Moment of Oneness - August 31, 2022

As we approach September, many of us are deeply involved with school planning and readiness.  For many young people, the future is unsure – new schools, new instructors, and even safety concerns.  We focus this evening on all who are looking toward the next few days and weeks with uncertainty and more than a little anxiety.  Tonight, we send blessings and the message that we indeed have everything we need. We send calm and hopeful energy to everyone experiencing transitions of any kind.

A reading from Jeremiah

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Holy One, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

A Shovel is a Prayer by Carrie Newcomer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs8dDKMomKk

Reading: A discerning Heart- Joan Chittister

Life’s great decisions are all hidden behind a veil that makes it impossible for us to use the results of them.

All choice is crisis in the Chinese sense of the word.  It is both danger and opportunity.  It is when we see only one of these polarities that we are more than likely to make a bad decision in the choice.

Against danger we must always be prepared.  In the face of opportunity, we must never say ‘impossible’.

It isn’t in most cases that we don’t know which road we want to take.  It is simply that we waste our lives wanting a guarantee of it.

Indeed, the big decisions in life are hardly ever clear.  But one thing is:  Life is a series of dilemmas, of options, of conundrums, of possibilities, taken and not taken.  Good decision, bad decision, who knows? What makes the difference between them? Only this:  It is the values that we bring to the decision making-process and the attitude we take into the living out of them that turn the crossroads into new life.

Crossroads are those moments in life when we get the opportunity – when we have no other choice but to begin again.  Indeed, if you come to a fork in the road, take it with an open heart.  Trust that the Spirit that brought you this far will not abandon you on the way.

Silent prayer

Closing Blessing

We offer hope and blessings to all students and teachers embarking on new beginnings.

We offer hope and blessings to anyone struggling with tough decisions.

We offer hope and blessings to all who experience loss and loneliness

We offer hope and blessings to all experiencing medical decisions and care

We offer hope and blessings to The Upper Room and all members of our growing community.

We offer hope and blessings to our world – so torn by anger and fear

We offer hope and blessings that our actions will be inspired by the commitment to love and justice for all …Like Molly Brown

Closing song:  Like Molly Brown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVKrelLD0rA