00:02:00,567 S1: I. 00:02:16,868 S1: Want. 00:02:33,601 S1: You. 00:02:54,167 S1: To. 00:03:40,767 S1: I. 00:07:14,868 S2: As we, as we ought to say, a church. And the people said Amen. Thank you. 00:07:22,467 S3: Good morning. 00:07:23,400 S2: Good morning are so good morning, friends. We are gathered here today in worship this morning in a world that often feels unsteady, and in that we come to remember that God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble. 00:07:45,767 S3: Today we are reminded that we are held by love that does not panic, and called by a faith that teaches us how to stand firm when the ground feels uncertain. 00:07:58,501 S2: Fellow travelers and wayfarers, you are welcome here, just as you are, not because of what you believe or doubt, not because of what you have accomplished or left undone, but because God gathers us and meets us right where we are. 00:08:18,868 S3: We walk together on this journey, whether the path feels joyful or complicated, heavy or quietly hopeful, trusting that God is present in the midst of it all. 00:08:32,067 S2: We walk side by side on this path of life, whether we are queer or straight, cisgender or transgender, young or old, certain or searching. 00:08:42,767 S3: As seekers and searchers, we find strength for this moment, not by denying the chaos around us, but by rooting ourselves in the one who does not abandon us when the world trembles. 00:08:56,968 S2: So bring your whole self this morning. Bring your stories, your questions and your hopes and your fears, your weariness and your courage. 00:09:10,167 S3: This is a time to gather, to breathe, and to remember that we do not face the storms of life all alone. 00:09:19,467 S2: This is a time of deep joy as we celebrate the love of Christ, lived out in the rough places of humanity, a steady presence when the nations rage and hearts grow weary. 00:09:34,467 S3: Hear the good news. You are beloved. You are held. And here you will find companions as we stand together, trusting that God is with us still. 00:09:49,100 S2: Thank you Reverend. 00:09:49,968 S3: Thank you. 00:09:51,667 S2: Welcome, everyone. We've got a few announcements to go over with you today. Following the church service will have a meeting in the chapel for those interested in joining the church. Very informal meeting. You can go and get your coffee and get something to eat. Say hello to some folks and just make your way downstairs to the chapel. If you need directions, you can ask me or someone else and they can direct you to the chapel. Uh, we'll just spend a little bit of time just describing about church membership in the church, and we will also, if you can't stay for that, we'll also be doing a zoom zoom meeting on Wednesday. Uh, if you can be with that. Or you can set up a appointment with me and we can meet, talk on the phone, meet together. Any of those options are available. Next Sunday. We will be receiving new members and to the church. If you can't make next Sunday and still would like to join the church, we can schedule another time. You get the idea. We're pretty flexible. 00:10:58,767 S3: And also after church, the Girl Scouts will be selling cookies out there. So see our little Abby? There's Abby waving her hand. 00:11:06,567 S2: Over the rest of the girls and. 00:11:07,868 S3: The girls. The Girl Scouts. Yeah, if you're in need of Girl Scout cookies. And who doesn't need Girl Scout cookies? 00:11:12,968 S2: When are you not in need of cookies? 00:11:16,868 S3: Really? 00:11:18,467 S2: To make a note that, uh, men's forum is this, uh, coming Tuesday in Holland Hall and Scott Trent, CEO of Senior Care, will be speaking to us that morning, that morning. And then a winter wellness this coming Wednesday, 7:00 in Holland hall. Herbal teas for cold and flu season. Perfect, right? So make. Make a note of that. 00:11:45,300 S3: And then on February 6th, from 2 to 3 at the. When a museum will be joining our own Robbie Cochrane as he talks about his book that he wrote, enslaved people and went on. Thanks, Robbie. 00:11:58,100 S2: And then Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday are just around the corner. Shrove Tuesday we will have a pancake dinner, and that's at 530 in Holland Hall and followed the next day by our Ash Wednesday service, the beginning of lent as we make our way towards Easter. Also, if you can make a note, we we have lost some parking spots due to snow on the road. So there it makes it a little more challenging there. Definitely spaces back behind the town hall and I know that's a little longer. Walk for some. If you are able to do that walk, please make. Make a point of that and leaving spaces close by for folks who have mobility challenges. And so, you know, winter parking is a challenge in and of itself. 