Meditation Moments: Borrow or Lend?

                                                           ~ Corrie ten Boom* [1892-1982]

           I am slowly learning, as I wander through the experience of living, that when worry rears its anxious specters I must forcibly and deliberately push it away. It's so very easy for me to conjure mind maps of fear that fill my head, travel through the rest of me, and render me uselessly pacing or slumped in mindless paralysis. 
          There are many conditions in the world at large and in my own community that are cause for concern, even alarm, and call for immediate action or intervention. But worry enervates, creating problems rather than providing solutions. Worry is selfish and demanding of the attention of one's self and others to the exclusion of more important endeavors. When I get bogged down in my own head about my own stuff, I lose the momentum that should be put to better use. And while I'm getting better at it, I often need help to pull myself away from the edge of the sinkhole, and back into the present for the work at hand.
         SO, help me, Lord of Inner Strength. Grant me continuing improvement in my ability to set aside the borrowing of some potential trouble, and lend myself to the beauty in the moment, the ordinary of life, and the opportunities to be of service to others. And a little pocket of joy now and then will help keep me going forward.  amen.  


*Corrie ten Boom was the author of many books including her best known Hiding Places which told the harrowing story of her family helping to house Jews escaping from the Nazis during World War II. She and her family were subsequently imprisoned in Ravensbruck, a Nazi death camp where several of her family died. Her work for the mentally disabled before the war and after she was released from prison in setting up refuge centers and shelters for death camp survivors and even the jobless Dutch who collaborated with the Germans, earned her international recognition and accolades. She moved to California in 1977 where she died on her 91st birthday.
            


Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, concern, or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Meditation Moments: About a foot wide

The sun is the width 

of a human foot.  

                                                  ~ Heraclitus* [c. 535–c. 475 BCE]

      Well, ok, then, maybe two human feet...and my first reaction is to laugh! I remember myself as a child lying on the grass blocking the sun with my foot and feeling powerful.

       And there you are, Sun, in all your resplendent presence pouring light upon us brightening, dazzling, blinding, warming, heating, wilting, frying us and then suddenly we're chilled by a passing cloud!  

          So much of life is a matter of perspective. Too much of a good thing followed by too much of a bad thing...and here I am trying to find balance, harmony, and just the right measure of objectivity. But when I get swept away in emotion, I can easily lose my perspective and feel overwhelmed. There have been moments when I was so lost in love I could hardly breathe, some moments when anger has sent my blood pressure nearly to explosion. And when the extremes of passion take over, the truth is lost. Help me, Lord of Sun, Moon, and Stars, to find the warming light in the darkness, the cooling shade in the heat, the balance between want and need, and, the wisdom to check the width of the sun every now and then.  amen. 

*Heraclitus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher born to an aristocratic family in Ephesus in what is now Turkey. He insisted that the "only constant is change" and most famously that "No man steps into the same river twice."  

Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, concern, or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Prayers of the People: Yoke of Ages, 4th Sunday after Pentecost

for Sunday, July 6, 2014, Readings: Gen 24: 34-38; Ps 45: 10-17; Romans 7:15-25a; Mt 11:16-19, 25-30

    I thank you, [God], Lord of heaven and Earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.  - Matthew 11:25

Yoke: the bar that is used as a frame to pull or support something heavy.[yourdictionary.com]

        We are never without our yoke - we are either carrying heavy loads for ourselves, or joined to another to share all that life brings, or with others to pull for some purpose or cause. If we were not yoked from birth to those who raised us we would simply have died. Even in our darkest most alone moments, we are lifting and dragging a weighty burden, and our happiest moments are linked with those we love.
         We knew God from birth but as we grew older, wiser, and more intelligent, we lost what we knew and the stress and strain of life became harder. Jesus invites us to be yoked with him and with each other to bear a good and lighter burden, and, to know God again. This is a yoke of choice, a yoke of freedom, a yoke for all time and, all ages.
 

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY

Leader:  ~ Most Holy Jesus, we come to You as You called us, to seek the knowledge of our God that only You can reveal. Let us learn our way of life from You, and be united with each other in Your love.

