Prayer of Oneness - Listening on the Edge, Through Lent
Listening is a powerful skill. Listening keeps us aware and attentive to the situations around us. Listening is one of the main focuses of Living Well Through Lent. It is part of our GMU Chaplaincy Program. Listening is an art, a perennial practice, and a gift to others when we share it.
This week, Living Well Through Lent talks about the importance of Listening to ALL of our emotions: The 0 – 5 Negative emotions and the 6-10 Positive emotions.
We are all going through tremendous change and our listening in the midst of this change keeps us grounded. We are aware of our situation and of the other companions in our lives.
Listening is essential for the development of intimacy, trust, healing, and wisdom. —Lisa Saunders
Help me to be a practitioner of listening to those around me.
The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the joy. —Jim Rohn
Keep me connected to all aspects of myself, even when I don’t want to do it.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; [s]he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all. —Proverbs 3:6-7, The Message
Give me the humility to live in God’s presence knowing my place.
The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them.
Move my resilient heart, body and soul in ways that only do Your will.
But what is it then that sits in my heart, That breathes so quietly, and without lungs — That is here, here in this world, and yet not here? —Mary Oliver
Quiet my being so that I might rest in your silence.
Let us quiet ourselves now as we contemplate The Presence of the Holy One.
As we all practice the art of listening, keep us close in community. Make us strong in each other. Help us to know your love in our gaze. Always remind us of your constant Presence, which never leaves us and never ends.
Blessing to each of us as we walk into the Holy Week, witnessing with Jesus, and all of his friends. May we experience the truth of what it means to listen to God’s Calling and Holy Action in our lives.
Lindy: (Welcome and Theme:) Today is the 5th Sunday of Lent. Our theme today will be waiting, one of the great challenges in our lives today. Let us come together as we listen to this meditation….
Meditation Song: It is Well With My Soul by Hymn Makers
Thank you, Great Goodness, for your presence in this time and place. Thank you, All Compassion for opening the ears of our hearts as we listen for your gentle guidance and wisdom in the form of word and song. We are aware of the value of waiting and so as we begin we come expectantly to receive from You, we commit to being patient with ourselves and with each other. Amen
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Terri
A reading from the writings of Teilhard de Chardin
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete. (pause)
These are the inspired words of Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit theologian and paleontologist. In 1926 he was expelled from France for his liberal teaching, and assigned as pastor to a small church in China. There he discovered the Peking man. Our community affirms his words by saying, AMEN!
Response: My Soul in Stillness Waits (Dennis)
Refrain: For You, O God, my soul in stillness waits, truly my hope is in you.
Come, let us listen to the words of Wisdom, let every heart be open to our God,
For we are all the people of God’s hand.
Refrain
Second Reading: Jim Marsh
A reading from the writings of Howard Thurman
“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all of your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.”
These are the inspired words of Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King’s spiritual director. Our community affirms them by saying, AMEN!--
Spirit of the Living God: Dennis
Spirit of the Living God
Open up our hearts
Spirit of the Living God
Open up our hearts
Silent, mindful, prayerful listening
Spirit of the Living God
Open up our hearts
Gospel: Katie
A reading from the Gospel attributed to the disciple known as John
Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks who approached Philip saying 'Sir, we should like to see Jesus.'
Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus.
He replied to them saying, “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” To the Greeks he said, “I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain... but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.”
These are the inspired words attributed to the disciple known as John. Our community affirms them by saying, AMEN! (John 12:20-26)
Homily Starter: Lindy Sanford-Martinez
Yesterday was such a beautiful day here. I made coffee as the sun was rising. I sat down with that first wonderful cup and looked out the window. I saw a bluejay observing his surroundings with curiosity and assurance. Like our Friend, the God with many names... dropping by to check up on us! That’s how Spring Solstice began for me.
We have been waiting for many months. Teilhard de Chardin reminds his friend in a letter that
“We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.”
The pandemic brought the whole world a difficult time of waiting...almost exactly a year ago. While there is improvement... stress and waiting to understand all the effects this pandemic is still here.
Violence has grown expediently during the pandemic. We wait for understanding why...for resolution... for hope and for peace within our country and around the world…
Here in the United States we have experienced what feels like the worst political and financial upheaval our country has ever known. We wait and hunger for resolution here, too.
If we had to wait a month or even a day we would be impatient. We have been impatient over a stressful year now.
