Earth Prayers

                                                                                              Picture by Treena Duncan
O Sacred season of Autumn, be my teacher,
      for I wish to learn the virtue of contentment.
As I glaze upon your full-colored beauty,
     I sense all about you
     an at-homeness with your amber riches.

You are the season of retirement,
     of full barns and harvested fields.
The cycle of growth has ceased,
     and the busy work of giving life
     is now completed.
I sense in you no regrets:
     you've lived a full life.

I live in a society that is ever-restless,
     always eager for more mountains to climb,
     seeking happiness through more and more possessions.
As a child of my culture,
     I am seldom truly at peace with what I have.
Teach me to take stock of what I have given and received,
     may I know that it's enough,
     that my striving can cease
     in the abundance of God's grace.
May I know the contentment
     that allows the totality of my energies
     to come to full flower.
May I know that like you I am rich beyond measure.

As you, O Autumn, take pleasure in your great bounty,
     let me also take delight
     in the abundance of the simple things in life
     which are the true source of joy.
With the golden glow of peaceful contentment
     may I truly apprecieate this autumn day.

~Written by, Edward Hays
From the book: Earth Prayers from around the World
Edited by Elizabeth Rothers and Elias Amidon

— John O’Donohue 

A person should always offer a prayer of graciousness for the love that has awakened in them. Send that love out into the world to people who are desperate; to those who are starving. This love is the deepest power of prayer.

Posted by Sally McShane

Let your God love you

This poem resonates for me in my practice of Centering Prayer!

Bill 

Let Your God Love You

Be silent.
Be still.
Alone.
Empty
Before your God.
Say nothing.
Ask nothing.
Be silent.
Be still.
Let your God look upon you.
That is all.
God knows.
God understands.
God loves you
With an enormous love,
And only wants
To look upon you
With that love.
Quiet.
Still.
Be.

Let your God —
Love you.

~ Edwina Gateley

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy. Amen. 

St. Augustine prayer to the Holy Spirit

I have learnt to love you late...

 

I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and so new!  I have learnt to love you late!  You were within me, and I was in the world outside myself.  I searched for you outside myself and, disfigured as I was, I fell upon the lovely things of your creation.  You were with me but I was not with you.  The beautiful things of this world kept me from you and yet, if they had not been in you, they would have no being at all.  You called me;  You cried aloud to me;  You broke the barrier of my deafness.  I tasted you and now I hunger and thirst for you.  You touched me and I am inflamed, inflamed with love of your peace.             

~St. Augustine

 

 

Posted by Sally McShane

 

Jeremiah 5:21-22. Listen, O foolish, senseless people – you with the eyes that do not see and the ears that do not listen – have you no respect at all for me? The Lord God asks. How can it be that you don’t even tremble in my presence? I set the shorelines of the world by perpetual decrees, so that the oceans, though they toss and roar, can never pass those bounds. Isn’t such a God to be feared and worshipped?

I set the shorelines of the world by perpetual decrees, so

are not our own edges that

contain our energy and keep the

outside forces at bay like shores of the oceans

whose boundaries are always in motion? Even though

the waters remain, they

can be as gentle ripples or as towering waves that toss

giant logs like toothpicks; and

when our inner seas roar

and our own tides ebb, we can

remember the seashore: never

settled. In the most deadened times that come to pass

we can pray for the return of energy and the will to live, those

gifts that come through grace, which has no bounds.

 

Sandra Price

“The Edge” published in

 “Looking for Home: Women Writing About Exile”

Edited by Deborah Keenan and Roseann Lloyd

Milkweed Editions 1990

One day I shall write in this blog about the spiritual life of a church bureaucrat… but not today.

Today, as I prepare one of the rare sermons I preach each year, I am recalling how central sermon preparation was in my spiritual life as a preacher/pastor.

I did not do it as a spiritual discipline; I did it to have a good sermon ready by Sunday. But that weekly discipline of reading, reflecting, researching, considering the lives of the congregation members, delving deep into my own soul, and finding words to share that might be more than mere reflections or good stories or heartfelt advice – that seems to me to be, perhaps, the most profound way my own spiritual life was shaped and nurtured.

