Silent Sunday
Listening to the changing of the seasons
Our theme in this short reflection is an invitation to listen to the changing seasons, and the sacred conversation that this may be calling us to participate in.
Opening music:
Introduction Talk:
Quiet Prayer
I invite you to a time of opening listening in quiet prayer (you can choose between a 10 minute and a 20 minute time of simple silence using the timers below). If you find your mind wandering, gently let go of your thoughts and return to being present and open, through awareness of your breath or your sacred word.
Listen to the following music as an ending to the time of prayer:
Lyrics:
By breath, by blood, by body, by spirit, we are all one
The air that is my breath is the air that you are breathing
And the air that is your breath is the air that I am breathing
The wind rising in my breast is the wind from the east, from the west
From the north, from the south, breathing in, breathing out
The water that is my blood, my sweat, tears from crying
Is the water that is your blood, your sweat, tears from crying
And the rising of the tide is in our veins and in the ocean wide
We are in the rising steam, rushing river, running stream
The earth is dust, the earth is clay, flow’rs blossoming and fading
We are dust and we are clay, we are blossoming and fading
Every color, every sound, every place is holy ground
Oh, every living thing, can you hear it laugh? Can you hear it sing?
The fire in my heart, my soul flame burning
Is the fire in your heart, your soul flame burning
We are Spirit burning bright, by the light of day, in the dark of night
We are shining like the sun, and like the moon, like the Holy One
Sacred Reading:
Read the following readings through twice or three times, with an attitude of open receptivity. Allow a few minutes of silence between the readings. Listen for any words that call out to you, or that stir something that the Spirit may be saying within you:
Reading 1: Job 12:7-10
Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Creator has brought this all into being?
In the Beloved's hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all humanity.
Reading 2: Trees, by Rumi
Spring, and no one can be still,
with all the messages coming through.
We walk outside as though going to meet visitors,
wild roses, trilliums by the water.
A tight knot loosens.
Something that died in winter
lifts a head out, and opens.
Trees, the tribe gathers.
Who has a chance against such an elegant assemblage?
Dialogue with nature (10 minutes):
This is based on an exercise developed by Richard Rohr.
Find some form of fresh spring growth - could be a simple plant or even a weed.
Have a dialogue with this part of nature.
Allow your imagination to be open, playful and free as you reply on behalf of this spring growth.
Breathing Prayer:
As a second movement, we need to acknowledge that listening to nature and opening to our connectedness with all of life involves becoming aware of suffering, and allowing our hearts to open to that as well as to the beauty. We are in a season of profound suffering for many people and for our home, mother earth, and so I invite you into a breathing prayer, where we bring to our awareness the suffering of others, wherever your heart is naturally drawn in compassion, and then breathe in the suffering, and breathe out the healing Love and Peace of God.
Let this ending song be a prayer that you offer for peace in our deeply troubled and suffering world.
Ending Blessing and music:
Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.
Ending music:
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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.