Many...including those of us here today... know how important inclusivity, justice, and kindness are to begin change in our world. Imperfect as we are, we seek to be inclusive, provide justice, and pour out the lovingkindness we feel coming from the Universe onto others. Here we promise in Liturgy every week to live this way. Still we are impatient.
Jesus did what he thought was right. Poured his heart into showing others how to feel God’s love, experience the happiness that it brings...shared how to live it with everyone around him.... He knew that teaching that every moment he spoke would cost him a great deal. He thought sharing what he had discovered was worth the cost... and he waited.
The seasons of the earth bring us a great wisdom we don’t often hear. Summer brings us warmth and energy. It’s bright light helps us see rapid growth clearly. Extended warmth and light give us time to enjoy being outside. Fall brings us ever changing beauty. Times of harvest remind us of foods that nourish us. Ripening fruit reminds us that there is sweetness all around us. Winter gives us time to rest. It reminds us that growth and change often needs quiet and contemplation.
The Solstice that bluejay was observing reminds us that hope is a sacred seed within us...pushing up, green with life and strength.
For this sacred seed to thrive and grow we must make space for it in our hearts...now filled with stress that has come with this year’s waiting.
We must water this sacred seed with our hopes and dreams of what our world needs.
We must weed out fear, giving this sacred seed room to grow into the better world we envision. We must harvest our hopes and dreams by giving ourselves...then others... the lovingkindness we know we need.(pause)
Howard Thruman tells us that in waiting we can find what is genuine within ourselves.
We are all a sacred people. What have you found in these readings? If you like, share your wisdom.
(Shared Reflections)
Lindy: (closing Homily) Thank you for your words of wisdom.
Let us together make our Statement of Faith
Ginny: We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
Mike: We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
Ginny: We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
Mike: We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
Ginny: We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Dennis: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we bring to the table our blessings, cares and concerns.
We bring these and all our unspoken blessings, cares and concerns expressed in the depths of our hearts.
Lindy: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice:
O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us as we set our hearts on belonging to you. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all creation.
Thaeda: You know our limitations and our essential goodness and you love us as we are. You beckon us to your compassionate heart and inspire us to see the good in others and forgive their limitations. Acknowledging your presence in each other and in all of creation, we sing:
Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
Thaeda: Guiding Spirit, when opposing forces in us tug and pull and we are caught in the tension of choices, inspire us to make wise decisions toward what is good.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, and for all our sisters and brothers who have modeled for us a way to live and love in challenging times. Inspired by them, we choose life over death, we choose to be light in dark times. (pause)
Thaeda: Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift the plate and pray:
Ginny: When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift the cup and pray:
Lindy: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity.
Please receive communion saying: You and I are the Faces of the Holy One.
Lindy: Holy One, your transforming energy is within us. We join our hearts with all who are working for a just world. We pray for wise leaders in our religious communities. We pray for courageous and compassionate leaders in our world communities.
Thaeda: We pray for all of us gathered here and like Jesus, we open ourselves up to your Spirit. It is through living as he lived that we awaken to your Spirit within, moving us to glorify you, at this time and all ways.
Amen.
Ginny: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Thaeda: Holy One, you are within, around and among us.
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us,
now and forever, Amen.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Ginny: Please extend your hands as we bless each other.
Thaeda: Holy One, you are within, around and among us. You do give us all that we need when we dare to listen to you.
May you urge us to risk boldly swimming against the tide, and drink from your sustaining waters. Then we may find the inner peace only You can give which we can model in our daily actions.
The theme for this week’s moment of oneness is the hope for spring. There are two reasons for this topic. The first is that the feast of St. Patrick is traditionally a time to begin transforming the winter season into the rebirth of spring. And secondly the spring equinox occurs this year on March 20th, marking the beginning of astronomical spring when light and dark have equal time.
According to Celtic lore the shamrock represents the trinity. It also denotes, “Belief in your heart, Faith in your mind. Trust in your body.”
This year spring has an additional meaning. As the world’s people begin to receive Covid-19 vaccines the darkness of the winter pandemic begins to ease and the promise of spring light and health begin to emerge.
Opening Prayer
In the heart’s springtime, the inner self awakens. Seeds of growth, hidden in the midst of winter’s bleakness, germinate and sprout. That which has been longed for and greatly desired is gradually brought forth and heralded with gladness. Vision, dreams and yearnings for the future unfold. The gray moods, the frozen love, the sorrow and grief, the overwhelming angst, the dread and depression, all this slowly slips away as trust and enthusiasm rejuvenate the wintered spirit. Like the springtime land, so the inner land is thawed and re-energized. A sense of loving and being loved warms the interior places that were cold and dormant in wintertime.
