Renewal: December 2, 2007

12-2-07

Create in me a pure heart, O my God,
and renew a tranquil conscience within me, O my Hope!
Through the spirit of power confirm your presence
O my Best-Beloved,
and by the light of your glory reveal to me your path,
You are the Goal of my desire!
Through the power of your transcendent might
lift me up unto the heaven of your holiness,
O Source of my being,
and by the breezes of your eternity gladden me,
O Thou Who art my God!
Let your everlasting melodies breathe tranquillity on me,
O my Companion,
and let the riches of your ancient countenance
deliver me from all except your presence,
O my Mother,
Let the tidings of the revelation of your
incorruptible Essence bring me joy,
O You Who is the most manifest of the manifest
and the most hidden of the hidden!

Adapted from Baha'i prayers - Bahá'u'lláh

It's hard for some of us to believe that the world is served when we
seek happiness. We've been taught that this is selfish. If we stop to reflect on how we are in the world when we are happy, we can see how this serves. We have more vitality. We're more loving and generous to others when our own needs are met. What activities bring you greatest joy? Your unique gift to the world will be found in those pastimes you love the most. How can you live your joy each day?

"Spiritual growth is not made in reaction against, for all striving
against imposed restrictions is imaginary. Spiritual growth is
accomplished by inclination toward. We grow like the sunflower,
following the light."
-- Joy Houghton

Our God, who celebrates who we are,
turns us from ourselves to a world in need.

We go out to share the patience of God
with those who usually exasperate us.

Christ appoints us to serve in difficult places,
challenging the false values of our world.

We go out to live what we profess
and to profess what we really believe.

God rejoices in the lost who are found
and strengthens us with overflowing mercy and grace.

We venture into new experiences
in the confidence that God cares for us.
Amen.

Basil Mathews was walking along the dusty streets of an Arabian village. He met a tall, young, Arab boy playing a flute. He asked to see the flute and it seemed surprisingly heavy. After examining it he discovered it was made out of an old gun barrel. The boy explained that he had picked up the gun in an area where there had been fierce fighting. He filed it down and drilled holes in it. From a weapon of destruction he had created an instrument of music. (from, Ride the Wild Horses, by J. Wallace Hamilton)

The great benefit of heightened awareness is that we have more choice in
how we live our lives. At any moment, we can purposefully choose a new
experience for ourselves. We can choose to pay attention, breathe more
deeply, laugh, rest, play, appreciate, do something different - the
possibilities are endless.

Whenever you remember, take yourself off auto-pilot and really examine
your situation. Take charge and make a choice that will enrich your
experience. At the end of the day, reflect on what happened and how you
felt when you chose a new line of thought, feeling or action.

"We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But
we can decide what happens in us -- how we can take it, what we do with
it -- and that is what really counts in the end."
-- Joseph Fort Newton

I invite you to enter for a moment
into Sacred Time and Space,
into a way of seeing that is broad and spacious.
See this Day, from the time you arose this morning
until you sleep this evening, as one Ceremony,
divided into small and familiar rituals,
your Heart as the Altar.
You, part of the Cycles of Light and Darkness.

Now begin to see your Life,
from the moment of your Conception
until the time of your Death
as one long, continuous Ceremony,
filled with many rituals,
some familiar, some unknown and challenging.
Your Home and all Your Relations, the Altar.
You, part of many Seasons and Cycles.

Now see this Ceremony of your Life
as part of a much larger Ceremony that extends
Seven Generations into the Past and Seven into the Future,
made up of many Births and Deaths.
This beautiful spinning Earth the Altar.
You, part of the great Ebb and Flow.

Now, if You will, imagine this larger Ceremony
to be but one part of a Ceremony so grand,
so magnificent as to be hardly comprehensible,
a great, vast Ceremonial Circle, rich and vibrant
with millions upon millions of swirling
Circles of Dancing Light,
and You, one of those Dancing Circles,
a Dancer on the Altar that is the Universe,
where Time is Eternal.

May You Dance In Beauty.

circle wisdom - Sedonia Cahill

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

bible - psalm 51:10-12 - king david

Life is short and we have not too much time
for gladdening the hearts of those
who are traveling the dark way with us.
Oh, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind.

henri-frederic amiel – 1885