Moment of Oneness, January 22, 2025 - Prepared by Deven Horne

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Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
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Nonviolent Communication

Conversation with God

Opening Peace Chant: Singing Bowl

Divine and loving energy, bring me peace within my body, mind and soul/ Breath in and out long slow breaths.

Divine and loving energy, bring peace to those near me tonight and those not so near in my family, friends and neighbors/ Breath in and out long slow breaths.

Divine and loving energy, bring peace to this country and those beings in countries we do not call home/ Breath in and out long slow breaths.

Divine and loving energy, bring peace to all creatures on this planet earth/ Breath in and out long slow breaths.

Reading by Ruth Bebermeyer

I feel so sentenced by your words,

I feel so judged and sent away,

Before I go I’ve got to know,

Is that what you mean to say?

Before I rise to my defense.

Before I speak in hurt or fear,

Before I build that wall of words,

Tell me, did I really hear?

Words are windows, or they’re walls,

They sentence us, or set us free.

When I speak and when I hear,

Let love light shine through me.

There are things I need to say,

Things that mean so much to me,

If my words don’t make me clear,

Will you help me to be free?

If I seemed to put you down,

If you felt I didn’t care, 

Try to listen through my words,

To the feelings that we share.

Silent moment

Second Reading

We must receive all words of God tenderly and subtly, so that we can speak them to others with tenderness and subtlety. I would even say that anything said with too much bravado, over-assurance, or with any need to control or impress another, is never the voice of God within us. If any thought feels too harsh, shaming, or diminishing of ourselves or others, it is not likely the voice of God. Trust me on that. That is simply our egoic voice. Why do humans so often presume the exact opposite—that shaming voices are always from God, and grace voices are always the imagination? If something comes toward us with grace and can pass through us and toward others with grace, we can trust it as the voice of God.  

One holy man who came to visit me recently put it this way, “We must listen to what is supporting us. We must listen to what is encouraging us. We must listen to what is urging us. We must listen to what is alive in us.” I personally was so trained not to trust those voices that I think I often did not hear the voice of God speaking to me or what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature.” Yes, a narcissistic person can and will misuse such advice, but a genuine God lover will flourish inside such a dialogue.  

We must learn how to recognize the positive flow and to distinguish it from the negative resistance within ourselves. It can take years, if not a lifetime. If a voice comes from accusation and leads to accusation, it is quite simply the voice of the “Accuser,” which is the literal meaning of the biblical word “Satan.” Shaming, accusing, or blaming is simply not how God talks, but sadly, it is too often how we talk—to ourselves and to one another. God is supremely nonviolent; I’ve learned that from the saints and mystics that I have read and met and heard about. That many holy people cannot be wrong.  [1]  

There is a deeper voice of God which we must learn to hear and obey. It will sound like the voice of risk, of trust, of surrender, of soul, of common sense, of destiny, of love, of an intimate stranger, of our deepest self. It will always feel gratuitous, and it is this very freedom that scares us. God never leads by guilt or shame! God leads by loving the soul at ever-deeper levels, not by shaming at superficial levels. [2]  

References:  
[1] Adapted from Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and Believe (New)

Affirmations and Intentions: 

May you listen to your soul-stirrings urging you to leave the home of your own satisfactions, to risk new discoveries by traveling into the “land of don’t know”.

May you allow yourself to be guided by the Star of Grace, with the assurance of an abiding faith, as you seek the path of spiritual growth.

May you find inspiration, courage, and hope through your kinship with others who also journey by faith on the road of life.

May you have openness of mind and heart so that you recognize the divine Star in those whose demeanor conceals this light-filled love.

Silence to add your own intentions.

Closing Prayer: Emmanuel, God-with-us, you stand at the door of my heart and await my welcome. Help me to be aware of your presence each day in the people who enter my life. I desire to open my heart, to make room for you in any part of self that tends to keep you out. Show me those places you still need a welcome. 

Closing Song: Cynthia Erivo - God Only Knows (The Lincoln Center 2019)

https://youtu.be/fNmj0KDmbZc?si=uAjMsb4eRIgNK-_0