3-27-08
Holy Mystery
As we join together this morning in the light of your presence,
we are reminded that we are all one in the divine heart.
May this longing for oneness transform our world.
May our hearts be opened, in the very depths where we find you, God,
May our hearts be open to the glorious expression of your love found in all our religions and spiritual traditions.
You speak to us, Holy Mystery, in this diversity, and we are enriched and humbled by the breadth and depth of your Words.
May our gathering together this morning signify our hopes for the harmony of our planet, the alleviation of suffering, food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, and respect for the poor. May this flame be a testimony of our willingness to struggle together toward the peace of inclusiveness, loving all and embracing all in the family of creation.
Amen.
The mystical path is … psychologically integrative: it unties the unconscious, the conscious, and the superconscious. It also integrates the memory, will, imagination, and emotions with the body and the spirit. Within them, it establishes the harmony of love, compassion, mercy, and kindness – the quieting of emotions. All this surrenders to something much higher and more ultimate than the human. This surrender and the integration that follows, puts order in the chaotic domain of the unconscious and allows it to work with the other faculties in a person’s spiritual life.
Wayne Teasdale
God shows his love by Kissing the finite.
Man shows his live by kissing the infinite.
Tagore
Once Sita gave Hanuman a necklace of pearls. After a while, the residents of the city observed him breaking the necklace and inspecting each pearl minutely. Intrigued they asked him the reason. "I am looking for Rama and Sita," replied Hanuman. Laughing at his apparent naivety the spectators pointed out to him that the royal couple was at the moment seated on the imperial throne. "But Rama and Sita are everywhere, including my heart" wondered aloud the true bhakta. Not understanding the depth of his devotion, they further teased him: "So Rama and Sita live in your heart, can you show them to us?" Unhesitatingly, Hanuman stood up and with his sharp talons tore open his chest. There, within his throbbing heart, the astonished audience were taken aback to find enshrined an image of Rama and Sita. Never again did anyone make fun of Hanuman's devotion.
Hanuman's name too illustrates his self-effacing character, being made up of 'hanan' (annihilation) and 'man' (mind), thus indicating one who has conquered his ego.
Letting go and letting be are indispensable contemplative habits. These seemingly simple practices have to be learned – they are the fruit of years of spiritual practice through the day to day labor of meditation. Attaining inner quiet. Seeking stillness of mind and senses, requires enormous discipline. If we can learn to withdraw our attention from its attachment to sensory experience, to stop relying solely on the senses for satisfaction and joy, then we are in a position to become aware of God.
Wayne Teasdale
It pleased you to make me endless.
You empty this frail vessel over and over
Then fill it with fresh life again.
You carry me like a hollow reed over hill and dale
Eternally breathing new melodies though me.
As the immortal touch of your hand
My little heart looses itself in joy.
Still you pour into me, and still there is room
to fill.
Tagore
Words cling to death like dust.
Silence washes their souls.
Tagore
Breathe in me the way to love You,
That I may learn to faultlessly love You.
Pour into me the wisdom-wine
By which I become intoxicated with You.
Whisper into my ears of silence
The way to be with You always.
Speak to my wandering senses
And lead them back to your Sanctuary within.
Call the marauding mind and counsel it
How to retrace its steps to your home.
With all your silent eyes, just look at me,
And I will know where to find You.
You may hide behind the ocean,
You may hide behind delusion,
You may hide behind life,
You may hide behind dualities,
You may hide behind theological conundrums,
You may hide behind unanswered prayers.
But you cannot hide behind my love.
For in the mirroring light of my love
You are revealed.
Paramahansa Yogananda
Light comes through a gap in the curtains:
the promise of morning.
Light comes through the flaws in our lives:
the promise of love
Modern Prayer from Berlin Germany
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
April Theme Surrender
Sunday, April 20, 2008 Ann Ladd Prayer – Dear Loving presence, thank you for the times in the quieted moments when we experience – and know - the deep loving support that is a constant beneath our lives –whether or not we are aware; through the many distractions we allow, teach us in these quiet times to awaken our hearts to the Present moment, nourish our souls with the precious mystery of Now. Thank you for the many blessings and gifts of our lives in each day. We offer gratitude for guidance and for our continuing yes to your loving guidance. Give us strength and heart to stay the course of your Divine purpose for each of us in this life.AmenWelcome – The topic this month is surrender. We generally think of the need to surrender to the challenges and difficulties of life. I think it is often equally difficult for us to surrender to the blessings and gifts….to truly receive them. Quotes – (1) What is a blessing? A blessing is a circle of light drawn around a person to protect, heal, and strengthen. Life is a constant flow of emergence. The beauty of blessing is its belief that it can affect what unfolds. (2) May all that is unforgiven in youBe released.May your fears yieldTheir deepest tranquilitiesMay all that is unlived in you Blossom into a futureGraced with love.- John O’Donohue(3) To be in the world is to be distant from the homeland of wholeness. We are confined by limitation and difficulty. When we bless, we are enabled somehow to go beyond our present frontiers and reach into the source. A blessing awakens future wholeness.(4) Awaken to the mystery of being hereand enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.May the warmth of your heart keep your presence aflame.Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention. May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.(5) There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things…..The word kindness has a gentle sound that seems to echo the presence of compassionate goodness. When someone is kind to you, you feel understood and seen. There is no judgment or harsh perception toward you. Kindness has gracious eyes; it is not small-minded or competitive; it wants nothing back for itself. Kindness strikes a resonance with the depth of your own heart.May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.May you never place walls between the light and yourself.May you learn to see your selfwith the same delight, pride, and expectationwith which God sees you in every moment.