Thursday, January 26, 2012

Fire & Grace Contemplative Service


Fire & Grace Contemplative Prayer Service
Living Spirit United Church – January 26th, 2011

Welcome

Opening Reading  (spoken together)

Call forth our strength, O Beloved; stand by us
 as we break down the fears that bind us. 

Because You dwell in our hearts,
we are strong and live with courage. 

We shall walk among the beasts
that dwell among the weeds,
the doubts that weaken and confuse us.

We shall root our fears out of the darkness
with beams of your Love. 

Let all within that separate us beware,
as we stretch out our hands to the Beloved.
(from Psalm 68 trans Nan C. Merrill)


Chant:
Changeless and calm, deep mystery,
Ever more deeply, rooted in me.
 (repeat)
Readings…
1st reading – listen, what word or phrase draws you.
2nd reading – listen, for an image that relates to your life.
3rd reading – listen, what might God be calling you to?


“Sometimes, there is a stop between thoughts, and for a moment I sense the space expand beyond all limits.  It is only within this space, a vast space which the ordinary “I” can’t reach, that the thinking becomes silent.  Then I no longer seek an answer, and in giving my entire attention, I enter the unknown.  I do not seek; I perceive.  I do not have to seek the good; the attention is the only good.  This attention is the process of meditation”                                   (Jeanne De Salzman, The Reality of Being)

Chant:
Changeless and calm, deep mystery,
Ever more deeply, rooted in me.
 (repeat)

Silent Meditation (15-20 minutes ended by a bell)
Prayers of the people followed by Our Father.

Chant:
Always and everywhere, All ways and everywhere,
          Rejoice, rejoice in the One who is All.
Always and everywhere, All ways and everywhere,
          Rejoice, rejoice in the One.
 (repeat)

Closing:  (spoken together)

“I have a capacity in my soul for taking in God entirely.  I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God.  God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and the presence of God.”                                  (Meister Eckhart)

Namaste.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Fire & Grace Contemplative Worship



Fire & Grace
Contemplative Worship
Living Spirit United Church
January 12, 2011




“The tao that can be named isn’t the eternal Tao.”     
 (the opening line of Lao Tzu’s Tao to Ching)



Welcome

Opening Reading  (spoken together)
 
“God is reality. 
God is all that has happened, is happening, and will ever happen; 
and all that didn’t, hasn’t and won’t ever happen. 
God is everything and it’s opposite.”
          (Rabbi Rami Shapiro)

Chant:
Spirit of Truth, enter my mind,
Soul of Wisdom, enter my heart.
 (repeat)
Readings…
1st reading – listen, what word or phrase draws you.
2nd reading – listen, for an image that relates to your life.
3rd reading – listen, what might God be calling you to?


“We are fashioned in the image and likeness of God the way a wave is fashioned in the image and likeness of an ocean.  

The more we focus on the wave aspect of ourselves the more we play God:  seeking to control our lives by controlling the lives of everyone else.  The more we play God the less godly we become and the more damage we do.  

The more we focus on the oceanic aspect of ourselves, the more we are surrendered to God: we stop playing God, and realize that God is playing us; we discover that we are vehicles for creativity and freedom. “
                                                                          (Rabbi Rami Shapiro)

Chant:
Spirit of Truth, enter my mind,
Soul of Wisdom, enter my heart.
 (repeat)

Silent Meditation (15-20 minutes ended by a bell)

Prayers of the people followed by Our Father.

Chant:
Jesus said… What are you looking for? 
The kingdom of God is within you and outside of you. 
This is my very body, this is my blood.

*I am here, I am with you, I am He…
I am here, I am with you, I am He… 
(* repeat to bell then repeat entire chant)

Closing Prayer:  (spoken together)


“My God, the soul you place within me is pure.   
And because it is pure I am free to live today differently than yesterday.  Because it is free, I am free to live today without the burden of past habits, past fears, past mistakes, and past failures.   
I am free to look at my past without repeating it; to examine it for lessons to be learned and amends to be made; and to draw from it what guidance I can to live today differently.   
My God, may I use today’s gift of freedom to further my capacity to serve You by serving Your creation with justice, compassion and humility.”                                  (Rabbi Rami Shapiro)

Namaste.