“The Circle of Life:The Heart’s Journey through the Seasons” by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr
Petitions
The Hope of Spring
God, thank you for Spring and the hope of warmer, longer, brighter days.
Thank you for the coming of growth and life and birth.
Thank you that things are coming awake in the world.
This is what our calendar says, and we do see some signs that it is real.
But we also still struggle with the residual layover of winter.
Now we ask that you bring into reality all that belongs in this season. Your word says that we will have provision, and hope, and joy, and health and loving relationships here and now in this life.
We ask that what belongs in this season would become actual in our practical lives.
We hope in you and in your promises. We hope in your gift of Spring.
Author unknown
Silent Reflection
Closing Prayer
From Celtic Spirit Pilgrimage, Verse 1
We SEE God… The greenness, the newness of life… The tapestry of the landscape… The diversity of sights, color, shapes… The witnessing of cycles of new life. May this be your experience…
Closing Song: Here Comes the Sun | George Harrison
Welcome and Theme Julie: Good morning. Welcome to the fourth Sunday of Lent and our celebration of Living in the Light. Not just the light from the sun, returning as spring approaches, but the light of the Holy One, the light of our souls.
Opening Prayer and Peace Julie: Let’s take a moment to make the transition from the world of busyness and things to the world of the spirit. I invite you to close your eyes and rest for a moment. Holy One, surround each of us with your light. Let it warm us and help us bloom into the fullness of our being. Let us find it in ourselves to answer your call to live in the light. AMEN.
We have been travelling down the creedal road of Christendom since the 4th century when a first century spiritual insurgency was seduced into marrying its original oppressor. Before there were Bishops lounging at the table of power, there were ordinary fishermen who forsook ordinary lives to follow an itinerant sage down a path that was not obvious, sensible or safe.
In the beginning, the call of God was not propositional. It was experiential. It was as palpable as wine and wineskins, lost coins and frightened servants, and a tearful father.Students who once learned by following the teacher became true believers who confuse certainty with faith.
We have a sacred story to tell that has been stolen from us, and in our time the thief is what passes as orthodoxy itself (right belief instead of right worship). Arguing over beliefs divides us, but agreeing to following the essential teachings of Jesus could unite us. We could become imitators, not believers.
Those two roads that “diverged in a yellow wood” not so long ago looked equally fair but now one is well worn. It is the road of The Fall and redemption, original sin and the Savior. The other is the road of enlightenment, wisdom, creation-centered spirituality, and transformation. This is the road less travelled and it seeks not to save our souls but to restore them.
Our task is to let the breath of the Galilean sage fall on the neck of the Church again not by listening to formulas of salvation but to a gospel that is all but forgotten. After centuries of being told that “Jesus saves,” the time has come to save Jesus from the church.
These are the inspired words of Robin Meyers, author of Saving Jesus From the Church, and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Response before Gospel (Alleluia / Spirit of the Living God) Dennis
Gospel Joan:
A reading from the gospel of John.
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Chosen One must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in the Chosen One might have eternal life.
Yes, God so loved the world as to give the Only Begotten One, that whoever believes may not die but have eternal life. God sent the Only Begotten into the world not to condemn the world, but that through the Only Begotten the world might be saved. Whoever believes in the Only Begotten avoids judgment, but whoever doesn’t believe is judged already for not believing in the name of the Only Begotten of God. On these grounds is sentence pronounced: that though the light came into the world, people showed they preferred darkness to the light because their deeds were evil. Indeed, people who do wrong hate the light and avoid it, for fear their actions will be exposed; But people who live by the truth come out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that what they do is done in God.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call John and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Homily Starter Dave
Today’s gospel includes some of the most beautiful and well-known words of scripture: “For God so loved the world as to give the only begotten one.”And especially in these challenging times, I find it comforting to remember that the Divine is not some far off detached entity, but a loving one.
This gospel, however, can also be confusing and open to misinterpretation. The first reading refers to changes in thinking that occurred from 1st to the 4th century when Christianity was given legal status from the Roman Emperor and the Church altered its messaging in response to the power struggles and politics of the time.
Such changes likely explain the traditional interpretation of the Gospel reading, and one that many of us may have heard when growing up: If we say that we believe, we will be saved and live eternally.Those who do not believe will be condemned.