(8) You can never love another person unless you are equally involved in the beautiful but difficult spiritual work of learning to love yourself. There is within each of us, at the soul level, an enriching fountain of love. In other words, you do not have to go outside yourself to know what love is. This is not selfishness, and it is not narcissism; they are negative obsessions with the need to be loved. Rather this is the wellspring of love within the heart…. [L]earn to whisper awake the deep well of love within. This is not a question of forcing yourself to love yourself. It is more a question of exercising reserve, of inviting the wellspring of love that is, after all, your deepest nature to flow through your life. It is a great consolation to know that there is a wellspring of love within yourself. If you trust that this wellspring is there, you will then be able to invite it to awaken. -O’Donahue(11) “God is love” is not a truth we can master; it is only one to which we can surrender. Faith is being grasped by the power of love. –Wm Sloan Coffin Stand and form circleTake a moment to think of someone you love, recall one or two specific appreciations you have for them, things you love about them, especially that they may not see or easily acknowledge. Now put it in the form of a blessing….May you always…. May you never forget…., Without using the person’s name…say the blessing into the circle if you are willing to share it now….everyone else listen and see if you can allow the blessing to also be true of you. Open heart meditation – Quieting now, gently, Invite the wellspring of love in you to move within you, and through you to all in the circle, allow yourself to receive the flow of love coming back to you.Then together let us send the energy of our love to all in this city, to all in this country, to all in this worlda message of love and hope to all peoples, to all creatures, to all creation.
April Theme surrender
4-13-08
Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty,my memory, my understanding and my whole will.All that I am and all that I possess You have given me.I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will.Give me only Your love and Your grace;with these I will be rich enough,and will desire nothing more.
Jesuit - St.. Ignatius Loyola - 16th century
What you are you do not see.
What you see – that you are not.
Tagore
The Journey Starts Here
Don’t go off sight seeing.
The real journey is right here.
The great excursion starts
from exactly were you are.
You are the world.
You have everything you need.
You are the secret.
You are the wide opened.
Don’t look for the remedy for your troubles
outside yourself.
You are the medicine.
You are the cure for your own sorrow.
Rumi
Surrender
There is really nothing else in life more worth doing. And to assent to the spiritual journey is to say “yes” to our own ultimate growth as well as that of others. … a cause of enormous joy.
Wayne Teasdale
To surrender oneself is something morethan to devote oneself, more than to give oneself,it is even more than to abandon oneself to God.To surrender oneself is to die to everything and to self,to keep it continually turned towards God.Self-surrender is no longer to seek self-satisfaction in anythingbut solely God's good pleasure.It should be added that self-surrender is to followthat complete spirit of detachmentwhich holds to nothing;neither to persons nor to things,neither to time nor to place.It means to accept everything, to submit to everything.
But perhaps you will think this is a difficult thing.Do not let yourself be deceived; there is nothing so easy to do,nothing so sweet to put into practice.The whole thing consists in making a generous act at the very beginning,by saying with all the sincerity of your heart:"My God, I wish to be entirely thine; deign to accept my offering"— then all is said. ...You must always remember that you have surrendered yourself.
St. Therese Couderc – 1864
In days of yore, an older master was traveling along a country road, followed by a disciple carrying his bags. As they walked, they saw lands being plowed while farmers and oxen were strained to the utmost. Countless worms and insects were killed in the process, and birds were swooping to eat them. This led the disciple to wonder to himself, "How hard it is to make a living. I will cultivate with all my strength, become a Buddha and save all these creatures." Immediately the Master, an Arhat able to read the thoughts of others, turned around and said, "Let me have those heavy bags and I will follow you." The disciple was puzzled but did as instructed and walked in front. As they continued on their way with the hot sun bearing down on them, dust swirling all around them, the road stretching endlessly in front, the disciple grew more and more tired. It wasn't long before he thought to himself, "There are so many sentient beings and there is so much suffering, how can I possibly help them all? Perhaps I should try to help myself only." Immediately, the Master behind him said, "Stop. Now you carry the bags and follow me." The puzzled disciple did as told, knowing he was not supposed to ask questions. He took up the bags again and walked behind. This sequence repeated itself several times. The Master walked in front with the disciple carrying the bags, then the disciple in front with the Master carrying the bags, back and forth, until they stopped for lunch. Then the disciple gathered his courage and asked the reason why. The Master said, "When you had exalted thoughts of saving all sentient beings, you had the Bodhi Mind, the mind of a Bodhisattva, and I as an Arhat had to follow you. But as soon as you had selfish thoughts, you were no longer a Bodhisattva, and being junior to me in years and cultivation, you had to carry my bags!"
Buddhist story
And what of truth? We don’t tend to see the truth as something that could set us free because it means embracing pain, acknowledging our differences and conflict, taking our real situation into account.
Kathleen Norris
From the cowardice that dare not face new truth,
From the laziness that is contented with half-truth,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
God, deliver us.
Modern prayer from Kenya
Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty,my memory, my understanding and my whole will.All that I am and all that I possess You have given me.I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will.Give me only Your love and Your grace;with these I will be rich enough,and will desire nothing more.
Jesuit - St.. Ignatius Loyola - 16th century
What you are you do not see.
