Silent Sunday
Ruah
The theme of this silent Sunday is Ruah, the Spirit, Breath and Wind of God. I invite you to join in with the music, readings, quiet prayer and reflections around this theme.
Opening music:
Lyrics:
This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your holy presence
Living in me
This is my daily bread
This is my daily bread
Your very word
Spoken to me
And I... I'm desparate for you
And I... I'm lost without you
Time: 10 minutes
Breathing prayer:
I invite you to spend some time in quiet prayer with your breath. (You can choose between a 10 minute timer and a 20 minute timer below, which each have a gong at the beginning and three gongs at the end).
Imagine as you inhale that you are breathing in the Spirit.
As you exhale you are breathing outall that weighs on you.
When you inhale, you breathe in the Spirit's intimate, inspiring and enlivening presence.
Pause in that moment of fullness that connects you with the sacred Presence who is always sustaining you.
When you exhale, imagine releasing what is not needed in this moment, setting aside all that keeps you from God.
Pause in the moment of emptiness and total release.
Continue with this rhythm through this time of quiet prayer.
Listen to the following music as an ending to the time of prayer:
Lyrics:
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
I give myself to you, Beloved, the self that I thought I was
I give myself to you, Beloved, the self that was false and lost
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Who is it moves in me, Beloved, whose hands, and feet are these?
Who is it moves in me, Beloved, whose heart beats, who breathes?
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Sacred Reading:
Read the following reading through twice or three times, with an attitude of open receptivity. Listen for any words that call out to you, or that draw you into the sacredness of silence.
“God has given to the earth the breath which feeds it. It is his breath that gives life to all things. And if he were to withhold his breath, everything would be annihilated. His breath vibrates in yours, in your voice. It is the breath of God that you breathe – and you are unaware of it.” (Theophilus of Antioch)
“The morning wind spreads its fresh smell.
We must get up and take that in, that wind that lets us live.
Breathe before it's gone.”
(Rumi)
For Further Reflection:
I encourage you to spend some time in further reflection on this theme. Below are some quotes from the talk and additional quotes for you to take this theme further.
Jean-Yves Leloup: "To breathe deeply and gently is to draw near to this Spirit, to feel oneself inhaled and exhaled by God."
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 paraphrased: "The unspiritual self, (the small constricted ego or false self), by it's very nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like foolishness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. (God's breath and our breath in open communion.) Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing."
St John of the Cross: “The soul that is united and transformed in God breathes God in God with the same divine breathing with which God, while in her, breathes her in himself.”
David Frenette: "Because the breath is such an embodied and receptive symbol, many people are drawn to practicing centering prayer with the sacred breath at certain seasons of the spiritual journey, to help with the deepening of their prayer into contemplation and as a way of integrating and embodying their spiritual practice with their physical, human experience." ... "The Holy Spirit is the breath of God, the breath within our breath. The Spirit animates our life as our breath breathes in us. ... Because the breath is such a rich symbol of God’s indwelling presence, practicing with the sacred breath opens you to greater awareness of the Spirit’s presence and action in you and in all of life."
Ending Blessing:
This
breathing
in is a miracle,
this breathing out, release,
this breathing in a welcome to
the unseen gifts which sustain me each
moment, this breathing out a sweet sigh,
a bow to my mortality, this breathing in
a holy yes to life, this breathing out
a sacred no to all that causes
me to clench and gasp,
this breathing in is a
revelation, this
breathing out,
freedom.
Amen
(By Christine Valters Paintner)
Ending music:
Lyrics:
Breathe on me, Holy Spirit of God
Breathe on me, fill me anew
Breathe on me, Holy Spirit of God
To love what You love and to do what You do
Breathe on me, Holy Spirit of God
Breathe on me, fill me anew
Breathe on me, Holy Spirit of God
To love what You love and to do what You do
Breathe on me, breath of God
Make my heart pure
Conform my will to Your holy will
To choose a life of virtue
Breathe on me, Holy Spirit of God
Breathe on me, fill me anew
Breathe on me, Holy Spirit of God
To love what You love and to do what You do
Breathe on me, breath of God
So I shall never die
But live in the Spirit eternally
Live in the Spirit of life
Breathe on me, Holy Spirit of God
Breathe on me, fill me anew
Breathe on me, Holy Spirit of God
To love what You love and to do what You do
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Sharon's book that was previously called "Contemplative Living" has been republished by AnamChara Books under the title "Deeper: Finding the Depth Dimension Beneath the Surface of Life". The Kindle version is available from Amazon, and the hard copy version can be ordered from loot.co.za or Takealot, or from your local bookshop through Ingram Distribution.