00:12:56,167 S2: I invite you to be a part of worship this morning. Nancy and Reverend Nancy and I do. And we get to be in this moment together to open our lives, open our hearts to the Spirit's presence, and to be present to ourselves and to realize the interconnectedness that we have to the people in the pews this morning, the people that are not here into our world. So I invite you to become present at this time of worship. 00:14:00,968 S4: Before asking to become angry. We will no reason be. 00:14:14,400 S4: Let our rejoicing run as the rainy season must learn to let us go. Let me sing a song for. 00:14:30,467 S1: The. 00:14:31,167 S4: Every bit of us sing the song all along. And the presence of God. 00:14:45,167 S4: Facing the rising sun. The word came in front of John, delivering his call. 00:15:04,267 S3: I would ask you now to stand and we will join the call to worship. But first I need to remind the children that they are welcome to stay in worship. After communion, they can go downstairs then. 00:15:19,100 S3: God of the prophets call to us today. 00:15:24,100 S4: Also to your peace, love, justice and righteousness. 00:15:29,267 S3: God of the poets. Remind us again how much you love us. 00:15:34,467 S4: Sing to us peace, love, justice and righteousness. 00:15:39,400 S3: God of the disciples, teach us how to follow you. 00:15:44,100 S4: Teach us your ways of love, justice and righteousness. 00:15:48,667 S3: God of all creation. Help us to know your ways. 00:15:53,667 S4: We gather to your God to sing your praise. To teach each other. To pray and worship. As the body of Christ. 00:16:36,467 S4: Now let me let my worship be there for one day. And the Lord. 00:16:53,367 S4: Is happy for me. See? What do you see? God is beautiful. 00:17:11,100 S4: Amen. Amen. 00:17:16,868 S4: Amen. 00:17:22,167 S4: Join us in And. 00:17:30,167 S4: See, my mother told me the same. And. 00:17:43,968 S4: I never read it to us. We made it up to us to pray. 00:18:04,167 S4: To. 00:18:08,501 S4: God. 00:18:19,100 S4: We read. 00:18:24,167 S4: Glory, glory! 00:18:30,167 S4: Glory be to God. 00:18:40,167 S4: And me? 00:18:43,767 S4: I shall be. 00:18:51,801 S3: Please be seated. 00:18:56,767 S3: Would you now join with me in praying the prayer of invocation followed by the Lord's Prayer? 00:19:08,100 S3: O God, our guide and help in alien and contentious places, as Esther prayed faithfully and were courageously for the deliverance of your people. strengthen us to confront the oppressor and feed the oppressed, so that all people may know the justice and unity in your realm. Amen. Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. 00:20:31,367 S4: You know what I see? You play me with one touch and handle things. I see. 00:20:48,567 S4: You cross with each other for praise and I pray. As for. 00:21:03,467 S4: Me. 00:21:14,868 S4: I give up on the bread of us here with the royal. 00:21:29,767 S4: We would like to see the Queen of Brest upon us. This is for me. 00:21:54,567 S4: I don't have, and I'm going to be on the board. To be the board. 00:22:11,968 S4: If you see. 00:22:15,567 S4: Hold me, God in me. My strength is in my. Oh, God. 000. 00:22:58,000 S4: Oh. 00:23:02,868 S4: Oh. 00:23:29,701 S2: Once a month we have communion. We observe the Lord's Supper, and we, uh. It is our tradition as Congregationalists to to serve one another. Uh, we reenact Jesus. Uh, when Jesus washed his disciples feet, how he said that we are to be servants to one another. And so we will pass out the elements and serve one another and partake of the juice and Gluten-Free bread together. Uh, as one just being reminded that, uh, that we serve and care for one another as a congregation. So friends, if you are hungry for a taste of what is to come, when all creatures great and small will feast together without fear in the household of God. 00:24:31,501 S3: If you yearn to feast on a love without condition and without end. 00:24:37,801 S2: If you are thirsting for forgiveness given and received in humility and in joy. Then open your hearts to this meal a sign of grace, the gift of peace, the bread of life, and the cup of joy. 00:24:59,000 S3: We remember that he longed to celebrate the Passover with his friends. He arranged for a meal, his last in his life. 00:25:08,501 S2: We remember that Jesus gave them a new commandment to love one another as he had loved them. 00:25:17,868 S3: We remember that he gave them an example. He knelt before them and he washed their feet. 00:25:24,868 S2: We remember that his betrayer was with him, and that Jesus loved and served him too. 00:25:34,100 S3: We remember that on that night, with danger and death in the air, Jesus remembered with joy the deliverance of his ancestors from the oppression of Pharaoh. He took, he told the victory story, ate bitter herbs, shared the unleavened bread, and drank the cup of blessing. 00:25:56,200 S2: And love for us. Jesus took the bread and he gave thanks and broke it and said, take and eat this, all of you. This is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. 