Moment of Oneness, August 28, 2024 - prepared by Phillis Isabella Sheppard

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

Prayer:  O holy mystery,

We seek you and discover that you are found in and among us—until we 

make you disappear into the abstract crevices of our minds and fears.

Let us not hold too tightly to our ideas of who you are;

Instead, may we gladly know that you are a living God 

Music: “We Are” by Ysaye Barnwell

https://youtu.be/FyWeRi4AngY?si=TJs9MSVeGRrbfEIH 

Reading: “Uncertain Bearer of the Weight of It All” Joan Javier-Duval 

Holy Mystery Silent Presence Uncertain Bearer of the Weight of It All, 

In these quiet moments we listen

We listen for the maybe still breathing, perhaps still whispering faintest sign of the Universal Good 

We listen between the cacophony of distractions pulling us toward untruth and falsehood

We listen amidst the shrill cries of desperation of we’ve-had-enough of when will they stop killing my people

       of how much more will the waters rise

            of when will it be safe to return to my home

                  of how much longer can I hang on

 We listen and we wait through the tumult of these days 

We seek assurance 

We seek the fulfillment of a promise 

     a promise made to ourselves 

         a promise made to those we have been stretched to call neighbor 

            a promise written and enshrined and yet unfulfilled 

Help us, Abiding Mystery, to hang on, to hold on when all is in question

           when all is in doubt 

Help us to stay firm to our own commitments and our own promises

Lead us back into connection back into the bonds of humanity that help us to know each other as beloved

May we continue listening 

May we keep watch 

May we beckon Love and Justice and Mercy with our own whispers, with our shouts 

              with our cries until all know themselves part of the Circle of Love.

Quiet Reflection 

Music: We are the Ones by Sweet Honey in the Rock

https://youtu.be/UHsJHZpOJCc?si=PGzXt42zT1Z9E4qB 

Closing prayer:  

Beloved people, you are the mystery. Beloved people listen to the silence and the noise.  God is not silent.  God’s love in each and all of us.  Beloved people, let us relish the love of God in each other.