It was both task and gift, discipline and joy, struggle and (from time to time) liberation.

For most United Church ministers it has to happen almost every week; it is part of the job; it is what we are paid to do. It might not always feel very “spiritual.”

Sometimes we do not consider ourselves engaging in a “spiritual” life unless we are doing something unusual and, perhaps, even strange: not talking for 48 hours; walking in circles through a labyrinth; sitting in front of candles; writing poetry.

The life of Jesus, though, reminds us that while “the spiritual life” is sometimes retreat to the mountains it is most often being surrounded by the mundane, by life with its challenges, by those making demands, by breaking bread, eating… by preaching in the synagogue.

It is one of the many bonuses in the life of preachers that a significant part of their paid work is to engage in such a deep, weekly, life-changing spiritual practice as sermon preparation.

It is hard, but I hope preachers can accept that unwarranted bonus as a gift… and not neglect it.

Posted by Doug Goodwin

God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.   Dag Hammarskjold 

Posted by Sally McShane



Mix and Faith

If someone could write

a cookbook on prayer,

every recipe would conclude

with these words:

"Mix and faith"

                                                 Sea of Galilee

I am the vessel. The draft is God's. And God is the thirsty one. 
       Dag Hammarskjold 

Posted Sally McShane

The garden is rich with diversity
With plants of a hundred families
In the space between the trees
With all the colours and fragrances.
Basil, mint and lavender,
God keep my remembrance pure,
Raspberry, Apple, Rose,
God fill my heart with love,
Dill, anise, tansy,
Holy winds blow in me.
Rhododendron, zinnia,
May my prayer be beautiful
May my remembrance O God
be as incense to thee
In the sacraed grove of eternity
As I smell and remember
The ancient forests of earth.

Chinook Psalter



Blessed are those who know their need

for theirs is the grace of heaven.

Blessed are those who weep

for their tears will be wiped away.

Blessed are the humble

for they are close to the sacred earth.

Blessed are those who hunger

for earth’s o neness for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the forgiving

for they are free

Blessed are the clear in heart

for they see the Living Presence.

Blessed are the peacemakers

for they are born of God.

(The Casa del Sol Blessings of Jesus - based on Matthew 5:3-9)

Posted by Sharon Copeman

Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is! 
Anne Frank 

Posted by Sally McShane

A Hopi Elder Speaks

A Hopi Elder Speaks "You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.  And there are things to be considered . . . Where are you living? What are you doing?  What are your relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water? Know your garden. It is time to speak your Truth. Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader." Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time!"     "There is a river flowing now very fast.  It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.  They will try to hold on to the shore.   They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer greatly.      "Know the river has its destination.  The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water.   And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.  At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, Least of all ourselves.  For the moment that we do,  our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.      "The time for the lone wolf is over.  Gather yourselves!  Banish the word struggle from you attitude and your vocabulary.  All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.      "We are the ones we've been waiting for." -- attributed to an unnamed Hopi elder Hopi Nation Oraibi, Arizona Posted by Treena Duncan

Jesus' Packing Instructions

In this season of graduation and packing, of summer trips and luggage, this reflection from Martin Copenhaver seems most timely.

Excerpt from Matthew 10:5-15

"Do not take gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food."

Reflection by Martin B. Copenhaver

People have different philosophies of packing.

Some like to travel light.  They take a bare minimum of items with them.  They count the number of days they will be away and bring just that number of pairs of socks—no more, no less.

Others have an "in case" attitude toward packing.  They might pack a rain coat, a down parka, and a bathing suit just "in case" the weather changes.

Clearly, Jesus is in the former category.  In fact, he is the ultimate light packer.  When sending his disciples on their first journey without him, he gave very explicit packing instructions:  Don't take any money, or a change of clothes.  In fact, leave your suitcase home.  Don't take anything but the shirt on your back.

Talk about traveling light!  What is Jesus up to here?