What you see – that you are not.
Tagore
The Journey Starts Here
Don’t go off sight seeing.
The real journey is right here.
The great excursion starts
from exactly were you are.
You are the world.
You have everything you need.
You are the secret.
You are the wide opened.
Don’t look for the remedy for your troubles
outside yourself.
You are the medicine.
You are the cure for your own sorrow.
Rumi
Surrender
There is really nothing else in life more worth doing. And to assent to the spiritual journey is to say “yes” to our own ultimate growth as well as that of others. … a cause of enormous joy.
Wayne Teasdale
To surrender oneself is something morethan to devote oneself, more than to give oneself,it is even more than to abandon oneself to God.To surrender oneself is to die to everything and to self,to keep it continually turned towards God.Self-surrender is no longer to seek self-satisfaction in anythingbut solely God's good pleasure.It should be added that self-surrender is to followthat complete spirit of detachmentwhich holds to nothing;neither to persons nor to things,neither to time nor to place.It means to accept everything, to submit to everything.
But perhaps you will think this is a difficult thing.Do not let yourself be deceived; there is nothing so easy to do,nothing so sweet to put into practice.The whole thing consists in making a generous act at the very beginning,by saying with all the sincerity of your heart:"My God, I wish to be entirely thine; deign to accept my offering"— then all is said. ...You must always remember that you have surrendered yourself.
St. Therese Couderc – 1864
In days of yore, an older master was traveling along a country road, followed by a disciple carrying his bags. As they walked, they saw lands being plowed while farmers and oxen were strained to the utmost. Countless worms and insects were killed in the process, and birds were swooping to eat them. This led the disciple to wonder to himself, "How hard it is to make a living. I will cultivate with all my strength, become a Buddha and save all these creatures." Immediately the Master, an Arhat able to read the thoughts of others, turned around and said, "Let me have those heavy bags and I will follow you." The disciple was puzzled but did as instructed and walked in front. As they continued on their way with the hot sun bearing down on them, dust swirling all around them, the road stretching endlessly in front, the disciple grew more and more tired. It wasn't long before he thought to himself, "There are so many sentient beings and there is so much suffering, how can I possibly help them all? Perhaps I should try to help myself only." Immediately, the Master behind him said, "Stop. Now you carry the bags and follow me." The puzzled disciple did as told, knowing he was not supposed to ask questions. He took up the bags again and walked behind. This sequence repeated itself several times. The Master walked in front with the disciple carrying the bags, then the disciple in front with the Master carrying the bags, back and forth, until they stopped for lunch. Then the disciple gathered his courage and asked the reason why. The Master said, "When you had exalted thoughts of saving all sentient beings, you had the Bodhi Mind, the mind of a Bodhisattva, and I as an Arhat had to follow you. But as soon as you had selfish thoughts, you were no longer a Bodhisattva, and being junior to me in years and cultivation, you had to carry my bags!"
Buddhist story
And what of truth? We don’t tend to see the truth as something that could set us free because it means embracing pain, acknowledging our differences and conflict, taking our real situation into account.
Kathleen Norris
From the cowardice that dare not face new truth,
From the laziness that is contented with half-truth,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
God, deliver us.
Modern prayer from Kenya
April Theme Surrender
4-6-08
Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty,my memory, my understanding and my whole will.All that I am and all that I possess You have given me.I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will.Give me only Your love and Your grace;with these I will be rich enough,and will desire nothing more.
Jesuit - St.. Ignatius Loyola - 16th century
I live in the world afraid to lose anything,
Take me to your world where I can lose
everything.
Tagore
Surrender is a dirty word in our militaristic culture – along with vulnerable –
MLK quote – “ Remember that non-violence is to seek justice and reconciliation, not victory.”
Life is not a battle to gain victory over
New World Dictionary includes and places first these meanings:
1. To give up possession of:
What do we really own anyway? What is really ours?
I have nothing to offer Thee,
For all things are Thine.
I grieve not that I cannot give;
For nothing is mine, for nothing is mine.
Here I lay at Thy feet
My life, my limbs, my thoughts and speech;
For they are Thine, for they are Thine.
Paramahansa Yogananda
To give up possession of the moment. To try to hold on to the moment is like trying to grasp water with your hands. It flows in and then it flows out.
Live loyally today-- grow --and tomorrow will attend to itself.The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frogis to live loyally each momentas a tadpole.
Urantia book - 1094:06
Definitions continued…
2. To give up power over
I think this could be seen as giving up the illusion we have of control. We really have no power over anything. We can have power with, but not over another human being. The power of community, creation, and communication. As Thomas Merton says:
The deepest level of communication is not communication but communion. It is wordless. It is beyond words, and it is beyond speech, and it is beyond concept. Not that we discover a new unity. My dear brothers [and sisters] we are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity.
3. To give up claim to; give over or yield esp. voluntarily, as in favor of another
To understand this is to surrender to love. Love has no claim on anything and to feel love one must yield to love, voluntarily as in favor of another.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13
I heard the sea and asked,
“what language is that?”
the sea replied,
“The language of questions.”
I saw the sky and asked,
“What is the answer?”
the sky replied,
“The language of eternal silence.”
Tagore
Please attend to the ailing finances of the Center and meditate on the healing.
Even as a mother at the risk of her life would
watch over her only child, so let us with boundless
mind and goodwill survey the whole world.
