Moment of Oneness, May 6, 2026 - Prepared by Phillis Sheppard

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81507551772
Meeting ID: 815 0755 1772
To connect by phone dial: 1-301-715-8592

Welcome: This evening, our meditation is on silence as a necessary discipline for the spiritual life. 

Opening Prayer: Gentle and loving God, guide us into stillness, infuse us with compassion, deepen our love for all creation.  Amen.

 

Music:  Meditation

https://youtu.be/E1gK2mJF638?si=IJhPWMrhIqLMSAbC&t=179 

Reading I: “What does it mean to be spiritual in the modern world?  

It does not mean being a Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, or Jew.  Spirituality is difficult for us because it flows to and from the invisible, from love and the mystery of death.  

It comes out the “meltdown” that we know as love and compassion and the surrender that we know . . . It flows from the ground of our relationship, not only between human beings, but also between all beings, including mountains and rivers.  It is often born from suffering, and it evokes within us compassion, which allows us to see through the eyes of innumerable beings.

Reading II: In my early years of sitting, I tasted that stillness and knew that it was medicine.

I had known it as a child and then again in the African desert, but the institutions of 

Western culture and the nature of my personality had brought me to a qualitative internal and external complexity that overwhelmed me.

Reading III: What I really needed was to become quiet and to look out at the world from the perspective of internal stillness.” Joan Halifax, A Buddhist Life in America)

Silent Reflection

Reading IV: Ultimately, sanctuary is within.  We walk spiritual paths by gathering ways of living that are in alignment with peace. . .  When we are in a spiritual community, perfect or not, we see ourselves more clearly.  . . . it requires the practice of stillness and silence ... (Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, The Shamanic Bones of Zen)

Closing: “Silence is an indispensable discipline in the spiritual life. . .. Silence is the home of the word.  Silence gives strength and fruitfulness to the word. . . Silence makes us pilgrims. (Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart)

Let us be silent as we walk the pilgrimage to peace, compassion, and love.