February
2017
Call to
Silence and Opening Meditation:
A Reading from the Gospel of Mary:
"Be on your guard so that no one deceives you by saying, 'Look over here!'
or 'Look over there!' For the child of true Humanity exists within you. Follow
it! (Karen King
translation)
“The Lord is in me,
the Lord is in you, as life is in every seed, put false pride away and seek the
Lord within.”
― Kabir
― Kabir
We Were Made For These Times
My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are
deeply and properly bewildered. They are
concerned about the state of affairs in our world now. Ours is a time of almost
daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of
what matters most too civilized, visionary people. You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to
while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the
poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to
please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that
we were made for these times. Yet, for years, we have been learning,
practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain
of engagement.
I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy
vessel when I see one. Regarding
awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than
there are right now across the world. And
they are provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the
history of humankind. Lookout over the
prow; there are millions of boats of
righteous souls on the waters with you.
Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil,
I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a
greater forest. That long-grained lumber
is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to
advance, regardless.
In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward
fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency, too, to fall into being
weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the
sails.
We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet
resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and
guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn’t you say you were a believer? Didn’t you say you pledged to listen to a
voice greater? Didn’t you ask for
grace? Don’t you remember that to be in
grace means to submit to the voice greater?
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once,
but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our
reach. Any small, calm thing that one
soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering
world, will help immensely. It is not
given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip
toward an enduring good.
What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of
acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on
Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will
not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.
One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to
intervene in a stormy world is to standup and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark
times. The light of the soul throws
sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch
fire. To display the lantern of soul in
shadowy times like these – to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both
are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch
light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would
help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. There will always be times when you feel
discouraged. I too have felt despair
many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.
The reason is this:
in my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you
remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we
do are not ours. They are the words and
deeds of the One who brought us here. In
that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it
is safe, there can be no doubt. But that
is not what great ships are built for.
D Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes
“Here's the
thing, say Shug. The thing I believe. God is inside you and inside everybody
else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside
find it. And sometimes it just manifest itself even if you not looking, or
don't know what you looking for. Trouble do it for most folks, I think.”
Alice Walker, The Color Purple
“The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact the kingdom of God is among [within] you”.
Gospel of Luke
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning
to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the
homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Statue of Liberty
Call
to Conversation:
Closing:
SOLO: Where
are you from?
UNISON: We have come from the place where light is
produced from itself.
Where
is that place?
It’s a mystery
But
can you say you image the light?
Yes, indeed. We carry the light within.
And
the peace?
The peace.
How
do you know of such light and such peace?
The sign is the feeling.
The sign is the movement from within.
The sign is the passion for the well-being
of all.
What
are your other signs?
Our recognitions of injustice and hatred
and oppression throughout the globe
Of power races and violence that seem
unending.
Can
we turn those around?
We must seek to do so.
Are
you willing to spread your light and your peace?
We are eager to spread it.
It spreads just as love spreads.
The
kingdom spreads out on earth
Just
as love spreads.
But some people are not aware of it.
Yet
you are aware!
Yes, indeed.
We are aware of the light and the movement
and the peace.
And we cannot stand back.
We will step forward
We will overcome the violence, the
domination, the hatred
And spread love
Peace
be with you.
Acquire my peace within.