The Buddha
Lord, may we love all your creation, all the Earth and every grain of sand in it. May we love every leaf, every ray of your light. For we acknowledge to you that all is like an ocean, all is flowing and blending, and that to withhold any measure of love from anything in your universe is to withhold that same measure from you.
Fyodor Dostoyesky
Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty,my memory, my understanding and my whole will.All that I am and all that I possess You have given me.I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will.Give me only Your love and Your grace;with these I will be rich enough,and will desire nothing more.
Jesuit - St.. Ignatius Loyola - 16th century
I live in the world afraid to lose anything,
Take me to your world where I can lose
everything.
Tagore
Surrender is a dirty word in our militaristic culture – along with vulnerable –
MLK quote – “ Remember that non-violence is to seek justice and reconciliation, not victory.”
Life is not a battle to gain victory over
New World Dictionary includes and places first these meanings:
1. To give up possession of:
What do we really own anyway? What is really ours?
I have nothing to offer Thee,
For all things are Thine.
I grieve not that I cannot give;
For nothing is mine, for nothing is mine.
Here I lay at Thy feet
My life, my limbs, my thoughts and speech;
For they are Thine, for they are Thine.
Paramahansa Yogananda
To give up possession of the moment. To try to hold on to the moment is like trying to grasp water with your hands. It flows in and then it flows out.
Live loyally today-- grow --and tomorrow will attend to itself.The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frogis to live loyally each momentas a tadpole.
Urantia book - 1094:06
Definitions continued…
2. To give up power over
I think this could be seen as giving up the illusion we have of control. We really have no power over anything. We can have power with, but not over another human being. The power of community, creation, and communication. As Thomas Merton says:
The deepest level of communication is not communication but communion. It is wordless. It is beyond words, and it is beyond speech, and it is beyond concept. Not that we discover a new unity. My dear brothers [and sisters] we are already one. But we imagine that we are not. And what we have to recover is our original unity.
3. To give up claim to; give over or yield esp. voluntarily, as in favor of another
To understand this is to surrender to love. Love has no claim on anything and to feel love one must yield to love, voluntarily as in favor of another.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13
I heard the sea and asked,
“what language is that?”
the sea replied,
“The language of questions.”
I saw the sky and asked,
“What is the answer?”
the sky replied,
“The language of eternal silence.”
Tagore
Please attend to the ailing finances of the Center and meditate on the healing.
Even as a mother at the risk of her life would
watch over her only child, so let us with boundless
mind and goodwill survey the whole world.
The Buddha
Lord, may we love all your creation, all the Earth and every grain of sand in it. May we love every leaf, every ray of your light. For we acknowledge to you that all is like an ocean, all is flowing and blending, and that to withhold any measure of love from anything in your universe is to withhold that same measure from you.
Fyodor Dostoyesky
March Theme Passion
3-30-08
Most gracious Spirit
Mother, Master, Messiah, and Savior of humanity
We greet You in all humility.
You are the First Cause and the Last Effect
The Divine Light and the Spirit of guidance
Alpha and Omega
Your light in all forms
Your love in all beings
In a loving mother, in a kind father,
in an innocent child,
in a helpful friend,
and in an inspiring teacher.
Allow us to recognize You in all Your names and forms,
known and unknown to the world.
We adore Your past,
Your Presence deeply enlightens our being ,
and we look for Your blessing in the future.
O messenger, Christ, Eve, the Rasul of God!
You whose heart constantly reaches upwards,
You come on earth with a message
as a dove from above when Dharma decays,
and speak the Word which is put into Your mouth as
the light fills the crescent moon.
Let the star of the Divine Light, shining in Your heart
be reflected in the hearts of Your devotees.
May the Message of the Divine reach far and wide,
illuminating and making whole humanity as
one single sister/brotherhood in the Mother/Fatherhood of God.
Amen
Rewritten from a Sufi prayer
To worship is to gather in one strong body, affirming that each of us is part of the body that is beloved community. To worship is to bring our deepest yearnings, our highest aspirations and our most cherished dreams together to share them, to proclaim them worthy to one another, so the truth they contain might support and nourish us as we strive to work for a better, more compassionate world for all beings.
Let us worship, then, with minds and hearts and hands and voices, knowing we are not isolated beings but connected, in mystery and miracle, to the universe, to this community and to one another.
Unitarian Universalist service
Sufi story as told by Andrew Harvey:
Once a young lion was frolicking in the long grass, chasing his tail when suddenly he discovered that all the other lions had left. He was a small cub who didn’t know much. When a flock of sheep came along, he tagged after them. The sheep took him in, brought him up, and taught him to walk, talk, snore, and baaaa like them, to chat about real estate, and pour derisive scorn on all things sacred. He became just like the best-educated sheep.
One day another lion happened to be striding though the mountains and saw this ludicrous sight a lion cub walking, talking baaaa-ing and sniveling like a sheep. With a great roar the lion ran down the hillside scattering the flock of sheep. He grabbed the lion cub and dragged it to a pond where he forced the cub to look at himself in the water. “Look, you are not a sheep, you are like me, you are a lion. You are a lion and you have the truth and the sincerity, the passion, and the majesty of a lion.” Then the lion gave an immense and glorious roar. This both terrified and excited the cub. “Now you roar” said the lion. The cub’s first attempts were pathetic rumblings, halfway between a baaaa and a shriek. But slowly, under the tutelage of the lion, the cub grew into claiming his lionhood and began over many years to learn how to roar.