00:26:15,567 S3: And when the supper was over, he took the cup. It was filled with wine. He blessed it in your name, God. And he passed it to them, saying. This is the cup of the new covenant. Do this and remember me. 00:26:35,667 S2: Let us pray. Holy spirit, come make all things new. Bless this bread and cup and us who share them. May they be for us life giving food and drink. Give us love for each other. And make us your servants in the world. Until your new age of justice comes and every creature beholds it. We pray this in the name of Jesus who welcomes us all. Amen. Amen. The gifts of God for the people of God. 00:27:08,267 S3: Ministering in Christ's name. We share the bread when we serve one another. You are welcome to say, this is the bread of life given to you. 00:27:26,467 S5: This is the bread of life given to you. This is the bread of life given to you. 00:29:56,167 S4: Now. 00:30:19,901 S5: This is the bread of life given to you, Jim. 00:30:25,300 S5: Breath of life. Give it to you. 00:30:37,467 S3: As we eat this bread together. May we be nourished in body and spirit to share God's love. 00:30:56,267 S2: And now, ministering to you in Christ's name. We share the cup, and when you serve one another, you may say, this is the cup of new life poured out for many. 00:31:16,267 S5: Cup a new blood poured out for many. New blood poured out for many. 00:35:06,868 S2: As we drink the cup together, may our spirits be refreshed. May our hopes be rekindled. And may our thirst for justice increase. 00:35:25,601 S2: I invite you to join with me in the prayer of thanksgiving found in your bulletin. 00:35:36,300 S2: Thank you, Holy God, for the life and the Spirit of Jesus, for the gladness and this bread of heaven. For the love that cannot die for peace, the world cannot give for joy in the company of friends, for the splendours of creation, and for the mission of justice. You have made your own. Give us the fruits of this Holy Communion. Oneness of heart. Love for neighbors. Forgiveness for many needs. The will to serve you every day. And the life that never ends. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. And now I invite the the pre-K to fifth grade to go to their classes. And our junior high folks stay up here. 00:37:12,267 S4: Same with the rest. Stay. 00:37:20,667 S4: With me. Stay with us. 00:37:32,767 S4: Tell me. 00:37:39,167 S4: How is the name of the. Love. 00:37:51,567 S4: Is to be afraid. 00:37:59,901 S4: Of the. 00:38:03,667 S4: Trees on the terraces. There is no. 00:38:15,868 S4: Harm in us. You see. 00:38:25,501 S4: You are my love. And. 00:38:34,767 S4: They are 00:38:38,467 S4: all part of the same. 00:38:50,601 S4: They? 00:38:55,868 S4: Told. 00:39:02,367 S4: Us. 00:39:05,868 S4: How sorry. 00:39:13,400 S4: I. 00:39:17,167 S4: Am. 00:39:23,267 S4: To. 00:39:27,167 S4: Be afraid. 00:39:39,167 S2: This is our time of guided prayer. And I invite you to to look at the prayer concerns in your bulletin and to pray for folks during the week, and to use this time to pray for our world and for yourself. 00:40:02,100 S2: We want to remember the family and friends of the six crew members that perished aboard the fish fishing vessel Lily Jean, 25 miles off the coast of Gloucester on Friday. We want to remember all of those on our prayer concern list to remember our nation and our world. Let us join together in prayer. 00:40:33,467 S2: Holy and hidden God, God of courage borne and quiet places. 00:40:41,167 S2: We come to you aware of how often we long for certainty. For signs that are unmistakable. For answers that arrive without risk. 00:40:57,267 S2: And yet today we stand with Esther. In a world where your voice doesn't always come as thunder. We're the way forward is not always obvious. And where fear and responsibility stand side by side. 00:41:24,000 S2: We confess how tempting it is to believe that silence will keep us safe. That distance will spare us that someone else will speak when the moment comes. 00:41:42,000 S2: Forgive us for the ways we hide behind. Comfort, privilege and caution. When love asks more of us. 00:41:55,267 S2: Grant us courage. Oh, God, not the kind that denies fear, but the kind that faces it honestly. The courage that grows slowly. That listens deeply, that chooses responsibility even when outcomes are unclear. 00:42:20,901 S2: We ask, oh God, that you be near to those who feel trapped by circumstances. Those whose choices are constrained. Those navigating systems not of their making. 00:42:36,901 S2: Remind them that their voices matter, that their presence is not accidental, and that their lives are held in your care. 00:42:53,000 S2: Strengthen those who are called to speak our truths. To stand with the vulnerable. To risk misunderstanding for the sake of justice. Give them companions on the journey. For no one is meant to be brave alone. 