Perhaps Jesus gives this advice so his disciples will learn trust.  It is Jesus' way of encouraging them to engage with the people they meet.  After all, when you don't have enough to go on, you have to turn to those around you.

But there is another possible explanation.  The items Jesus tells his disciples to leave behind are just the kinds of things that worshipers were told to leave outside the temple before they entered.  People were to divest themselves of these things before stepping on holy ground.

So when Jesus tells his disciples to travel light, he is encouraging them to approach the whole world as if it is holy ground, a place where you can expect to encounter God.

What would it mean for you to enter your day in this way?

Prayer

God, give me the "eyes of the heart enlightened" so I might be prepared to see the holy in the everyday.

Posted by Dan Chambers

Here is another reflection from Anthony de Mello

 For some background, check the posting in this Blog for Nov 25, 2011 One Minute Wisdom

Before reading it take a moment and list, 

either on paper or in your mind, 

all the Biblical references to “rivers”.

 In Genesis we start with the rivers in Eden, we end in Revelation with the River of Life and between .... .

“Recognition”  p100

As the Master grew old and infirm 

the disciples begged him not to die. 

Said the Master, “If I did not go how would you ever see?”

“What is it we fail to see when you are with us?” they asked.

But the Master would not say.

When the moment of his death was near 

they said, “What is it we will see when you are gone?”

With a twinkle in his eye the Master said,

 “All I did was sit on the riverbank 

handing out river water. 

After I’m gone I trust you will notice the river.”

For your personal reflection I’d suggest holding your list of rivers prayerfully.

Might you see any of them in today's events? 

What might you do today to drink from the River of Life we find in Christ?

Today I quit being a Christian

For those who care, and I understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian. I'm out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being "Christian" or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to "belong" to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else. … In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.         Author of Christ the Lord,  Anne Rice

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

...taken from a gem of a book given to me after 

the BC Conference meeting last weekend

 ~ Praying with the Earth - A Prayerbook for Peace 

by  J Philip Newell...  

In lives where love has been born this day 

thanks be to you, O God.

In families where forgiveness has been strong

thanks be to you.

In nations where wrongs have been addressed 

where tenderness has been cherished

and where visions for earth’s oneness have been served

thanks be to you.

May those who are weary find rest this night.

May those who carry great burdens for their people 

find strength.

May the midwives of new beginnings in our world find hope.

And may the least among us find greatness

strength in our souls

worth in our words

love in our living.

.

Blessings,

Sharon Copeman

 
“As high over the mountains the eagle spreads its wings, may your perspective be larger than the view from the foothills. When the way is flat and dull in times of gray endurance, may your imagination continue to evoke horizons.” 
 — John O‘Donohue

This Year's Journeying

Something about the weather, the flowers blooming, and new life experiences has been making me think of journeying in a new way this month.  I found this prayer helpful this week and so I thought I would share it with you.

This Year’s Journeying

Lord - I consecrate myself to You in this year’s journeying:

Take my feet from the safety of the shallows out into the challenge of unexplored depths.

Take my heart from the sterility of selfish preoccupations to the fruitfulness of wounded love.

Take my mind from the narrowness of human thought to the expansiveness of divine insight.

Take my hands from the poverty of having and keeping to the riches of giving and sharing.

Take my voice from the blandness of safe religion to the proclamation of Your radical kindom.

Lord - I consecrate myself to You in this year’s journeying:

Take my life

from safety to risk

from coldness to love

from darkness to light

from selfishness to sharing

from silence to proclamation.

Take my life for You kindom!

Amen. 

From “Fire and Bread” pg. 232

Spiritual Practice

My spiritual practice these last couple of weeks and for a few weeks to come is to read Christina Baldwin’s book “The Seven Whispers” … again.  I have read it several times, (and gifted it to many) but that doesn’t seem to decrease the impact it has on me.  Although the book goes into much more detail, I would like to share Christina’s “whispers” with you.  They are, on their own, enough to offer pause for reflection:

Maintain Peace of Mind

Move at the pace of guidance

Practice certainty of purpose

Surrender to surprise

Ask for what you need and offer what you can

Love the folks in front of you

Return to the world.

