Matthew 18:21-35 To forgive you will pass through the sea. You will leave much behind: what is owed, obligations, the heavy chains of your master anger. Just leave them. You will be tempted to turn back and fight but that is the slavery you are escaping, the lie of superior and inferior, the cruel economy […]
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A tool to use while walking through Lent: the Stations of the Cross, responding to 14 questions from Jesus Ideas for using this tool during Lent: Idea: engage with the questions by contemplating them as Stations of the Cross. Participants might be invited to write their reflections on papers and put them in baskets or […]
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Teach me the habits that love you Show me the visions that ring true Shower on me the light that shines through In all of this hold me Give me the courage to reach out Help me to challenge where I find doubt Let me grow so I am curious about How you are holding […]
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Loving God, Help me savour the season Of foliage falling all around Bearing beauty in dying Slowly turning the green Into yellow, red, and orange A Holy Fire of sense and spirit. Let it pause me into wonder At cycles revealing life large An outer and inner motion Bearing birth and death In constant conversation […]
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Along the dirt path, past golden grasses nodding in the breeze and stubby juniper trees studded with pale blue-green aromatic berries, through narrows the water rushes, falling over steeps in smooth sheets. Around bends it tumbles, creating backflows that spin into eddies. We are whirlpools in the stream of the universe, eddies consisting of eddies […]
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Just being. This is a time for just being. Time is a gift, just as nature is a gift – a gift for just being; being one with the chatter of birds, the hum of the freeway in the distance, one with the sunlight through the gnarled oaks playing patterns on the path, one with […]
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Distract us From overthinking situations Beyond our control Distract us From being led astray By the lure of temptations Distract us From the vain pursuit of fame Wealth and status Focus our hearts On following and nurturing Shepherd us well A version for personal devotion: Distract me From overthinking situations Beyond my control Distract me […]
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Be still Let the sound of nothing absorb you Be still Let time be motionless and free Be still Let clouds roll by in an unending sky Be still Don’t let thoughts intrude – let go Be still Grasp the precious freedom of now Be still This is just us, you and I, in communion […]
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O Blossoming Love, Creator of all that is Unfold my life… Revealing less of me And more of Thee In my planning Less of me And more of Thee In my worrying Less of me And more of Thee In my hoping Less of me And more of Thee In my creating Less of me […]
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Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without God. —Matthew 10.29 God does not go around pulling birds out of the air. God is not sitting at a control panel. God does not “plan” your victory or defeat, cancer, your accident, the moment of […]
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Loving God Creator God Accepting God Forgiving God Guiding God Encouraging God Restoring God Transforming God Leading God Blessing God Inspired by a pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland
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Lection for Epiphany 6, Year A To be read responsively, by two voices or by a solo voice How happy we could be if we could reach perfection, if we could just keep to the rules. How happy if we could follow orders with a willing heart. Some people do manage to steer a straight […]
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God, who wanted and willed me into life, so often I come to you with needs to be met. Seldom I come with joy for all that has been given. Re-sensitize me today to the silent ministries of your quiet gifts, the rest and renewal of last night, the freshness and feeling of this morning, […]
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God is Love, the cosmic creativity present everywhere and in everything, Gently urging all toward the good. To transcending Love, we raise our awestruck praise! Jesus embodied the Love that is God. He loved the poor, the sick, the outcast, He loved the unpopular, and even his own enemies. He loved so completely, he loved […]
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This might be used as a corporate prayer, substituting ‘we’ for I’. It might also be used at a service of affirmation — an induction, ordination, baptism, re-commitment or confirmation, substituting ‘you’ for ‘I’. May I…. Hands at third eye centre: May I see things as they really are, and not as how I want […]
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God in solidarity God takes on flesh and joins life in the struggle – this is what radical solidarity feels like. Lives and souls and bodies entangled. Risks and possibilities shared. We’re in this together. The mess, the beauty, the work. Don’t be afraid to feel hopeful. God’s promises are kept. God won’t opt-out or […]
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Epiphany 4 and Pentecost 11, Year C Loving One, all I want is to be safe with you; keep away the people who only come to mock me. Let me feel your strength coming to my rescue, hear me and stand by me when trouble comes. Be like a rock to me, my security and […]
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Mothering God, Love me anew into life Bearing the birth Of a new beginning I cannot yet see Nor fully understand Yet know I need. Press into me a pulse Enlivening every deadness Shedding every fear Bearing necessary pain For new beginnings Required for this life You renew to rise. Grant me grace O Mothering […]
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Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. –Paul’s letter to the Romans 8:26 My newborn grandson in my arms, Asleep in guileless peace – Heaven brought to earth afresh In sighs too […]
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The doors open the doors close *behind us, the world *before us, sanctuary *and the stillness of God Be prayer quiet Share quiet Shore up the noisy clanging *in your soul *on your lips Allow God to find you *bind you up *in [God’s] peace Unwind your spirit Let it float *on the song of […]