                              Holy Jesus, we welcome Your yoke and Your burden

RESPONSE:   We rest our weary souls in Your gentle and humble heart

~ Most Holy Jesus, enlighten and burden all political leaders of our world, our nation, and our community, with a great desire to do the good they are capable of doing and to avoid the evil that is sometimes more tempting to do. Grant them the vision to see into the eyes and hearts of those for whom they legislate, and be able to see themselves and those they love.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                        Holy Jesus, we welcome Your yoke and Your burden

                        We rest our weary souls in Your gentle and humble heart

~ Most Holy Jesus, soothe the pain and suffering of those depleted by disease, injury, or depression, and comfort those who give them care.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions 

                        Holy Jesus, we welcome Your yoke and Your burden

                        We rest our weary souls in Your gentle and humble heart

~ Most Holy Jesus, please ease the arduous path of grief for those who mourn, and help us all, as we reluctantly yield those we have loved, to the gracious and glorious reception into Your eternal life. We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                        Holy Jesus, we welcome Your yoke and Your burden

                        We rest our weary souls in Your gentle and humble heart

~ Most Holy Jesus, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt intentions and petitions, silently or aloud…………..

                        Holy Jesus, we welcome Your yoke and Your burden

                        We rest our weary souls in Your gentle and humble heart

~ Most Holy Jesus, for those who wear the visible sign of Your yoke, we ask a revival of spirit and restoration of joy in their daily work and life. Let us be mutual companions on this journey of our souls, caring and carrying in turn.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions

                        Holy Jesus, we welcome Your yoke and Your burden

                        We rest our weary souls in Your gentle and humble heart

The Celebrant adds: O God of our spirit and our humanity, help us to come as children to listen and learn, to hear and grow. Grant us the revelation of Your wisdom, true delight in Your law, and let us be held captive only by Your love and grace. We ask this through our Most Holy Jesus and Your Glorious Holy Spirit, who live and reign with You, as One God throughout all eternity and beyond. Amen.

Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, concern, or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Meditation Moments: Ellington and Welles

Rod's Prayer for Us

I am leaving you well and whole.  
That is my parting gift to you.*

Lord, Dear Lord of love, God Almighty, God Above,
Please look down and see my people through.
       Come Sunday ~ Duke Ellington**  [1899-1974]


Dear Rod:
       We rest easier in our hearts today knowing your words, your voice remain even as your earthly presence has been reborn as eternal and unbounded. You know that the celebration of you, through the jazz vespers you designed, was as glorious an hour as any of us have ever spent and we know you speak to us from each phrase, each note, each breath - the most joyful noise resounding beyond the barriers of earth and ether, hearts and souls. 
       The prayers, the Scripture (from The Message, of course), and mostly the music and the lyrics have given us the clearest blueprint for all of us to follow til we meet again. Knowing that you put this together in the very last days, as you knew you were leaving this life, is the purest, most ideal, truly inspirational model of how to live and die with the utmost grace, dignity, and peace. 
       Thank you, my friend. All of us who knew and loved you will carry your love for us forever and give it away as often as we can to as many as we can, as you did.  AMEN and HALLELUJAH!

A few of the selections from the Jazz Vespers at the Episcopal Church of Sts. Andrew & Matthew in Wilmington, DE on Saturday, June 28, 2014 designed by and in memory of our dearest brother in Christ, The Rev Rod Welles:

Come Sunday by Duke Ellington
Hold to God's Unchanging Hands, music by Paul Halley

Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 (The Message):
Life, lovely while it lasts, is soon over.
Life as we know it, precious and beautiful, ends.
The body is put back in the same ground it came from.
The spirit returns to God, who first breathed it.

1John 4:7-13 (The Message)

John 14:12-17. 25-27 (The Message)
.....*vv 25-27 speak clearly to me of Rod's directive to us all:
                             I am telling you these things while I am still living with you.
                             The Friend, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send at my 
                              request, will make everything plain to you, reminding you of
                              all the things I have told you.  I am leaving you well and 
                              whole.  That is my parting gift to you.              [emphasis added]

I'm So Glad Jesus Lifted Me, a Negro Spiritual
In That Great Gittin' Up Mornin', A Negro Spiritual
Take the 'A' Train, Billy Strayhorn/Duke Ellington 
       and so much more...


**Duke Ellington, American composer, musician, and jazz orchestra leader for more than 50 years is an icon of American music.  If you need to know more, just listen.

I cannot post the video here but use the link below or go to YouTube and search for Duke Ellington, Come Sunday and click on the link for the version by Kathleen Battle and Brandon Marsalis, oh my!