00:43:19,367 S2: And when you feel hidden. Oh, God. 00:43:24,167 S2: Teach us to trust that love still works through human hands. That mercy still finds its way through human hearts that faithfulness is sometimes simply choosing to act. 00:43:42,968 S2: For such a time as this oh God, make us a people of wisdom, a people of compassion, a people who choose courage when silence no longer works. Amen. 00:44:11,200 S4: The Lord. 00:44:14,801 S4: Jesus 00:44:18,267 S4: with all. 00:44:22,067 S4: His soul. 00:44:26,000 S4: In your. 00:44:30,467 S4: Heart. 00:44:33,567 S4: To each of us. Who? 00:44:41,000 S4: Am I? 00:44:44,367 S4: To be. 00:44:47,968 S4: Lord. 00:44:54,567 S4: Be. 00:44:58,100 S4: With me. May as well. 00:45:04,667 S4: Be the. 00:45:08,868 S4: Great. 00:45:33,400 S3: I am grateful for this place because it really is a place where we remember and where each of us do matter. I was looking at the dedication for the flowers, the beautiful flowers this morning for our beloved Carolyn Holland, who who was the face of welcome at this church for so many years, who we've dedicated Holland Hall to. We each matter in ways when we give each other a hug, to greet each other in the morning, when we support each other by doing deeds of kindness. This truly is a place where we act out our love for one another, and the beloved community is forming here. Let's keep that going through our offering of love and through our gifts to God. Will the deacons please come forward? 00:46:30,901 S4: We are. 00:46:38,801 S4: We are. 00:46:45,667 S4: You. 00:46:49,901 S4: And you? Me and. 00:46:58,667 S4: You see me before. 00:47:06,501 S4: You open your eyes. You satisfy the desire for. 00:47:19,701 S4: Me. We. 00:47:23,868 S4: Are. 00:47:27,868 S4: Me. 00:47:32,167 S4: Me me me me me me me. 00:47:42,100 S4: Me. 00:47:50,100 S4: Me. Oh. 00:47:59,167 S4: Oh. Oh. 00:48:04,868 S4: Oh. 00:48:08,667 S4: Oh. Oh. 00:48:55,367 S4: Now this is so much easier. 00:49:04,601 S4: With all of. 00:49:11,067 S4: Us when we go. 00:49:23,901 S3: Loving and just God. We come before you with humble hearts, offering not only our gifts, but our lives and service to your will. In these trying times, we are in uncertainty and division. We seek to be with you. We dedicate ourselves to be instruments of your peace. Bless this offering that it may be used to bring hope with where there is despair. Light where there is darkness and unity where there is division. Strengthen our spirits so that we may stand firm in faith. Love one another without condition. And work together for all the good. In Jesus name, Amen. 00:50:03,167 S4: Amen. 00:50:03,667 S3: Amen. 00:50:05,100 S4: Amen. Amen. 00:50:10,367 S3: This morning's scripture lesson comes from the 17th book of the Old Testament, and can be found in your pew Bibles on page Eight. Eight. The Book of Esther is a story about the survival of the Jewish people under the Persian Empire. It follows a young Jewish woman who moves from a hidden identity to being the Queen of Persia. A reading today brings us to the turning point of the entire story. A genocidal decree has gone out across the empire in Esther. Now the Queen is confronted with the cost of her silence in a tense exchange with Mordecai. She is forced to deal with risks, responsibility, and the truth that her position as queen does not guarantee safety. The passage is central claim is stark and enduring when injustice threatens life. Neutrality is not protection and courage may be demanded for such a time as this. Here, now. Esther, chapter four, verses six through 16. Hat talk went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city, in front of the king's gate. Mordecai told him all that had happened to him in the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasures for the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issuing issued to sue Sousa for their destruction, that he might show to Esther and explain it to her, and charge her to go to the king, to make supplication to him, and to entreat him for her people. Hatta went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. Then Esther spoke to Hatake and gave him a message for Mordecai. All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces. Know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called. There is but one law to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone. May that person live. I myself have not been called to come to the King for 30 days. When they told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai told them to reply to Esther. Do not think that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep your silence at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place. But you and your father's family, you will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this. Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai, go, gather all the Jews to be found in Suzanne, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days. Night or day I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king. Though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish. The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. 00:54:10,801 S2: There's a certain calculus a certain. 00:54:16,767 S2: Certain pattern that we follow when we don't want to get into trouble. Don't rock the boat. Keep your head down. Don't say the wrong thing. Don't draw attention to yourself. Avoid conflict. Smooth over differences. Play along to get along. Blend in. A lot of us spend energy. Stay out of trouble. This is especially true if you've experienced oppression or persecution. If you grew up in unsafe family environments, oppressive systems. If you were fearful of the community that surrounded you, the fearful of the government or workplace and justice. We want to keep our job. We want to keep the peace. We want to keep the family together. And while these tactics can be helpful, can keep us safe, and they can keep the status quo and are needed at times, there are times when they no longer work. There is the uncomfortable truth that staying quiet does not always keep us safe. Sometimes silence only delays the danger until it reaches our own door. 00:56:07,667 S2: The Book of Esther is a powerful book. For modern times, I encourage you to read it. It's cold outside, so why not go home and read your Bible? 00:56:23,367 S2: It's only ten chapters, people, and it reads like a book. It is a page turner, literally. King Asherah has a queen Vashti. And after they party for 80 days. This is how it opens up, folks. They party for 80 days. He summons his queen to appear before him and she says no way. 00:56:54,767 S2: He has to call all of his advisers together, and they decide to banish Queen Vashti, and he searches for a new queen, preferably one that obeys, apparently. And so he does what kings do holds a beauty pageant to find the replacement. And Esther, a Jewish orphan raised by her cousin Mordecai in the diaspora of Persia, is chosen because Mordecai has advised her to join in the beauty contest and to keep her Jewishness a secret from the king. 00:57:46,801 S2: Esther is made queen. 00:57:52,267 S2: There is an advisor think of him as a prime minister named Haman, who likes it when people bows to him when walking in the street He was walking through the streets and everyone bowed except for Mordecai. Mordecai, the cousin of Esther, refuses to bow down. This makes Haman enraged, and Haman convinces the king to issue an unalterable edict to annihilate all the Jews in the Persian Empire. On a date chosen by casting lots called Purim. 00:58:44,467 S2: Mordecai urges Esther to intercede. Famously telling her that she may have reached her royal position for such a time as this. Esther is concerned for her own safety, as you heard in the reading this morning. Esther eventually approaches the King. UN summoned a crime punishable by death, and invites him and Haman to two banquets. 00:59:24,767 S2: Between banquets, the king suffers from insomnia, and he has the royal records read to him. You should try this if you ever have trouble sleeping. It sounds great, actually. But as he was reading and not sleeping, he discovers he never rewarded Mordecai for foiling a previous assassination plot. See how good this is? The king orders Haman to personally honor Mordecai by parading him through the city and royal robes at the second banquet, Esther reveals that she is Jewish and an extremely courageous act, and that Heyman's decree targets her and her people. The king is enraged and has Haman hanged on the very gallows that Haman had built for Mordecai. And while the original law cannot be revoked. I'm not sure why, but it can't be. The King issues a counter decree allowing the Jews to defend themselves, leading to a major victory over their enemies. The story concludes with the establishment of the Feast of Purim to memorialize this deliverance, and it happens every year and has since the fourth century BCE. It occurs this coming March 2nd and third, the time of great celebration. This story is a powerful story with lots of details that we don't have time to go through. It has been commented on by rabbis throughout this century, but a few that I would like to note for you this morning. Rabbi Jonathan Sachs once noted that the Esther is the Bible's most honest book about life in the real world. In this book, there are no miracles. There are no there's no thunder from on high. Just human beings dedicated and deciding whether they will act when God apparently seems absent. God isn't mentioned in the whole book. Rabbi Irvin Greenberg observed that Esther imagines a covenantal world without guarantees, no promise that God will step in. Survival depends on human responsibility. 01:02:22,467 S2: Esther is safe only as long as she is silent. And that, silence, turns out, is very fragile and that safety is very fragile. 