Constant Movement of life, Breath of ever-changing being, Holy One, forming and transforming continually— This dancing world is Your Body, This evolving world is Your being flung forth; Let me trust the changing of my own life, For I have become a stranger in a strange land. In the disappearance of the familiar Let me recognize the mystery of Your transforming dance; In the preponderance of the untried Let me accept the challenge of your unfolding newness; In the absence of old friends Let me discover the presence of the human circle; In the landscape of the strange Let...
O Holy One, You are from the beginning Who Heaven sent to be born of Mary Into a cold, dark world. We await your coming once again this Advent Season To be Heaven’s gift to a lonely people In need of a Savior who will re-unite with God. Husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, And people of all nations in unity seeking and worshipping. One Holy God, One Blessed Savior Jesus Christ Our Lord. Holy One, are you waiting too this Advent Season? Do you wait for us to offer you our hearts That you may love...
Take seriously your grief.It is love, stripped bare.Let it flow through you. Trust that you are held.We all are held by the Beloved,the Broken-Hearted One,the One who Suffers most Deeply. Know you are not alone.Millions bear your sorrow.Ancestors and even unborn generationswalk with you gratefully. Seek others who are tenderhearted.Receive all the grace you can.In the flesh is best, but even in spirit,know we are here. Trust the Goodness.God has not given up on us.Through every disaster grace remains.Refuse to despair. Choose courage over selfishness,trust over fear, love over anger.You do not know the end of grace. There is much...
All-powerful God, we thank you, as we are finding ourselves alive in this gorgeous universe and blessed by Your presence today. We know that You extend Your presence both to the smallest of creatures and to the vastness of our ever-unfolding Universe Story. When we look deeply at the spiraling celestial stars at night, we could almost get lost or feel dizzy as we gaze into the boundlessness of our immense universe. Creator God, we praise You for the beauty of the expanding cosmos – the spinning knots of stars and blue shadow moons and circling planets and spiraling galaxies....
The hills and groves were God’s first temples Filled with the glory of God Stone sermons Set us off on a great adventure Filled with the glory of God Every hidden cell throbbing with music and life A great adventure of mind and heart Every tree swirling in glorious enthusiasm Every cell throbbing We are all kin in the evolving community of life Every tree tossing their branches, enthusiasm like worship Our vision must be one of flourishing for all Our evolving community of life is now under siege Stone sermons Give us visions of an evolutionary future that will still surprise us No wonder the hills and...
God of healing and miracles, we bring our weakness, brokenness and hunger for wholeness to You. We do not always know exactly what to pray for, but we bring our hands and hearts, our minds and souls to you completely. Healing Spirit, You make everything holy and whole. Come and heal the shattered places within us and around us – those shards painfully scattered in our innermost selves and across the globe. And bring us closer to You in completeness, knitting us together in spirit, soul, and body, surrounded by Your peace that surpasses all understanding. Jesus, heal us of...
Most Holy One, we thank you for all the blessings you have bestowed on us in our lives. When we look at the ways others have been gifted by you and seek to compare them to ourselves, grant that we may reach first for gratitude as an antidote. Keep us from fixating on their achievements and attributes, instead of focusing on who we ourselves are and what we are uniquely called to do. Merciful God, forgive us for our feelings of envy and jealousy that are so detrimental to our health and well-being. Open the inner eyes of our hearts...
Last updated: September 14, 2024 Lectio divina (Latin for “divine reading”) is an ancient monastic spiritual practice – a contemplative way to connect with the aliveness and wisdom of sacred texts. Traditionally, the texts are scripture readings, but texts could include other spiritual writings, nature, art images, music, poetry, or even the text of our own lives. There is a long history of practicing lectio divina, and the roots of this prayer method date back to the early church. Desert monastics from the 4th and 5th centuries CE memorized scriptures and meditated on them extensively, since handwritten manuscripts were very...
Last updated: September 29, 2024 The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “arrival” and is also related to the words ad venire, that translate as “to come.” Since Advent has a number of moving parts, it is good for us, as pilgrims, to ask each year, “How do we Advent?” One answer of “how” relates to our journey in this season of waiting, where paradoxically we move and grow, but at the same time are called to sit waiting in stillness. Every year, we re-read the ancient prophesies, celebrate the joy of now, and look forward...
I wrote a blog post about the O Antiphons in 2019, and I loved picking out the image to illustrate each one. So I have decided to post on the O Antiphons again, in order to highlight additional images and to explore the scriptural roots of the meaningful word images. If you aren’t familiar with the O Antiphons or need a refresher, please check out my 2019 blog post here. So yesterday was the end of the traditional seven days for praying the O Antiphons. And yet, here is the bonus eighth O Antiphon that we can approach to complete...
