Fire & Grace Contemplative Worship

Sorry folks, I was so busy yesterday with Occupy stuff, I forgot to post the service.  I hope your day was wonderful, I am posting the service now in case you wish to spend some quiet time today... (hugs)

Fire & Grace Contemplative Prayer Service

Living Spirit United Church – February 9, 2012

Welcome

Opening Reading  (spoken together)

“Is there anyone among you who,

if your child asks for a fish,

will give a snake instead of a fish? 

Or if the child asks for an egg,

will give a scorpion? 

If you then, who are evil, know how

to give good gifts to your children,

how much more will the heavenly Father

give the Holy spirit to those who ask him!”

          (Luke 11: 11-13)

Chant:

O let me see with the eye of my heart,

That I might see your face, O my God.

 (repeat)

Readings…

1^st reading – listen, what word or phrase draws you.

2^nd reading – listen, for an image that relates to your life.

3^rd reading – listen, what might God be calling you to?

“When we do get there, we almost wonder how we got there.  We know we did not do anything nearly as much as we know we were done unto.  We are being utterly and warmly held and falling helplessly into a scary mystery at the very same time – caught between profound desire and the question, “where is this going to take me?”  It has been said many times that, after transformation, you seldom have the feeling you have found anything.  It feels much more like Someone found you!”                                                      (Richard Rohr – The Naked Now)

Chant:

O let me see with the eye of my heart,

That I might see your face, O my God.

 (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)

My hope is in the Beloved,

my strength and my joy,

O my soul, open the door to Love! 

Yes!  Let us sing a song of diversity,

a song of Oneness and Unity! 

For we are all One in Love’s Heart,

now and forevermore. 

Let us ever reflect the Peace we are!

                   (from Psalm 43 trans Nan C.Merrill)

Namaste.

No War On Iran: Calgary Joins International Day of Action

We had an amazing crowd today for our rally in front of the Consulate General of the United States in Calgary.  Trying to get our message out to the warmongers who say we *must* go to war on Iran.  I don't believe war is ever a solution.  I think there are ways to bring peace in a peaceful manner and it's time our governments stopped putting money and oil ahead of human rights for all people around the globe.

 

The more than 200 leaflets we handed out contained a quiz on Iran and the answers were found on the back. 

How well can you do on these questions?  Please give it a try...

1. What country in the Middle East refuses to confirm or deny that it has a nuclear weapons program and refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
2. What country agreed to be monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and has repeatedly opened up its country to IAEA inspectors?
3. Which country’s prime minister has been attempting to persuade members of his cabinet to make a pre-emptive military strike against a neighboring country?
4. True or False:
   “The International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.S. have provided evidence that Iran is attempting to obtain nuclear weapons.”
5. The IAEA severely criticized which country for falsifying information on Iraq and Iran’s nuclear programs?
6. According to the UN Charter and Nuremberg Tribunal, what is the gravest war crime of all?
7. Which is the one country on the planet which has actually used nuclear weapons against a civilian population? 

and The answers...

1. Israel, Pakistan and India have not signed the treaty.  Israel does not publicly admit it has nuclear weapons, although the fact that it does is common knowledge. Iran has signed thetreaty and does not have a nuclear weapons program.
2. Iran
3. Israel
4. False – neither have provided any evidence that Iranis attempting to obtain nuclear weapons.
5. United States
6. Attacking a country which hasn’t attacked you. This is called a war of aggression, which “contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.”
7. The United States, which bombed the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagaski during WWII, killing between150,000–246,000 people within just the first 4 months, halfwithin the first 24 hours.

How did you answer these questions?
How do you think many Americans or Canadians would answer these questions? In addition to sanctions, there have been targeted assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and a U.S. surveillance drone was discovered in violation of Iranian sovereignty and airspace.
Let’s be clear, no matter what you think about the Iranian government;
the real aggressor in the Middle East is Israel and the United States.
Now that you know, what will you do?
NO war! NO sanctions!
NO intervention!
NO assassinations!
Sources for this information and ways to take action at: worldcantwait.net

(hugs) to everyone...
later man, jan

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…

1^st reading – listen, what word or phrase draws you.

2^nd reading – listen, for an image that relates to your life.

3^rd 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.

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…

1^st reading – listen, what word or phrase draws you.

2^nd reading – listen, for an image that relates to your life.

3^rd 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.