Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
To connect by phone dial: 1-301-715-8592
Opening Song: Be Still by John McCutcheon – Video by Denise Hackert-Stoner
https://youtu.be/ic3LlVs0bjY?si=OsLBOKBA9dyC3axE
Opening Prayer: A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans 8:25-28
Hoping for what we cannot see, means awaiting with patient endurance. The Spirit, too, comes to help us in our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we should, and that very Spirit expresses our petitions with groanings too deep for words. And God who knows everything in our heart, knows perfectly well what the Spirit is saying, because her intercessions are made according to the Creator’s purpose. [1]
First Reading: from the writings of Theologian Dr. Barbara Holmes [2,3]
This is how Howard Thurman describes the embodied locus of contemplation: There is in every person an inward sea, and in that sea is an island and, on that island, there is an altar and standing guard before that altar is the ‘angel with the flaming sword. Nothing can get by that angel to be placed upon that altar unless it has the mark of your inner authority. Nothing passes . . . unless it be a part of the fluid area of your consent’ [4]. This is your crucial link with the Eternal.
. . . As I see it, the human task is threefold. First, the human spirit must connect to the Eternal by turning toward God’s immanence and ineffability with yearning. Second, each person must explore the inner reality of his or her humanity, facing unmet potential and catastrophic failure with unmitigated honesty and grace. Finally, each one of us must face the unlovable neighbor, the enemy outside of our embrace, and the shadow skulking in the recesses of our own hearts. Only then can we declare God’s perplexing and unlikely peace on earth. These tasks require a knowledge of self and others that only comes from the centering down that Thurman advocates. It is not an escape from the din of daily life; rather, it requires full entry into the fray but on different terms. . .
Always, contemplation requires attentiveness to the Spirit of God. It is a spiritual practice that has the potential to heal, instruct, and connect us to the source of our being. Thomas Keating describes the shift in reality structures that may occur during contemplative prayer in this way: “Our private, self-made worlds come to an end; a new world appears within and around us and the impossible becomes an everyday experience” [5].
Second Reading: The Sacred Soulful Self - A Refection by Theologian Dr. Norman King
We certainly live in a dark time, one that has been described as malignant narcissism, an age of deep-seated and unacknowledged anxiety that expresses itself as hostility. I wonder if there are two possible responses, personal and social, captured in an expression I heard many years ago: “hope amid the ruins.”
On a personal note, despite the world conditions, I can ask myself, “Am I safe right here and now? Am I right now in a good place, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually?” No matter what is going on, we may be able to answer yes when we turn to the social dimension in our lives and contemplate on these two questions: What am I doing now that is helpful to our world? What can I do today?
It may be something as simple as a smile or a gesture of kindness to someone we meet casually today while getting groceries or another routine activity. It may be donating our time or funds to a charity that is doing ‘good work’. It can be any intentional act in which we reach out beyond ourselves in compassion or justice.
I came across a reference to the crucial importance of music. “Whenever human beings are thinking about their place in the world and their relationship to the Divine, there is always music.” (George Corbett). [6]
Prayers of Petition
We pray that we may find the way to our inner scaredness, where the pure light that is within can guide our way to quell the conflict that surfaces in our lives.
God of peace and gentleness, Hear our prayer.
We pray for continued blessings on all peacemakers, that their wisdom may bear influence during times of turmoil among our sisters and brothers.
God of peace and gentleness, Hear our prayer.
We pray for all leaders who have a voice at negotiating tables, that they may hear the call of the Spirit to find a way to peace and the end of all wars.
God of peace and gentleness, Hear our prayer.
We pray that the Creator’s light from the ‘longtime sun’ will shine upon the darkness and surround us all with love.
God of peace and gentleness, Hear our prayer.
Personal petitions, please share.
A Song for a Closing Blessing: May the Longtime Sun Shine Upon You by Sara Thomsen - Photos by Scott Stoner and Denise Hackert-Stoner
References:
[1] Priests for Equality. (2007). The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation. Sheed & Ward.
[2] Barbara Holmes. (2018, Dec 19). Connecting to the Eternal. Center for Action and Contemplation.
[3] Barbara Holmes. (2017). Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church, 2ndedition. Fortress Press.
[4] Howard Thurman, Meditations of the Heart (Friends United: 1976), 28.
[5] Thomas Keating. (1994) Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel. Bloomsbury Publishing.
[6] Norman King. (2024, Jul 29). The Sacred Soulful Self. Personal Correspondence.
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