everyone
for joining in with that, that's
beautiful, that's some wonderful words
there. And having said that, let us now pray,
and I will read out a prayer that Dr Capek would speak when he
consecrated the flowers at the Flower
Communion.
"Infinite spirit of life, we ask your
blessing on these
your messengers of fellowship and love.
May they remind us of the diversities of
knowledge and gifts to be won in desire and
affection, and devotion to your divine will.
May they also remind us of the value of
comradeship,
of doing and sharing alike. May we cherish friendship as one of your
most precious gifts. May we not let awareness of another's
talents discourage us or sully our relationship,
but may we realise that whatever we can
do, great or small,
the efforts of all of us are needed to
do your work
in this world. Amen."
And now we will have our second reading.
'Song of the Flower'
by Khalil Gibran. "I am a kind word uttered and repeated
by the voice of nature. I am a star
fallen from the blue tent
on the green carpet. I am the daughter of
the elements, with whom winter conceived
to whom spring gave birth, I was reared
in the lap of summer
and I slept in the bed of autumn. At dawn I unite with the breeze to
announce the coming of light. At eventide I join the birds in
bidding the light farewell. The plains are decorated with my
beautiful colours, and the air is scented with my fragrance.
As I embrace slumber, the eyes of night
watch over me,
and as I awaken I stare at the sun, which
is the only eye of the day.
I drink dew for wine and hearken to the
voices of the birds,
and dance to the rhythmic swaying of the
grass.
i am the lover's gift, I am the wedding
wreath.
I am the memory of a moment of happiness, and I am the last gift of the living to
the dead. I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow,
but I look up high to see only the light,
and I never look down to see my shadow.
This is wisdom which man must learn."
And now I would like us to have a Flower
Communion meditation.
It's rather fortuitous that earlier
this week in the wonderful Daily Uplift
Diana introduced us to the concept of
'aptonyms',
names which are especially appropriate
for a person's professional following.
Usain Bolt is probably the most
famous example.
I mention that because this Flower
Communion Meditation
was written by someone with a truly
wonderful name,
it couldn't get really more appropriate
than 'Helen Rose'.
So now let us take time to sit comfortably
find the posture we are all comfortable in, relax
and I will now read out the Flower
Communion Meditation.
As we embrace our Flower Communion and all its promise,
how can we support one another on our
journeys?
The answer is found across time and
tradition.
We must wish for others what we wish for ourselves.
Consider for a moment what you need upon your journey.
Do you need a companion? A community? A moment to pause?
Do you need healing, emotional, physical
or spiritual?
Do you need a good night's sleep? A good
cry?
Or a creative solution to a problem? Take a moment
to identify your needs.
Now, if you are willing, and sitting in a comfortable posture, and
close your eyes if you wish. Take deep slow breaths and take a moment
to hold in your heart what you need and your intention for
your needs to be met.
Now, imagine your needs and intentions
flowing from your heart, and being
received by the flowers. Picture the promise those flowers
represent, holding your intention in their petals,
as well as the intentions of all your
fellow travellers.
Think of your fellow travellers, the
collections of souls and bodies
meeting together in this moment we have
taken for today.
Those of us who are meeting here now, and
beyond, the ones we hold dear
and the ones we will never know,
how might their needs be the same as
yours? How might they be different?
Set the intention that your fellow
travellers will have their needs met,
and envision your fellow travellers
likewise holding you in compassion
as you continue on your journey.
Think about them living with the
intention and expectation
that your needs be met in addition to
theirs,
because compassion, like a flame, is never
diminished
when it is shared.
Consider that every single moment of
this journey
is as promising as the first day of
spring,
and the abundance of love and peace in
this moment
is eternal and unconditional.
Soon, we will each take a flower of the
heart that speaks to us.
As you carry it with you, carry the
compassionate intentions of your fellow
travellers, and the beloved community as well.
And our next reading is: "For Flowers Have
the Gift of Language" by Richard
S. Gilbert. "Speak, flowers, speak! Why do you say nothing?
The flowers have the gift of language. In
the meadow they speak of freedom,
creating patterns wild and free that no
gardener could match.
In the forest they nestle in snow carpets
under the roof of leaf and branch,
making a rug of such softness. At the end
tip of branches
they cling briefly before bursting into
fruit sweet to taste.
Flowers, can you not speak joy to our
sadness and hope to our fear?
Can you not say how it is with you, that
you colour the darkest corner?
The flowers have the gift of language. At
the occasion of birth,
they are buds before bursting. At the
ceremony
of love, they unite two lovers in beauty.
At the occasion of death they remind us
of the sweetness of life. Oh, would that you had voice, silent
messengers of hope! Would that you could tell us how you
feel, arrayed in such beauty.
The flowers have the gift of language. In
the dark depths of a death camp,
they speak the light of life, they speak
in the face of cruelty, they speak of
courage. In the experience of ugliness, they
bespeak the persistence of beauty.
