Moment of Oneness, July 3, 2024 - Prepared by Kathie Ryan

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81507551772
Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
To connect by phone dial: +1 646 558 8656

Opening Prayer: Holy One we are filled with joy and yet also filled with anxiety and fears for our world.  You send friends, family, and strangers to remind us that you are with us in all ways.  May we be aware of your presence.  Amen

Everything is Holy Now, Peter Mayer

https://youtu.be/s_SgAmljIJc 

A Reading from the Gospel of Luke

Jesus said: “Don’t worry about your life and what you are to eat. Don’t worry about your body and what you are to wear. For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.  Take a lesson from the ravens. They don’t sow or reap.  They have neither a food cellar nor a barn, yet God feeds them.  And how much more valuable are you than birds?  Can any of you, for all your worrying, add a single hour to your life?  If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why worry about all the rest?"

"Notice how the flowers grow. They neither labor nor weave, yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was robed like one of these! If that is how God clothes the grass in the field, which is there today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, how much more will God look after you."

(Moment of silence)

Beatitudes for the 21st Century

Blessed be the Earth and those who tend her,

for she is the source and sustenance of our lives.

Blessed be the children who hunger for food, learning,

and homes that are safe, for their future is shaped by our choices today.

Blessed be the refugees fleeing the violence of war and poverty ;

may they find shelter, peace, and work that sustains them.

Blessed be those who are calling for freedom, risking their lives, and

resisting oppression, for they are the shapers of a brighter world.

Blessed be the persecuted and wrongly judged,

for their sorrow is lessened only by mercy and kindness.

Blessed be the prophets who speak and write of a world beyond war,

for theirs are the words becoming flesh.

Blessed be the storytellers, music-makers, and artists at life,

for they are the true light of the world.

Blessed be the tender-hearted who mourn and grieve the wars we've fought,

the lives we've lost; may peace ride in on the river of their tears.

(adapted from Jan Phillips) 

(Moment of silence)

Let us bring to our gathering tonight all those we wish to remember in prayer. 

(Please feel free to name those we wish to hold in pray.)

As we prepare for the end of our evening, let us hold each other and our world in our minds and spirits. Amen. 

Closing Song: “It's a Wonderful World.”

https://youtu.be/ddLd0QRf7Vg