May your reflections be enriching.

Ivy Thomas

Church Father Origen meditated on the beautiful, powerful act of washing feet:

‘Jesus, come, my feel are dirty. You have become a servant for my sake, so fill your basin with water: come wash my feet. I know that I am bold in saying this, but your own words have made me fearful: “If you do not wash your feet you have no companionship with me.” Wash my feet, then, so that I may be your companion. But what I am saying: “Wash my feet”? Peter could say these words, for all that he needed washing were his feet. For the rest, he was completely clean. I must be made clean with that other washing, of which you said, “I have a baptism with which I must be baptized.” Amen

Vulnerability

http://www.davidlose.net/2012/04/the-power-of-vulnerability/

I read this article and listened to this Ted Talk this morning and I thought it was really worth sharing.

The Rosebud

On Easter Sunday morning this year the person who had excitedly agreed to get the daffodils for our resurrection cross came to me almost in tears with a bundle of daffodils that were closed tight as tight could be.  She explained she had ordered them ahead and when she went to pick them up this is what she got.  We agreed any flowers would do and so she ran back to the store.  I admit I had a moment of silent judgment when she arrived back with a huge bag of silk flowers.  But the reality was once they went on the cross they were beautiful and it really didn't matter at all.  

Later that Easter afternoon I received the following email.  It was a gift to our worship committee and to me. I hope it is also a gift to you.

God's Rosebud

A new minister was walking with an older,

more seasoned minister in the garden one day.

Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher or some advice.

The older preacher walked up to a rosebush

and handed the young preacher a rosebud

and told him to open it without tearing off any petals.

The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a  rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry.  However, because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact. 

It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do.

Noticing the younger preacher's inability

to unfold the rosebud without tearing it,

the older preacher began to recite the following poem ...

"It is only a tiny rosebud, A flower of God's design;Yet I cannot unfold the petalsWith these clumsy hands of mine.""The secret of unfolding flowersIs not known to such as I.GOD opens this flower so easily,And in my hands they die.""If I cannot unfold a rosebud,This flower of God's design,Then how can I have the wisdomTo unfold this life of mine?""So I'll trust in God for leadingEach moment of my day.I will look to God for guidanceIn each step along the way."
"The path that lies before me,Only my Lord and Saviour knows.I'll trust God to unfold the moments,Just as He unfolds the rose.

the Cycle of Abundance ~ LucidLife

The Earth Breathing - An Earth Day Prayer

Breathing Under Water

My route home from the office goes along Departure Bay beach in Nanaimo.

Yesterday, for the first time, I saw a deer at the low tide's water edge.

Seeing a deer is very common, they sleep under our deck with the fawns. But seeing a deer at the sea edge, as if it had become a Heron, was new for me.

I couldn't tell what it was doing (grazing, drinking!) or thinking (go for a swim, how do I open a clam), but it reminded me of an amazing new book by Richard Rohr called "Breathing Under Water". I highly recommend it.

The title comes from this poem

I built my house by the sea.

Not on the sands, mind you;

not on the shifting sand.

And I built it of rock.

A strong house

by a strong sea.

And we got well acquainted, the sea and I.

Good neighbors.

Not that we spoke much.

We met in silences.

Respectful, keeping our distance,

but looking our thoughts across the fence of sand.

Always, the fence of sand our barrier,

always, the sand between.

And then one day,

--and I still don’t know how it happened--

the sea came.

Without warning.

Without welcome, even.

Not sudden and swift, but a shifting across the sand

like wine,

less like the flow of water then the flow of blood.

Slow, but coming.

Slow, but flowing like an open wound.

And I thought of flight and I thought of drowning

and I thought of death.

And while I thought to the sea crept higher, till it

reached my door.

And I knew then, there was neither flight, not death,

nor drowning.

That when the sea comes calling you stop being

good neighbors

well acquainted, friendly-at-a-distance, neighbors

And you give your house for a coral castle,

And you learn to breathe underwater.

Carol Bieleck R.S.C.J.