Let’s examine this popular but most likely incorrect interpretation, along with the meaning of the terms saved and eternal life, using 1st century thinking.
First, salvation is a gift from God, not something earned. God’s love is not conditional. At the same time, as people of free will we may choose to accept the invitation to live in the light and to bring the light or, as we all do at times, we may choose the darkness. Even then, God does not judge or condemn. But by our own choices we sometimes limit ourselves to a life that is so much less than it could be.
Many of us were taught that being saved meant saved from some original sin and that eternal life referred to living on in heaven after we die. But scripture scholars tell us that John viewed salvation as removing barriers that we have created between ourselves and the Divine and that eternal life actually referred to living in a recreated earth in the here and now.One scholar notes that many gospel verses that were speaking about the earth were “spiritualized” in order to fit the false idea of an everlasting home in heaven.
Also, the gospel never intended for us to be focused on our own personal salvation but rather the salvation of all peoples. Biblical commentator Almquist puts it this way: “The goal of life should be our transformation into the image of Jesus, working to bring this recreated earth to the hungry, the poor, the sick, and those living at the margins of life.”
And what about the word believe, which appears five times in these seven verses. Again, an interpretation that is not consistent with the gospel writer’s intention could suggest that all we have to do is believe and, as we know, many people take false comfort in the idea that the only requirement for eternal life is to name Jesus as their savior.
The insurrectionists who stormed the Capital building on January 6th carried a large wooden cross, blasted Christian music through speakers, carried signs saying “Jesus saves” and, once inside the Capital building, gathered in a circle holding hands, praying to Jesus for strength.Believing is easy; living in the light and bringing it to all peoples is not.
According to the author of the first reading, the question is not if we believe in Jesus but rather if we can follow Jesus, not are we are saved but rather are we radically disturbed and transformed by the presence of Jesus. And finally, when our faith becomes a journey toward wisdom and compassion, rather than a system of creeds and consequences, there is hope for the world.
We welcome your shared wisdom on the readings. Please remember to unmute yourself before you begin and then mute yourself when you are done.
Shared Reflections
Thank you/wrap up: Julie
Statement of Faith Susan:
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery beyond all definition and rational understanding, the heart of all that has ever existed, that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word, bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion, bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus as a vehicle of divine love, a source of wisdom and truth, and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One, the life that is our innermost life, the breath moving in our being, the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now, stretched out all around us for those with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it, and hands to make it happen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Julie: As we prepare for the sacred meal, we share our intentions.
Dennis reads the intentions gathered from the community
Katie: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer in one voice:
O Great Love, thank you for living and loving in us and through us as we set our hearts on belonging to you. May all that we do flow from our deep connection with you and all creation.
You know our limitations and our essential goodness and you love us as we are. You beckon us to your compassionate heart and inspire us to see the good in others and forgive their limitations. Acknowledging your presence in each other and in all of creation, we sing:
Holy, Holy: Here in This Place by Christopher Grundy
Mary: Guiding Spirit, when opposing forces in us tug and pull and we are caught in the tension of choices, inspire us to make wise decisions toward what is good.
We thank you for our brother, Jesus, and for all our sisters and brothers who have modeled for us a way to live and love in challenging times. Inspired by them, we choose life over death, we choose to be light in dark times.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
We are ever aware of your Spirit in us and among us at this Eucharistic table and we are grateful for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body of Christ in the world.
Dave: On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift the plate and pray:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift the cup and pray:
Julie: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
We share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. We choose to live justly, love tenderly, and walk with integrity.
Please receive communion saying: I am / We are the Face of the Holy One.
Communion Song: Stand in the Light by Jordan Smith .
Holy One, your transforming energy is within us and we join our hearts with all who are working for a just world.We pray for wise leaders in our religious communities. We pray for courageous and compassionate leaders in our world communities.
We pray for all of us gathered here and like Jesus, we open ourselves up to your Spirit, for it is through living as he lived that we awaken to your Spirit within,
moving us to glorify you, at this time and all ways.
Amen.
Ed: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Holy One, you are within, around and among us. We celebrate your many names. Your wisdom come; your will be done, unfolding from the depths within us. Each day you give us all that we need. You remind us of our limits and we let go. You support us in our power, and we act with courage. For you are the dwelling place within us, the empowerment around us, and the celebration among us, now and forever, Amen.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Julie: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing:
ALL:May the Fire of Love ignite our hearts and radiate through us.
May the Spirit truth and justice burn within us.
May we continue to be the face of the Holy One, and