I wrote a blog post about the O Antiphons in 2019, and I loved picking out the image to illustrate each one. So I have decided to post on the O Antiphons again, in order to highlight additional images and to explore the scriptural roots of the meaningful word images. If you aren’t familiar with the O Antiphons or need a refresher, please check out my 2019 blog post here. Today is the final seventh O Antiphon out of the last seven days before Christmas, in this very late day of Advent intensification. Hopefully by now you are somewhat more...
I wrote a blog post about the O Antiphons in 2019, and I loved picking out the image to illustrate each one. So I have decided to post on the O Antiphons again, in order to highlight additional images and to explore the scriptural roots of the meaningful word images. If you aren’t familiar with the O Antiphons or need a refresher, please check out my 2019 blog post here. Today we pray the sixth O Antiphon out of the last seven days before Christmas, in these late days of Advent intensification. We are now just two days away from...
I wrote a blog post about the O Antiphons in 2019, and I loved picking out the image to illustrate each one. So I have decided to post on the O Antiphons again, in order to highlight additional images and to explore the scriptural roots of the meaningful word images. If you aren’t familiar with the O Antiphons or need a refresher, please check out my 2019 blog post here. Today is the fifth O Antiphon out of the seven days before Christmas, in these late days of Advent intensification. With only three days before Christmas Eve, we continue to...
I wrote a blog post about the O Antiphons in 2019, and I loved picking out the image to illustrate each one. So I have decided to post on the O Antiphons again, in order to highlight additional images and to explore the scriptural roots of the meaningful word images. If you aren’t familiar with the O Antiphons or need a refresher, please check out my 2019 blog post here. So today is the fourth O Antiphon out of the seven days before Christmas, in these late days of Advent intensification – just over half way through the week. Are...
I wrote a blog post about the O Antiphons in 2019, and I loved picking out the image to illustrate each one. So I have decided to post on the O Antiphons again, in order to highlight additional images and to explore the scriptural roots of these meaningful word images. If you aren’t familiar with the O Antiphons or need a refresher, please check out my 2019 blog post here. Today is the third O Antiphon out of the seven days before Christmas, in these late days of Advent intensification. As Christmas comes yet closer, it’s a good idea to...
I wrote a blog post about the O Antiphons in 2019, and I loved picking out the image to illustrate each one. So I have decided to post on the O Antiphons again, in order to highlight additional images and to explore the scriptural roots of the meaningful word images. If you aren’t familiar with the O Antiphons or need a refresher, please check out my 2019 blog post here. So today is the second O Antiphon out of the seven days before Christmas, in these late days of Advent intensification. Are you finding ways to get into the rhythm...
I wrote a blog post about the O Antiphons in 2019, and I loved picking out the image to illustrate each one. So I have decided to post on the O Antiphons again, in order to highlight additional images and to explore the scriptural roots of the meaningful word images. If you aren’t familiar with the O Antiphons or need a refresher, please check out my 2019 blog post here. So now, beginning today with O Sapientia, I will be posting on each O Antiphon for the next seven days before Christmas, in these late days of Advent intensification. Even...
Last updated: September 2, 2023 Advent is one of my favorite times of year, and it is the beginning of the church liturgical calendar. There is something about the idea of waiting in that sacred, pregnant pause of Advent that helps keep me in balance, during one of the busiest times of year. I love turning out all the lights except for those on my Christmas tree, lighting the advent wreath, and reading the O Antiphons every night before Christmas, beginning on December 17. If you are like me and have been running around like crazy trying to get everything...
Many religious traditions include beads as a part of their prayers and rituals because they help keep track, in an automatic way, of how many repetitions of prayers have been said. Islamic prayer beads, called misbaha, tasbih, or sibha, usually have 99 beads, corresponding to the number of Names of God in Arabic with 2 smaller beads in between each set of 33. The prayers recited include the Subhan Allah (Glory be to God,) the Al-hamdu lilah (Praise be to God) and the Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest.) Members of the Sikh faith use 108 mala beads when reciting...
The celebration of the World Day of Prayer (WDP) originated in the 19th century, as women from the US and Canada began developing various means to support the participation of women in missionary activities, both at home and worldwide. As early as 1861, women began founding women’s boards to encourage the engagement of women in prayer and leadership within their mission organizations. Presbyterian women in the US, led by Mary Ellen Fairchild James in Brooklyn, called for a day of prayer in 1887, and a Baptist day of prayer for foreign missions was initiated in 1891. A committee of delegates...
To the God who searches, sweeping Her entire household looking for the lost coin, who celebrates when She finds us, we give You thanks and praise. As we join together our voices, we thank You for the gift of each other — for family and dear friends, for all who have stood by us in our searching times, in our lost times and our found times. God of All Seekers, who dwells within our hearts, hold us close and nurture us in Your hidden depths. Open to us the purse of Your being that is large enough to hold the...