Decide what is sacred to you, and put your best life energies at its service. Make that the focus of your studies, your work, the test for your pleasure and your relationships. Don't ever let fear or craving for security turn you aside. When you serve your passion, when you are willing to risk yourself for something, your greatest creative energies are released. Hard work is required, but nothing is more joyful than work infused by love.
~ Starhawk, The Spiral Dance
Reflections in the way of the Quaker – our reflections are part of our worship together. They are not ongoing conversation, but rather something that wells up from deep within. As we worship together in community, and in communion with one another, we share those things that have a profound meaning for us. We do not need to comment on or even acknowledge one another’s sharings, but simply offer them as a gift of worship. This might seem strange at first, but it will change and sanctify our energy together.
Divine MysteryDeliver me to my passion.Deliver me to my brilliance.Deliver me to my intelligence.Deliver me to my depth.Deliver me to my nobility.Deliver me to my beauty.Deliver me to my power to heal.Deliver me to You.
Amen
May there be peace in the higher regions
May there be peace in the firmament
May there be peace on earth
May the waters flow peacefully
May the herbs and plants grow peacefully
May all the divine powers bring unto us peace
The Supreme Being is peace
May we all be in peace, peace and only peace
And may that peace come into each of us
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
The Vedas (1500 BCE)
Most gracious Spirit
Mother, Master, Messiah, and Savior of humanity
We greet You in all humility.
You are the First Cause and the Last Effect
The Divine Light and the Spirit of guidance
Alpha and Omega
Your light in all forms
Your love in all beings
In a loving mother, in a kind father,
in an innocent child,
in a helpful friend,
and in an inspiring teacher.
Allow us to recognize You in all Your names and forms,
known and unknown to the world.
We adore Your past,
Your Presence deeply enlightens our being ,
and we look for Your blessing in the future.
O messenger, Christ, Eve, the Rasul of God!
You whose heart constantly reaches upwards,
You come on earth with a message
as a dove from above when Dharma decays,
and speak the Word which is put into Your mouth as
the light fills the crescent moon.
Let the star of the Divine Light, shining in Your heart
be reflected in the hearts of Your devotees.
May the Message of the Divine reach far and wide,
illuminating and making whole humanity as
one single sister/brotherhood in the Mother/Fatherhood of God.
Amen
Rewritten from a Sufi prayer
To worship is to gather in one strong body, affirming that each of us is part of the body that is beloved community. To worship is to bring our deepest yearnings, our highest aspirations and our most cherished dreams together to share them, to proclaim them worthy to one another, so the truth they contain might support and nourish us as we strive to work for a better, more compassionate world for all beings.
Let us worship, then, with minds and hearts and hands and voices, knowing we are not isolated beings but connected, in mystery and miracle, to the universe, to this community and to one another.
Unitarian Universalist service
Sufi story as told by Andrew Harvey:
Once a young lion was frolicking in the long grass, chasing his tail when suddenly he discovered that all the other lions had left. He was a small cub who didn’t know much. When a flock of sheep came along, he tagged after them. The sheep took him in, brought him up, and taught him to walk, talk, snore, and baaaa like them, to chat about real estate, and pour derisive scorn on all things sacred. He became just like the best-educated sheep.
One day another lion happened to be striding though the mountains and saw this ludicrous sight a lion cub walking, talking baaaa-ing and sniveling like a sheep. With a great roar the lion ran down the hillside scattering the flock of sheep. He grabbed the lion cub and dragged it to a pond where he forced the cub to look at himself in the water. “Look, you are not a sheep, you are like me, you are a lion. You are a lion and you have the truth and the sincerity, the passion, and the majesty of a lion.” Then the lion gave an immense and glorious roar. This both terrified and excited the cub. “Now you roar” said the lion. The cub’s first attempts were pathetic rumblings, halfway between a baaaa and a shriek. But slowly, under the tutelage of the lion, the cub grew into claiming his lionhood and began over many years to learn how to roar.
Decide what is sacred to you, and put your best life energies at its service. Make that the focus of your studies, your work, the test for your pleasure and your relationships. Don't ever let fear or craving for security turn you aside. When you serve your passion, when you are willing to risk yourself for something, your greatest creative energies are released. Hard work is required, but nothing is more joyful than work infused by love.
~ Starhawk, The Spiral Dance
Reflections in the way of the Quaker – our reflections are part of our worship together. They are not ongoing conversation, but rather something that wells up from deep within. As we worship together in community, and in communion with one another, we share those things that have a profound meaning for us. We do not need to comment on or even acknowledge one another’s sharings, but simply offer them as a gift of worship. This might seem strange at first, but it will change and sanctify our energy together.
Divine MysteryDeliver me to my passion.Deliver me to my brilliance.Deliver me to my intelligence.Deliver me to my depth.Deliver me to my nobility.Deliver me to my beauty.Deliver me to my power to heal.Deliver me to You.
Amen
May there be peace in the higher regions
May there be peace in the firmament
May there be peace on earth
May the waters flow peacefully
May the herbs and plants grow peacefully
May all the divine powers bring unto us peace
The Supreme Being is peace
May we all be in peace, peace and only peace
And may that peace come into each of us
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
The Vedas (1500 BCE)
March Theme Passion
Easter Sunday
Holy Mystery
As we join together this morning in the light of your presence,
we are reminded that we are all one in the divine heart.
May this longing for oneness transform our world.