Speak, messengers, speak, for we would hear
your message. Speak, messengers, speak, for we need to
hear what you would say.
For the flowers have the gift of language.
They transport the human voice on winds
of beauty, they lift the melody of song
to our ears, they paint through the eye
and hand of the artist, and their
fragrance blinds us to sweet-smelling earth.
May the blessing of the flowers be upon you.
May their beauty beckon to you each morning,
and their loveliness lure you each day. May their tenderness caress you each
night, may their delicate petals make you gentle, may their eyes make you
aware, may their stems make you sturdy, and may
their reaching make you care."
So, when you prepare a service you're not
actually supposed to begin the address
with: "When I was preparing this service...", but
we're Unitarians so that means we can
take the view that rules are really a
bit more like guidelines. When I was preparing this service, I was
very aware that I had two key ingredients
to stir into the mix, or blooms to
arrange in the vase,
to use a more floral metaphor. This is our first online live service by
Zoom and it's in the year of the pandemic. The
Flower Communion is one of the most
hopeful of our services,
and probably the most distinctively
Unitarian service
and yet, until now anyway, it also has
needed people to be physically present
in a meeting together, so that they can exchange flowers. As my
teenage godson Luke would say: "No pressure, then". Exactly how to put
all these elements together was
something of a puzzle to me.
Then I received a message that put all
of that into perspective.
Many of you knew Fiona Tait who joined
our congregation
in the same year that I did, 2010. Ahe left the congregation some time ago
due to her health issues, but of late she had been able to attend
a few of our services and events,
and we had hoped she might be able to
rejoin us if she chose to. That hope was shattered when earlier
this year we received the news that the cancer she
had earlier received treatment for had
come back, and it was now terminal.
Last week I received a message I had
known was coming.
Fiona had died in St. Oswald's Hospice
that morning,
with her son and sister by her side.
All I could feel at that moment was that
a light had gone out of the universe,
as it did when we lost David Arthur, David Dawson who wrote many of our hymns,
and many others whose lives have
prematurely ended this year.
I'm now collecting images and memories
of Fiona to share with her family for
her funeral service. In doing so, I tried to remember her
spirit, and how much happiness she brought to
all who knew her. Of course, part of what she brought to
our congregation was the Flower
Communion,
which, prior to her arrival, I think, we
had not celebrated at Newcastle on Tyne.
She and Helen Pettigrew created and led
a Flower Communion in 2014,
introducing a new and welcome tradition
which we've repeated every year.
Personally, I like tradition and ritual. Not too much, and not too stuffy, because
if you repeat something every year
because, just because that's what you've
always done every year, it becomes a fossil, but if
you repeat it every year because every
year you find something precious
in the familiar, some ongoing truth and
meaning,
then that becomes a living tradition.
So I have sought with this service to
bring together
the service that Fiona and Helen created
with the new way of delivering our
services that our current times have
demanded,
though we hope at some point we will be
able to meet in person, but I feel
that meeting as we are now will continue
to be a feature
for how we gather in the foreseeable
future.
All of the readings are from that their
service, but I've added my favorite hymn
for the Flower Communion, 'Bring Flowers To Our Altar'. I'd also like
to say thank you at this point to Reverend Winnie Gordon.
Her article about in the 'Inquirer' about how to do a virtual Flower
Communion was invaluable. She was an earlier recipient of our
church's Herbert Barnes Award and has
kept up a relationship with our
congregation, so, thank you Winnie!
When one of us is lost, the others must
pick up the torch and carry on,
which is why this service is dedicated
to Fiona's memory and to those we have
lost. We put flowers on graves, but we also put
them at the front of our worship space in
every service. They appear in wedding bouquets, bring
colour to our gardens, bring joy into our homes and grow freely
throughout our entire world, little dots of joy that never go out.
There are even some forms of flowering
seagrass, even beneath the waves we
sometimes find flowers. From the snow drop, the first flower of
February, to the rose of summer, the dahlia that shines in autumn, and the
aptly-named wintersweet that blooms in the coldest
months, flowers are always theref bringing us
light and life.
So, as we have gathered together in
spirit today, we will now exchange
the flowers of our hearts. So now, we are
reaching the end of our service. It will
be followed by our usual Sunday Social
at 12 o'clock which will be in a few
minutes, and then it will be followed by our
reading group led by Diana.
So now I will put out our chalice flame. As the flame has burnt
throughout our meeting, let us carry its
flame within our hearts till we meet
again. And now I would just like to finish by
reading out a final short prayer by
Rev. Cliff Reed,
'For a Flower Communion'.
We ask a blessing as we part. May we go from here to kindle hope
where sorrow's darkness reigns, telling
of those who overcame it
by the power of the spirit. In smelling the sweet fragrance of
faith's flowers, in breathing the air of compassion, and
in opening our hearts to those who suffer,
may our souls shine as radiant as the sun,
may the warmth of divine love flow through us
to all our neighbours upon this good
earth.
Amen."
