Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
To connect by phone dial: +1 646 558 8656
Welcome and Theme:
We gather as a community to take the first steps of our forty-day prayer journey called Lent. The ashes we will bless are derived from the gardens of Upper Room community members.
Opening Prayer:
Holy One, open our hearts to the empty spaces. Help us to see in the dark. Lead us to that place of quiet where the only sound is your voice, calling our true selves into being, into union with one another and with you.
Opening Song: You Can Relax Now, Shaina Noll
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-mfPQIEaUA
First Reading:
Do we know that within each one of us is the unspeakably beautiful beat of the Sacred? Do we know that we can honor that Sacredness in one another and in everything that has being? And do we know that this combination—growing in awareness that we are bearers of Presence, along with a faithful commitment to honor that Presence in one another and in the earth—holds the key to transformation in our world?
These are the inspired words of Philip Newell, and we affirm them by saying AMEN.
Second Reading:
Quantum Physics and the Common Good.
There is a living hum that might be coming from my neurons but might just as well be coming from the furnace of the stars.
When I look up at them there is a small commotion in my bones, as the ashes of dead stars that house my marrow rise up like metal filings toward the magnet of their living kin.
These are the inspired words of Barbara Brown Taylor and we affirm them by saying AMEN.
Let us have a moment of silence as we contemplate these readings and our path over the next forty days.
Blessing of the ashes:
The ashes we bless today/tonight are the fruits of the earth reduced to their essence by fire. The elements contained here are shared throughout creation. Carbon, calcium, phosphorous, born of nuclear fusion deep within the core of stars, are the same elements, born of the same stars, that make up everything we know, everything we see, everyone we love. We are all born of star dust. Our oldest ancestors are the stars. Please raise your hands over these ashes in blessing:
Holy one, all creation comes from you. All things take shape through you. All things live in you. May these ashes, remnants of the plants of the earth, already holy in their union with you, be blessed tonight as reminders of our relationship with all of creation. Through them may we know your presence, the presence that permeates all things and unites us in your love.
Holy one, all creation comes from you. All things take shape through you. All things live in you. May we Ourselves be blessed tonight as we remember to live out the desires of the Divine in our lives especially over these next forty days. Through our daily listening and awareness of your presence may we fulfill the holiness that surrounds us.
We invite you to keep these ashes in a place in your home where you will see them throughout the Lenten season. You may want to use them as part of your prayer during the season. As the weeks pass, and the days become longer, we are reminded that the word “lent” comes from the Old English word “lencten,” referring to the lengthening days of spring. By the time Easter comes you may want to take these ashes and add them to the earth of a garden or flower pot. Thus the cycle will continue, and your Lenten prayers, along with the ashes, will become part of the future.
Closing Prayer: May our Lenten journey lead us to the farthest reaches of the universe, and to the center of our being, both destinations lying in the heart of the Holy One. Amen.
Closing Song: “Deep Peace” Sara Thomsen
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