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The rain stopped long ago; skies are blue. But on the morning path the breeze shakes down showers the trees have been holding onto. I will gladly drown in this blessing. Awakening this morning in bed, as my conscious mind opened up it filled with what day this is, who I am, what I intend […]
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This reflection might be read on Easter morning, or during a time of meditation, having distributed a hazelnut for each participant to hold. Text: Wee, wizened pod of latent life, dormant hope protecting, I hold your power entire within my hand and wonder […]
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Across the turmoil, amidst the snares Though all the darkest days, weighed down by care When it feels like no-one is even there Carry me home When burdens are heavy and getting worse When others mock, and spit & curse When failure breaks the plans I’d rehearsed Carry me home When the world is fragile […]
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Before you know it, your kid’s childhood is over and she’s gone off to college. Before you know it, your vacation is over and it’s time to go back to work. Before you know it, the storm has passed and the sky is clear. Before you know it, way too much of your life has […]
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Care. Tender care. Soul care. Spiritual care. Material care. Collective care. Not self care, no. Or, rather, not only self care. Because no self is separable from the multitude of our relations, and we are made for murmurations, and our lives and legacies and futures are bound up together, even now, even now. So, yes, […]
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Loving is sharing in beauty. Living is sharing in the earth’s great cycles–life and death, crucifixion and resurrection, germination and bloom, sorrow and wonder and solace. Our sorrow is deep. Our connection, pulsing too. Practicing resurrection is recognizing the love that flows through the heart of the world. Being alive is a gift. Tuning into […]
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Living God, daily you create the world, remake it, and fill it with possibilities. When it comes to faith, help us to appreciate what we understand, to enquire about what we don’t understand, and to enjoy the journey in between… by John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford; from a Living Faith pamphlet entitled, ‘Christianity: a simple […]
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God entrusts to us a great treasure, the gift of Enough When I was young I wanted more persistent insistent unquenched desire I expended energy precious time accumulating earthly things But then God granted me the treasure of Enough not wanting more satisfied contentment not needing to eat too much food buy too many shoes […]
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O Love, Unfold me anew; For my spirit easily tightens Around yesterday’s too much Sadness and loss and worry. Stretch me open With an energy not my own But given as the gift of Life Revealing beauty within Already formed by You Before I even knew to notice. Yes, Love, ground me In Your forming […]
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So how do I know what you intend for me? What can I draw on to find the strength that I need? What word can comfort, what arms can embrace So I hear your words calling and look at your face? So how do I go from where I find myself now? How do you […]
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May 8 marks the Feast of Julian of Norwich. Julian of Norwich (1342-c.1416), mystic and author of The Revelations of Divine Love, is considered the first woman to write a book (that has survived) in English. Revelations of Divine Love arises from a series of sixteen visions she received on the 8th of May 1373. […]
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Help us to see you, to recognise your special role in our lives. Help us not to be afraid of new situations. Sometimes you call us to live differently, or walk in a new direction. Help us to follow you with eager hearts, always trusting in your mercy.
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The next time it gets light I will awake with hope And tonight as it gets dark I will not fear The next time it grows light I will welcome the dawn The next time morning comes I’ll be reborn The next time it grows dark I will not hide away The darkness does not […]
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Exodus 20:1-17 Jim writes… ‘The ten commandments endure as a foundation for morality, after thousands of years. But just like other guiding/governing documents, from time to time we need to add amendments to them. The ten commandments are a short list, and that is a very good thing. They mostly tell us what not to […]
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The nights are closing in, And darkness descends. Sometimes I feel lost in the dark, Wondering where you are; If you’ve left me. At times like these, Remind me of your presence and love And help me, Gently, to educate my feelings To fall in line with the truth of your promises. Enable me to […]
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My confession Spirit, remember me. Sometimes I forget to breathe, to pause. I race through the day. I forget to stop long enough to take a deep breath. I could blame the computer. I could blame pressures of work The importance of life’s tasks The necessity of chores. I know the wisdom of pausing. I […]
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Great mysterious Spirit of Love, be with me today and all days. Open my heart, move my hands, speak through my mouth and awaken my mind to prepare me for the work of love, caring, and justice in this broken and beautiful world. Sustain me when I am afraid. Goad me forward when I retreat […]
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Pentecost 8, Year A Matthew 13: 31-33 Let us prepare our souls to receive the sacred myth of scripture. Breathe deep, keep a moment of silence; release any preconceptions you might have about the meaning of the passage, open your heart to new revelations that may arise. Then read the text aloud: Jesus put before […]
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We are not given a mandate to judge or an obligation to convert. We are not required to argue religion. We are given power to heal. We need not muster up the strength. We are given authority. Christ is in us to heal. May I be a healer today; may I set free those who […]
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No matter how bad things get, there’s always hope. Even when things were at their worst for the young Anne Frank, she wrote: ‘The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does […]
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