Come Sunday - Kathleen Battle & Brandon Marsalis
Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, concern, or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Meditation Moments: Permanently Temporary

photo by Christina Brennan Lee
Buddhist Temple Grounds - Kamakura, Japan

The plants and flowers
I raised about my hut
I now surrender
To the will
Of the wind 
             ― Ryōkan* [1758-1831]






Esteemed Mikado of the Cosmos ~
     I, Your humble human creature, still find myself clinging to the notion that I have control of my life and even my property. Except that the more I try to divest myself of stuff, the more stuff I seem to accumulate (after all, I have room now since I got rid of the other stuff). And then there was that tree that fell in the storm. 
    In terms of my life, well, there's no problem there - I could say that everything I plan happens exactly as I want, except You know better. All that is great, ordinary, or awful in living is really only temporary. 
    The wind blows, the roof leaks, the new car gets old,    ......s/he dies. 
    Help me, Most Supreme of us All, to surrender my illusion of control and find tranquility in the now moment of life. Grant me the insight to know that whatever else was, is, or will be, Your love is eternal, sustaining, and the only part of the Cosmos that is permanent.  amen.
  
  

*Ryōkan was a Japanese zen buddhist monk, poet, calligrapher, and for most of his life, a hermit.  Known for his eccentricities and humor, as much as for his poems, it is in his work that the essence of zen life is presented.    
        




Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, concern, or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Meditation Moments: Prepare to be Amazed

Amazement
watercolor by Jamie Winter

      Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. ....get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted.       Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed. 

          ― Abraham Joshua Heschel* [1907-1972]

God of gods, Lord of kings, Revealer of mysteries ~

          Being amazed when I get up in the morning isn't usually first on my list of things to do although some mornings it's amazing I've gotten that far. But before I know it the day has gone and I've missed it. The way I'm going, my whole life will be gone and I really don't want to wait until that specific moment to discover what true amazement is all about.

          God of Creation, too much time has passed and I want to experience this life and all that is in it as an act of radical amazement. You have hung the heavens, filled the seas, and planted the earth. Help me see, feel, hear, taste, touch, and know the spirituality of wonder in every possible moment...in the moments that are joyful, in the moments when I am lost, and in the moments that are so ordinary they seem to meld into the next without notice. Grant me, each day, the vision to see the splendor, the ability to savor each breath, and the insight to expand my consciousness of amazement as my spirit absorbs and lives into the essence of You. amen.

*Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Polish born American philosopher, theologian, rabbi and is considered one of the leaders of his disciplines in the 20th century. He authored many books and was a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.  A strong advocate of the American Civil Rights movement, Heschel lost close family members in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II.

Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, concern, or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.

Meditation Moments: Finding the Then in Now

      

      When I have something to say that I think will be too difficult for adults, I write it in a book for children. Children are excited by new ideas; they have not yet closed the doors and windows of their imaginations. Provided the story is good... nothing is too difficult for children.    
                     ― Madeleine L'Engle* [1918-2007]

Ruler of the Universe We Know, and All the Ones We Don't ~
          It's amazing to watch children at play. They see the wonder, the color, the surprise, and have the imagination to find excitement in a beautifully creative understanding of life. They accept revelation, move boundaries, and effortlessly disentangle enigmas. They ask why a thousand times without caring how many times they get the same answer and never stop looking for another.
          Lord, when did my world become so limited, fixed, and absolute? How did I lose my curiosity and agree to be constrained by imposed and unexplored assumptions?  Please help me find the child in me that my education, life experience, and trying to prove my worth to others has set aside. Open my eyes to possibilities, potential, insight, and a new experience of You. Let me learn how to play again and to expand my inner vision to rediscover delight, joy, laughter, and un-seriousness in my relationship with You. Grant me the gift to know now what I knew then and the non-sense to live it.  amen.

*Madeleine L'Engle,  an author of many books and articles, among other accolades she was a Newbery award winner for her junior novel A Wrinkle in Time. L'Engle was a strong Episcopalian, and later in life she was a "writer-in-residence" at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City where she is now buried. Because of some of her theological views such as universal salvation and a limit to divine punishment, many Christian libraries and bookstores refused to carry her books while at the same time she was criticized by secular reviewers as being "too religious." On writing for children, she often said that children could understand very complex topics better than adults and she emphasized the importance of being childlike and not childish.  



Please feel free to request a prayer or meditation to be composed for a particular person, concern, or topic for posting in this space. You may leave your request in the comments section or contact me directly at Leeosophy@gmail.com All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. If you would like the weekly Prayers of the People prior to its appearance on the blog, please send me an email. Personal prayer requestors will remain anonymous.