Silver Celebration Poem

Following is the text of the poem composed by Priscilla Lasmarias Kelso, and read by her daughter Rachel on the occasion of the Silver Celebration service. This special service was held at First United Presbyterian Church on December 2, 2007 to celebrate 25 years of service from the Rev. Barton Kelso and Priscilla Kelso.

As Mrs. Kelso describes it, her poem "...reflects some of the highlights of the 25 years that Bart and I have shared with our Cambridge Presbyterian Church family."

Thanks for sharing this with us, Priscilla. Praise God for your gifts with language!

THE ART OF BLESSING THE YEARS

“I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you,

Plans to give you a future and a hope,” says God, the promise-maker.

Little did we know -- Bart and I -- in 1982, that the weaving of our lives

Into the fabric of this community of faith would span

Twenty-five years of living, loving, growing.

This is the art of blessing the years.

We were 40 years old then, and Cambridge Presbyterian Church was 90,

The remnant band of believers welcomed us --- some of them still here,

Others surrounding us now ---- as part of that cloud of witnesses

Who cheer us on to the finish line ---- with oil to soothe our weary feet

And arms to hold us when the race is done.

This is the art of blessing the years.

Twenty-five World Communion Sundays. Dressed in resplendent garb,

People from many nations have gathered here -----

Ghana, Cameroon, Australia, Korea, Madagascar, Brazil, the Philippines ---

Tourists, immigrants, visiting scholars, friends from afar ---

Presbyterians, citizens of the world, sojourners, pilgrims --- God’s children.

This is the art of blessing the years.

In the 25 years of gathering and scattering, of leaving and cleaving,

The Cambridge diaspora has spread out across the land, across the world..

In the Centennial Year of 1992, the map of the world showed us

That only the continent of Antarctica had no one who had set foot on this church,

This tiny place in Inman Square that spans the globe.

This is the art of blessing the years.

Eighty –six sermon series that Bart has produced from this pulpit,

Untold hours of preparation, delivered on countless Sundays.

Was it C.S. Lewis who said that sermons, like meals,

Though not always spectacular or extraordinary,

Are meant to nourish us, as bread for the journey, as water for our souls?

This is the art of blessing the years.

The poet reminds us that the art of blessing is to pay attention,

To taste the bitter and the sweet, the salty and the sour,

And to be glad for what does not hurt.

So we are here today to remember the years,

To honor the presence of God who has been here in the good and the hard times.

The good times –- baptisms, weddings, new members, a roof that no longer leaks.

The hard times –- too many goodbyes, the death of the faithful, many moving on.

We have persevered –- in the unbroken circle of birth and burial,

We have comforted one another, welcomed one another,

Grown through the years with one another –--cried, laughed, celebrated, prayed.

So on this Silver Celebration this second day of December, 2007

We gather --- friends, colleagues, neighbors, members of this faith community:

Each one bearing the marks of time, the tender mercies of God,

We remember –- the promise of plans for a future and a hope.

So let us sing the joyous possibilities, the many surprises of God’s amazing grace.

THIS IS THE ART OF BLESSING THE YEARS. AMEN.

Priscilla Lasmarias Kelso

Silver Celebration

December 2, 2007

Image of silver kiddush cup is from the Judaica Mall website.