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Posts tagged ‘prayer’

Jul 4

Sky Open, Light Cast

“I need a song that will keep sky open in my mind. If I think behind me, I might break. If I think forward, I lose now.”― Joy Harjo, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems

“To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear
Can’t know except in moments
Steadly growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.”
― Joy Harjo

Freedom
Peace
Kindness
Hope
Generosity
Faith
Trust
Seeds
Grace
Light
Steadfastness
Fidelity
Fresh meaning
Love
Keep the sky open in my mind and heart
Amen
Prayer for this day and each day

“Bless the poets, the workers for justice,
the dancers of ceremony, the singers of heartache,
the visionaries, all makers and carriers of fresh
meaning—We will all make it through,
despite politics and wars, despite failures
and misunderstandings. There is only love.”
― Joy Harjo, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems

May 30

Thought and Sight

“Prayer is a refusal to settle for what is.”― Walter Brueggemann, Interrupting Silence: God’s Command to Speak Out

“No changing of place at a hundred miles an hour will make us one whit stronger, or happier, or wiser. There was always more in the world than man could see, walked they ever so slowly; they will see it no better for going fast. The really precious things are thought and sight, not pace. It does a bullet no good to go fast; and a man, if he be truly a man, no harm to go slow; for his glory is not at all in going, but in being.”― John Ruskin, Modern Painters: Volume 3. Of Many Things

Thought and sight.
Slow and awake.
Witness and partake.
May the sky at sunrise and sunset capture your attention every time.
A flower in bloom jolt you into delight.
Hope that anchors and sails.
Walking out love every day.
Mostly in small, seemingly insignificant ways.
Seeds on fertile ground.
A smile, an encouraging word or two, asking, listening, laughter, gratitude.
All forms of prayer.

“Hope, on one hand, is an absurdity too embarrassing to speak about, for it flies in the face of all those claims we have been told are facts. Hope is the refusal to accept the reading of reality which is the majority opinion; and one does that only at great political and existential risk. On the other hand, hope is subversive, for it limits the grandiose pretension of the present, daring to announce that the present to which we have all made commitments is now called into question.”― Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination

Jun 19

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A Rush of Wonder

“Can there be a benediction of deer on a chilly spring morning? I think so. Their otherworldliness stops the day in its tracks, focuses it on the hypnotic beauty of nature, and then starts the day again with a rush of wonder. There is a way of sitting quietly and beholding nature which is a form of meditation and prayer, and like those healing acts it calms the spirit.”― Diane Ackerman, Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden

“There is a serene and settled majesty to woodland scenery that enters into the soul and delights and elevates it, and fills it with noble inclinations.” – Washington Irving

To reawaken.
Daily practice to master.
A pause to look longer.
A breath to anchor.
Thin spaces to broaden.
Magical things await.
Just outside the confines of old thoughts, stale rules, endless “to do” lists.
To be filled and made new.
Awe, wonder, delight await your attention and tending.

“The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to sharpen.”― Eden Phillpotts

Feb 20

Church

“Every natural object is a conductor of divinity and only by coming into contact with them... may we be filled with the Holy Ghost.” – John Muir

“Every natural object is a conductor of divinity and only by coming into contact with them… may we be filled with the Holy Ghost.” – John Muir

“Anybody can observe the Sabbath, but making it holy surely takes the rest of the week.” – Alice Walker

Sacred surrounds us.
Holy invites and enfolds.
Church isn’t a building.
Church is all around each day.
It’s the sky on fire with pink and orange at days end.
It’s a walk into the woods.
It’s people reaching out, connecting, caring.
In listening.
In laughter.
In gathering.
In solitude.
In tears.
In service.
In generosity.
In frustration.
In patience.
In celebration.
In music, art, poetry.
Hallowed ground.
In awe, praise and wonder of ordinary days.
Church in session.
The Author and Creator abound.
Amen.

“For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life.” – William Blake

Oct 29

Stones to Altars

“Prayer is a small fire lit to keep cold hands warm. Prayer is a practice that flourishes both with faith and doubt. Prayer is asking, and prayer is sitting. Prayer is the breath. Prayer is not an answer, always, because not all questions can be answered.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community

“So let us pick up the stones over which we stumble, friends, and build altars. Let us listen to the sound of breath in our bodies. Let us listen to the sounds of our own voices, of our own names, of our own fears. Let us name the harsh light and soft darkness that surround us. Let’s claw ourselves out from the graves we’ve dug. Let’s lick the earth from our fingers. Let us look up and out and around. The world is big and wide and wild and wonderful and wicked, and our lives are murky, magnificent, malleable, and full of meaning. Oremus. Let us pray.” ― Pádraig Ó Tuama, Irish Poet and Theologian

May you be hurled into the big and wide world, rapt in amazement, wonder and awe.
May you swim in the deep end of magnificent, murky and meaning, buoyed in the ebb and flow.
May you build altars to kneel in praise, gratitude and joy, from the stones and flowers in your path.
May Amen be woven throughout the beginning, middle and end of each day.
Let us pray, receiving and giving, blessed and awake.
Amen.

Feb 24

A Listening

“A LISTENING – Going through Lent is a listening. When we listen to the word, we hear where we are so blatantly unliving. If we listen to the word, and hallow it into our lives, we hear how we can so abundantly live again.”— Kneeling in Jerusalem by Ann Weems

When the answers are hollow, listen to hear the hallowed;
Speak less, listen more;
Listen to understand rather than to respond;
Be open to a new space of possibility;

I discovered Ann Weems work through listening to Amy Bost Henegar, who I discovered on Insight Timer. When we search with an open mind and heart, one thing leads to the next, connections begin to form and sense-making follows.

May we all be open to listening, changing and growth on our joyful journey to Bethlehem and the difficult journey to Jerusalem. Oasis and desert. Living and dying. Winter to spring. Renewed and strengthened.

“THE WAY TO JERUSALEM IS CLUTTERED – The way to Jerusalem is cluttered with bits and pieces of our lives that fly up and cry out, wounding us as we try to keep upon this path that leads to Life. Why didn’t somebody tell us that it would be so hard? In the midst of the clutter, the children laugh and run after stars. Those of us who are wise will follow, for the children will be the first to kneel in Jerusalem.” — Kneeling in Jerusalem by Ann Weems

 

 

 

May 19

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Abide

"Explore daily the will of God." - Carl Jung

“Explore daily the will of God.” – Carl Jung

In the quiet of the morning before we let thoughts in that have no place, set the tone and direction for each day. A guide, a compass, a prayer.

“Dear God, 
I give this day to You. 
May my mind stay centered on the things of spirit. 
May I not be tempted to stray from love. 
As I begin this day, I open to receive You. 
Please enter where You already abide. 
May my mind and heart be pure and true, and may I not deviate from things of goodness.
May I see the love and innocence in all mankind, behind the masks we all wear and the illusions of this worldly plane. 
I surrender to You my doings this day. 
I ask only that they serve You and the healing of the world. 
May I bring your love and goodness with me, to give unto others wherever I go.
Make me the person You would have me be. 
Direct my footsteps, and show me what you would have me do.
Make the world a safer, more beautiful place. 
Bless all your creatures. 
Heal us all, and use me, dear Lord, that I might know the joy of being used by You. Amen.” 

– Marianne Williamson. Illuminata: A Return to Prayer

Be present in this day, tomorrow has its own time.