May our hearts be opened, in the very depths where we find you, God,
May our hearts be open to the glorious expression of your love found in all our religions and spiritual traditions.
You speak to us, Holy Mystery, in this diversity, and we are enriched and humbled by the breadth and depth of your Words.
May our gathering together this morning signify our hopes for the harmony of our planet, the alleviation of suffering, food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, and respect for the poor. May this flame be a testimony of our willingness to struggle together toward the peace of inclusiveness, loving all and embracing all in the family of creation.
Amen.
…when those loved ones and His brethren came on that glad morning when the tidings had come to them; those who stood guard heard a fearful voice and saw a light. “The stone has been rolled away” … then they entered into the garden and there Mary first saw the risen Lord. Then came those of his brethren with the faithful women, those who loved His mother, who were her companions in sorrow, and those who were making preparations that the law be kept and there be no desecration even of the ground about His tomb. His friends too, His loved ones and His brethren saw the angels…
Open your eyes, and behold the Glory, even of the Christ present here, now, in your midst! Even as He appeared to them on that day. …
You, too often doubt; you, too often fear. Yet He is surely with you. And at this glad season when you rededicate your life, your body and mind to His service, you too may know as did they, that he lives ... and is [ready] to make intercession for you. If you will believe that He is, you may experience it.
When the Prince of Peace came into came into the earth for the completion of HIS OWN development in the earth, He overcame the flesh AND temptation. So He became the first of those who overcame death in the body, (and this) enabled him to illuminate, to so revivify that body that he could take it up again, even when those fluids of the body had been drained away by the nail holes in His hands and the spear piercing his side.
He came, the Master, in the flesh and blood even as you have come in flesh and blood. Yet as He then proclaimed … there is a cleansing of the body, of the flesh, of the blood, in such measure that it may become illuminated with power unto the Will of the Divine … and thus is an example for Man and only as a man.
The soul was made perfect in the beginning; it passes through the Earth plane where it may obtain its body to present before the Creator.
Adapted from Edgar Cayce’s Story of Jesus
An ending that is only a beginning; Forever renewing… A moon child wanders into a dark wood; into hidden, blackened parts; Finding moonstones and moonflowers; Offers them then, gifts long unclaimed. A Jesus wanders into a desert; into dry and barren parts; Finding through the burning the path of purification; Finding the water in the heart of the prickled cactus; Offers them the, gifts long unclaimed. A solitary figure; You… Me… Wanders into a cave of suffering; Knows the brokenness, the crucifying, the dying, the entombing, Finds through it all an inner self; Rising dusty, shaken, transformed, And offers a gift, long unclaimed. The holy heart; The Heart of Wholeness; Behind all faces; And the stars, in the darkness, nod. Marni P. Harmony
Great Spirit, Divine One, Creatorwho is heaven earth rock wind insect tree foxhuman of every size shape color
Holy are your infinite names chanted sung whisperedshouted in every language, tongue.
We will midwife the rebirth of Gaiaas best we canrestoring the Great Law of Peace.
Guide our hands to the soil and seedhonoring the alchemy of food.Let us remember your abundanceand share the bread of life with any who hunger.
We are for givingand giving and giving.We trust in the give-away.We give and receive.
Let us be humble before the darkness and the lightwalking in harmony amidst them.Give us courage to know them intimatelyboth within and without.
For you have breathed it all---the behind, the above, the below, the beyond.Your awesome power courses in our veinsand animates our hearts.You are the Great Drum.
We thank you.
translation of the lord's prayerfrom King James to Gaian - Claudia L'amoreaux
May the light of the Divine shine upon us
May the love of the Divine heal our struggling world
May the birth of the divine take place again and again
in each of our hearts.
Beverly Lanzetta
Holy Mystery
As we join together this morning in the light of your presence,
we are reminded that we are all one in the divine heart.
May this longing for oneness transform our world.
May our hearts be opened, in the very depths where we find you, God,
May our hearts be open to the glorious expression of your love found in all our religions and spiritual traditions.
You speak to us, Holy Mystery, in this diversity, and we are enriched and humbled by the breadth and depth of your Words.
May our gathering together this morning signify our hopes for the harmony of our planet, the alleviation of suffering, food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, and respect for the poor. May this flame be a testimony of our willingness to struggle together toward the peace of inclusiveness, loving all and embracing all in the family of creation.
Amen.
…when those loved ones and His brethren came on that glad morning when the tidings had come to them; those who stood guard heard a fearful voice and saw a light. “The stone has been rolled away” … then they entered into the garden and there Mary first saw the risen Lord. Then came those of his brethren with the faithful women, those who loved His mother, who were her companions in sorrow, and those who were making preparations that the law be kept and there be no desecration even of the ground about His tomb. His friends too, His loved ones and His brethren saw the angels…
Open your eyes, and behold the Glory, even of the Christ present here, now, in your midst! Even as He appeared to them on that day. …
You, too often doubt; you, too often fear. Yet He is surely with you. And at this glad season when you rededicate your life, your body and mind to His service, you too may know as did they, that he lives ... and is [ready] to make intercession for you. If you will believe that He is, you may experience it.
When the Prince of Peace came into came into the earth for the completion of HIS OWN development in the earth, He overcame the flesh AND temptation. So He became the first of those who overcame death in the body, (and this) enabled him to illuminate, to so revivify that body that he could take it up again, even when those fluids of the body had been drained away by the nail holes in His hands and the spear piercing his side.
