SPEAKER_00: The first thing that you're staring at that's new is this Lord's table behind us, and we're going to speak to it, and we're also going to uh bless it today as well.
SPEAKER_00: So the same artisan built this as built the shell font.
SPEAKER_00: That's Jeremy Grubb, who works out of uh Alvin, Texas.
SPEAKER_00: And um, Jeremy uh built this as a memorial.
SPEAKER_00: We had a few long-term parishioners who gave this in memorial, and um you can see the design of it.
SPEAKER_00: It's really two shells, one facing forward and one facing the back.
SPEAKER_00: Um if you didn't know that, that's what it is.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason that we have shells is, of course, not just because we're on the lake and because we have one on the font, but the shell is this old symbol, it comes from the second oldest Christian pilgrimage route in the world, the Santiago de Compostela, that goes from France to Spain.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, Lisa walked it as well, and Lisa carried a shell the whole way.
SPEAKER_00: And um, since the fourth century, Christians have been walking this, and they go not only to Santiago, but they go on to the coast of Spain, because at the time people thought the world was flat and they considered Spain to be the edge of the world.
SPEAKER_00: Like if you kept going, you'd fall off.
SPEAKER_00: So when pilgrims went on this from all over, from Germany, France, further east, they brought back a scallop shell with them.
SPEAKER_00: Again, Lisa carried one with her, right?
SPEAKER_00: They brought a scallop shell from the edge of the world.
SPEAKER_00: And they brought it back to their priest and said, Hey, this comes from the edge of the world.
SPEAKER_00: You should do something with this.
SPEAKER_00: And um, clergy started to use these shells to baptize with.
SPEAKER_00: It's a shell from the edge of the world.
SPEAKER_00: So, we've got a shell.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't know if you know this, we also have a little silver shell that we use as a baptismal scoop, and that shell literally left the world in a space shuttle.
SPEAKER_00: And as I've mentioned to you, our patent left the world in a space shuttle as well.
SPEAKER_00: Charlie Bolden took that up.
SPEAKER_00: So here we come to this Lord's table, which we also call an altar, because it does both things, and we recognize that what happens here is out of this world.
SPEAKER_00: So, this is the design that you're looking at.
SPEAKER_00: It is meant to take us beyond the boundaries of our world into God's wonders of grace.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'd like to read a poem to you that I've posted.
SPEAKER_00: This is by Nina Hart, and then a prayer of dedication.
SPEAKER_00: An altar is a place where we can lay our wounds and conflicts and our questions and our scars, giving them to God or the Holy Spirit, or even just a little part of our pea brain that is our wisdom lobe that knows what to do but hasn't kicked in yet.
SPEAKER_00: An altar is a place where we lay down our swords and our shields and we ask for guidance.
SPEAKER_00: An altar is a visual installation dedicated to whatever we consider to be holy.
SPEAKER_00: An altar is a reminder to the mind to join with the heart.
SPEAKER_00: And again, that's a poem by Nina Hart.
SPEAKER_00: So now to bless our Lord's table.
SPEAKER_00: Lord God, we ask you to sanctify this table that is dedicated to you.
SPEAKER_00: Let it be a place of heavenly nourishment for those who seek to journey beyond the bounds of our known world and into the mystery of your grace and holy imagination.
SPEAKER_00: May it be a place where burdens, regrets, anxieties, and fears can be sacrificed to your loving care, so that all who would approach you might receive the consolation of your grace.
SPEAKER_00: And may it beckon us to serve you, to serve one another, and be made aware of your communion of saints in heaven and on earth.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you will take time to interact with the table, because by design, every time you move an inch or two laterally, the light does something different.
SPEAKER_00: So today it's unadorned, because you need to see it.
SPEAKER_00: It will often be unadorned, but don't worry, we'll continue using funnels seasonally, uh, and we're going to uh we're gonna figure it out.
SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you you've never seen one like it, and you won't again, because the artisan said, I'm never doing something like that again.
SPEAKER_00: So there we are.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, a few more announcements about what is to come up.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, by the way, I am trying to put a slideshow.
SPEAKER_00: I have about 120 pictures of this being made.