01:02:41,367 S2: Esther's response is not heroic. It's honest. Approaching the king could mean death for her. She names the danger without spiritual bravado. Rabbi Kushner reminds us that Esther does not begin as a courageous person. She becomes one. 01:03:12,767 S2: I kind of stayed with that for a little bit. She didn't begin as a courageous person, but becomes one courage. Rabbi Kushner says, is not the absence of fear, but the decision that something else matters more. 01:03:33,968 S2: Esther is not fearless. She is afraid and still willing to grow and do the right thing. 01:03:47,300 S2: Mordecai, these words to Esther land pretty Forward relief may come from elsewhere, but Esther will not be exempt from the edict at hand. Privilege. Her privileged position was not a protection for her. Rabbi David Hartman saw this moment as one of the Bible's most mature theological scenes. There's no divine instruction, no commands. Esther must decide without certainty in that regards. Faith here is not obedience to a voice. It is a discernment, a difficult discernment. 01:04:47,067 S2: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks argued that this is the point where Esther understands. Esther teaches how God works through human freedom rather than overriding it. Rabbi Heschel would say that God seems silent. The human conscience must become God's voice. God's presence in Esther is not in intervention, but in the courage people summon for one another. 01:05:30,067 S2: Esther, as we heard, says, if I perish, I perish. And it's interesting because I don't hear those words as bravado, and I don't hear those words as despair. I hear them as a clarifying moment. 01:05:50,300 S2: A moment of discernment and direction and clarity. 01:05:55,968 S2: Rabbi Stein's emphasizes Esther's inner transformation. She moves from being acted upon to acting. 01:06:09,567 S2: From object to an agent and choice, from survival to solidarity. 01:06:20,767 S2: And Rabbi Eisenberg notes that Esther's silence is not emptiness, that she struggled. It was a crucible where her courage was formed to be able to make that decision. That courage is developed through struggle and not certainty. 01:06:46,000 S2: Esther does not really become fearless. She becomes clear about who she is and to whom she belongs. 01:07:01,200 S2: Rabbi Jill Jacobs urges us not to romanticize Esther. She acts within a broken system. Her choices are constrained, and still her choices matter. 01:07:21,000 S2: I wonder where we have mistaken comfort for safety. Where does silence feel easier than truth? Where has responsibility 01:07:40,000 S2: come knocking quietly at our door? 01:07:44,801 S2: Where do we have the power to act and are not using it? 01:07:52,767 S2: I've often thought of that phrase for such a time as this, as destiny. Like this is the moment. 01:08:03,167 S2: But I think it's about recognition and about choice and finding the moral courage to face fear. 01:08:16,868 S2: I don't know if you heard it, but in the story, Esther doesn't act alone. She asks for the people to fast. She fast. She gathers others. 01:08:35,701 S2: And she steps forward, supported by her community. 01:08:42,968 S2: Rabbi Greenberg reminds us that the covenant after catastrophe looks like people choosing life together without certainty. It's interesting because the Book of Esther does not promise a rescue, a miraculous rescue. It promises that our choices matter. The story does not ask us to be fearless. It asks us to be faithful when hiding is no longer an option. It asks us to stand up, to sing out. So let us let every voice lift every voice and sing. 01:09:33,367 S2: Till the earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise as high as the listening skies. Let it resound loud as the roiling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of hope. That the present has brought us. Facing the sun of our new day begun. Let us march on till victory as one. Amen. 01:10:12,868 S4: Amen, Amen. 01:10:55,167 S4: Is the title. 01:10:59,267 S4: Of this song. 01:11:02,868 S4: That was in. 01:11:11,501 S4: There for me. 01:11:15,767 S4: Let's see. 01:11:37,100 S4: To. 01:11:44,467 S4: Hold out for. 01:11:49,067 S4: All of us. And see who. 01:12:02,000 S4: Will last among. 01:12:24,300 S4: Us. 01:12:31,667 S4: Is to. 01:12:48,968 S2: And now, as we leave this place, may we recognize the moments when silence is no longer safety. May we find the courage to act anyway. And may we trust that even when God feels hidden, God is with us. And love and responsibility are still very much alive. Amen. Amen. 01:15:37,000 S5: Yeah. 01:15:47,968 S6: Thank you guys. Thank you everybody. 01:16:16,567 S7: Yeah. 01:16:32,467 S6: So. 01:16:40,100 S6: I. 01:16:42,400 S6: Guess. 01:16:49,667 S6: I. 01:16:53,667 S6: Can I. 01:16:58,167 S6: Just. 01:17:06,567 S6: Oh, my. 01:17:10,067 S6: God! Oh my God. 01:17:20,267 S6: Oh! 01:17:26,367 S6: My gosh.