He came, the Master, in the flesh and blood even as you have come in flesh and blood. Yet as He then proclaimed … there is a cleansing of the body, of the flesh, of the blood, in such measure that it may become illuminated with power unto the Will of the Divine … and thus is an example for Man and only as a man.
The soul was made perfect in the beginning; it passes through the Earth plane where it may obtain its body to present before the Creator.
Adapted from Edgar Cayce’s Story of Jesus
An ending that is only a beginning; Forever renewing… A moon child wanders into a dark wood; into hidden, blackened parts; Finding moonstones and moonflowers; Offers them then, gifts long unclaimed. A Jesus wanders into a desert; into dry and barren parts; Finding through the burning the path of purification; Finding the water in the heart of the prickled cactus; Offers them the, gifts long unclaimed. A solitary figure; You… Me… Wanders into a cave of suffering; Knows the brokenness, the crucifying, the dying, the entombing, Finds through it all an inner self; Rising dusty, shaken, transformed, And offers a gift, long unclaimed. The holy heart; The Heart of Wholeness; Behind all faces; And the stars, in the darkness, nod. Marni P. Harmony
Great Spirit, Divine One, Creatorwho is heaven earth rock wind insect tree foxhuman of every size shape color
Holy are your infinite names chanted sung whisperedshouted in every language, tongue.
We will midwife the rebirth of Gaiaas best we canrestoring the Great Law of Peace.
Guide our hands to the soil and seedhonoring the alchemy of food.Let us remember your abundanceand share the bread of life with any who hunger.
We are for givingand giving and giving.We trust in the give-away.We give and receive.
Let us be humble before the darkness and the lightwalking in harmony amidst them.Give us courage to know them intimatelyboth within and without.
For you have breathed it all---the behind, the above, the below, the beyond.Your awesome power courses in our veinsand animates our hearts.You are the Great Drum.
We thank you.
translation of the lord's prayerfrom King James to Gaian - Claudia L'amoreaux
May the light of the Divine shine upon us
May the love of the Divine heal our struggling world
May the birth of the divine take place again and again
in each of our hearts.
Beverly Lanzetta
March Theme Passion
3-16-08
Divine MysteryDeliver me to my passion.Deliver me to my brilliance.Deliver me to my intelligence.Deliver me to my depth.Deliver me to my nobility.Deliver me to my beauty.Deliver me to my power to heal.Deliver me to You.
Amen
Since the beginning of the world there has been an enigma, … man had always been looking for it but has never found it. It is present everywhere but it's hard to reach its chambers - it's guarded by deep waters, dense forests and profound thoughts. Everything important began with it: architecture, philosophy, sculpture... It is, at the same time, the strongest roar, and the only thing, which stops when its name is spoken.
Its name is Silence.
All the depths in nature are silent, as are all the profound feelings in man: love, faith, courage, persistence. … For centuries, man has found silence in faith and prayers, philosophers in philosophy, artists in art. The great orators were turned towards the sea during their speech, looking for inspiration in the silence of that [expanse].
How can we find, in life and speech, a secret thread, which will lead us along the entangled paths of our passion to silence? Do we have enough strength to resist our greatest enemies - thrills and ego? [We fear it as much as we crave it] We are we afraid of silence and its undiscovered paths, its passion, its sparkle that has often lit our soul, its ominous stillness which has brought us tough and joyous days? And just when we think that we have found it, we are uneasy and curious again, we wonder what's beyond it.
Maybe that is the end, torn down sacred monuments which we have worshipped, demolished cities which we have been building for centuries. We will always long for silence as we do for light and air, even though we, ourselves, destroy it most. Our uncontrollable passion leads us to the unknown, uncertainty, and into redemption. By making the poison, we always poison ourselves first. Out of our careless words, enemies and unease are born. It's already been said that honesty doesn't mean always telling what's on your mind. It actually means that everything you don't think should be left unspoken. You should rush slowly into silence. And quietly...If we say its name it will stop.( "Beyond silence", author Suzana Stojanovic, 02.12.2007. )
There are three monks, who had been sitting in deep meditation for many years amidst the Himalayan snow peaks, never speaking a word, in utter silence. One morning, one of the three suddenly speaks up and says, ‘What a lovely morning this is.’ And he falls silent again. Five years of silence pass, when all at once the second monk speaks up and says, ‘But we could do with some rain.’ There is silence among them for another five years, when suddenly the third monk says, ‘Why can’t you two stop chattering?”
Krishnamurti
Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
Meditation is a movement in and of the unknown … it is that energy that though-matter cannot touch. Thought is perversion for it is the product of yesterday … Everything put together by thought is within the area of noise, and thought can in no way make itself still … thought itself must be still for silence to be. Silence is always now as thought is not. Thought, always being old, cannot possibly enter into that silence which is always new. The new becomes the old when thought touches it … Love can only be, when thought is still. This stillness can in no way be manufactured by thought … this stillness can never be touched by thought. Thought is always old, but love is not … the flowering of goodness is not in the soil of thought’
‘Meeting Life’ (Bulletin 4, 1969) © 1991 Krishnamurti Foundation Trust, Ltd; Published by HarperSanFrancisco
Stillness is really another word for space. Becoming conscious of stillness whenever we encounter it in our lives will connect us with the formless and timeless dimension within ourselves; that which is beyond thought, beyond ego. It may be the stillness that pervades the world of nature, or the stillness in your room in the early hours of the morning, or the silent gaps in between sounds. Stillness has no form – that is why through thinking we cannot become aware of it. Thought is form. Being aware of stillness means to be still.
