Silent Sunday
Embodied Hope
In this silent Sunday we will explore the meaning of hope, as distinguished from optimism, and the link between embodiment and hope.
Opening music:
Lyrics:
In this moment I welcome Thee
Ever giving Thyself to me
Introduction Talk:
Quiet Prayer
I invite you into a time of quiet prayer, where you rest your attention on your breathing, in an open receptive way, as you receive the Spirit with every breath. But don't think about this, let it be an embodied receptivity to the immediacy of your breathing.
Listen to the following music as an ending to the time of prayer:
Lyrics:
Help me open my heart so I can hold all that I need to hold (x4)
Help me open my heart so I can feel all that I need to feel (x4)
Help me open my heart so I can know all that I need to know (x4)
Help me open my heart so I can heal all that I need to heal (x4)
Sacred Reading:
Read the following reading 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 draw you into the sacredness of silence that is deeper than your usual knowing:
Reading:
As we surrender ourselves to Your living Presence,
we will be filled with the radiance of Love and Hope.
As we open our hearts to the fullness of Life,
We will be filled with wisdom and freedom, ready to serve."
~ adapted from Psalm 119, Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill
Meditation walk (10 minutes)
Take a 10-minute meditation walk. Feel your steps, grounding you in your body on the earth; feel your breath, connecting you with the fullness of Life.
For Further Reflection:
Below are the quotes from the talk for you to take this theme further.
Cynthia Bourgeault: “Mystical hope is not tied to a good outcome, to the future. It lives a life of its own, seemingly without reference to external circumstances and conditions. It has something to do with presence—not a future good outcome, but the immediate experience of being met, held in communion, by something intimately at hand. It bears fruit within us at the psychological level in the sensations of strength, joy, and satisfaction: an “unbearable lightness of being.” But mysteriously, rather than deriving these gifts from outward expectations being met, it seems to produce them from within."
Mary Dwyer: "How can we be people of hope in the midst of so much brokenness and despair - by being courageous enough to enter this present experience in our own bodies right here right now."
Thomas Keating: "To hope for something better in the future is not the theological virtue of hope. Theological hope is based on God alone. ... Let whatever is happening happen and go on happening. Welcome whatever it is. Let go into the present moment by surrendering to its content."
The Welcoming Prayer
Movement one: Feel and sink into what you are experiencing this moment in your body
Movement two: "Welcome" what you are experiencing this moment in your body as an opportunity to consent to the Divine Indwelling
Movement three: Let go by saying the following sentence: "I let go of my desire for security, affection and control, and I embrace this moment as it is."
Mary Dwyer describes that "the radical invincible trust of the welcoming prayer is fully grounded in the incarnation, that we can never have an experience apart from God, whether our psychological faculties recognise it or not."
John 20:22 "Jesus breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'"
angel Kyodo williams describes how “embodied practices have the capacity to disrupt the disconnect that lives inside of us, and as long as that disconnect lives inside of us we will unconsciously uphold structures of division and separation.”
Ending Prayer:
Creator Beloved, Divine Indwelling,
to You I offer my whole being - a vessel emptied of self.
Source of all love, accept my emptiness,
and so fill me with Yourself, Your life, Your hope, Your love,
that these like precious gifts may overflow the chalice of my heart,
and flow into the hearts of all those I come into contact with this day,
revealing unto them the beauty of Your joy and wholeness,
and the serenity of Your peace and hope, which nothing can destroy.
Amen
(Adapted from the Prayer of the Chalice)
Ending music:
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.
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