To be still is to be conscious without thought. You are never more essentially, more deeply yourself than when you are still. When you are still you are who you were before you temporarily assumed the physical and mental form called a person. You are who you will be when the form disappears. When you are still, you are who you are beyond your temporal existence: consciousness – unconditional – unconditioned, formless, eternal.
Eckhart Tolle
Watch over me
Hold your hand before me in protection.
Stand guard for me; speak for me.
As you speak for me, I will speak for you.
May all be beautiful before me.
May all be beautiful behind me.
May all be beautiful below me.
May all be beautiful above me.
May all be beautiful all around me.
I am restored in beauty.
Navajo Shootingway ceremony prayer
All is transient
When you perceive this, you are above suffering.
The path is clear
All is suffering,
When you perceive this, you are above suffering.
The pat is clear.
All is unreal.
When you perceive this, you are above suffering.
The path is clear
The Buddha
Divine MysteryDeliver me to my passion.Deliver me to my brilliance.Deliver me to my intelligence.Deliver me to my depth.Deliver me to my nobility.Deliver me to my beauty.Deliver me to my power to heal.Deliver me to You.
Amen
Since the beginning of the world there has been an enigma, … man had always been looking for it but has never found it. It is present everywhere but it's hard to reach its chambers - it's guarded by deep waters, dense forests and profound thoughts. Everything important began with it: architecture, philosophy, sculpture... It is, at the same time, the strongest roar, and the only thing, which stops when its name is spoken.
Its name is Silence.
All the depths in nature are silent, as are all the profound feelings in man: love, faith, courage, persistence. … For centuries, man has found silence in faith and prayers, philosophers in philosophy, artists in art. The great orators were turned towards the sea during their speech, looking for inspiration in the silence of that [expanse].
How can we find, in life and speech, a secret thread, which will lead us along the entangled paths of our passion to silence? Do we have enough strength to resist our greatest enemies - thrills and ego? [We fear it as much as we crave it] We are we afraid of silence and its undiscovered paths, its passion, its sparkle that has often lit our soul, its ominous stillness which has brought us tough and joyous days? And just when we think that we have found it, we are uneasy and curious again, we wonder what's beyond it.
Maybe that is the end, torn down sacred monuments which we have worshipped, demolished cities which we have been building for centuries. We will always long for silence as we do for light and air, even though we, ourselves, destroy it most. Our uncontrollable passion leads us to the unknown, uncertainty, and into redemption. By making the poison, we always poison ourselves first. Out of our careless words, enemies and unease are born. It's already been said that honesty doesn't mean always telling what's on your mind. It actually means that everything you don't think should be left unspoken. You should rush slowly into silence. And quietly...If we say its name it will stop.( "Beyond silence", author Suzana Stojanovic, 02.12.2007. )
There are three monks, who had been sitting in deep meditation for many years amidst the Himalayan snow peaks, never speaking a word, in utter silence. One morning, one of the three suddenly speaks up and says, ‘What a lovely morning this is.’ And he falls silent again. Five years of silence pass, when all at once the second monk speaks up and says, ‘But we could do with some rain.’ There is silence among them for another five years, when suddenly the third monk says, ‘Why can’t you two stop chattering?”
Krishnamurti
Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
Meditation is a movement in and of the unknown … it is that energy that though-matter cannot touch. Thought is perversion for it is the product of yesterday … Everything put together by thought is within the area of noise, and thought can in no way make itself still … thought itself must be still for silence to be. Silence is always now as thought is not. Thought, always being old, cannot possibly enter into that silence which is always new. The new becomes the old when thought touches it … Love can only be, when thought is still. This stillness can in no way be manufactured by thought … this stillness can never be touched by thought. Thought is always old, but love is not … the flowering of goodness is not in the soil of thought’
‘Meeting Life’ (Bulletin 4, 1969) © 1991 Krishnamurti Foundation Trust, Ltd; Published by HarperSanFrancisco
Stillness is really another word for space. Becoming conscious of stillness whenever we encounter it in our lives will connect us with the formless and timeless dimension within ourselves; that which is beyond thought, beyond ego. It may be the stillness that pervades the world of nature, or the stillness in your room in the early hours of the morning, or the silent gaps in between sounds. Stillness has no form – that is why through thinking we cannot become aware of it. Thought is form. Being aware of stillness means to be still.
To be still is to be conscious without thought. You are never more essentially, more deeply yourself than when you are still. When you are still you are who you were before you temporarily assumed the physical and mental form called a person. You are who you will be when the form disappears. When you are still, you are who you are beyond your temporal existence: consciousness – unconditional – unconditioned, formless, eternal.
Eckhart Tolle
Watch over me
Hold your hand before me in protection.
Stand guard for me; speak for me.
As you speak for me, I will speak for you.
May all be beautiful before me.
May all be beautiful behind me.
May all be beautiful below me.
May all be beautiful above me.
May all be beautiful all around me.
I am restored in beauty.
Navajo Shootingway ceremony prayer
All is transient
When you perceive this, you are above suffering.
The path is clear
All is suffering,
When you perceive this, you are above suffering.
The pat is clear.
All is unreal.
When you perceive this, you are above suffering.
The path is clear
The Buddha
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