Bridge week: Building bridges and tearing down walls.

Dear Family of Love ! 

I hope and pray that everyone is having a good day and  knew that today was and still is You Matter Monday. You Matter! Go to the nearest mirror and tell yourselves that you matter and I love you and your name. Do that now before we settle in. We are approaching Mid-Lent and are well on our way to Holy Week. This time of year I call this bridge week. So that means we will begin to learn how to build bridges and be the hands, feet, voices, and arms that are necessary to bring peace, love, and mercy to this fragile and broken world of ours. What do bridges do? They span gaps and make it safe to cross rivers and creeks. For us, God helps us to be the bridge designer so that we can be the builder of  the bridges. What does building a bridge consist of in our lives of faith? We find ourselves going back the the word CALM (Compassion, Acceptance, Love, and Mercy). In order to build bridges we also need to have these tools at the ready:

Kindness
Gratitude for the gifts our family members bring to the table
Common ground
A willingness to not travel down a negative pathway.
A willingness to change our attitudes that keep us from being united.
A heart home that is ever expanding and going deeper.
A pair of well tuned listening ears and a mouth that is able to be silent and not talk over people.
Arms that are ready to embrace and welcome.
Feet that are ready to run and help when our family members are in crisis.
Hands that are willing to soothe, comfort, serve, and grasp our brother's and sister's hands.
Eyes that are able to see and reflect God.
A voice that is comforting and reassuring.
A smile to radiate God's Light and Love to the world.
Courage to meet our family members half way.
Courage to lay aside our preconceived thoughts about our family members.
The ability to respect the dignity of every human and living being.
Strength to be able to go against society's norms when necessary.
To boldly Go where Jesus is sending us! 
To join in the Jesus Movement or if you aren't Christian, The  Movement of Love and Justice and CALM. 
The courage to tear down walls that divide us.

Now let us engage in our adapted "Be Stills"

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that God is Love.

Be still and know that You are Love.

Be sill and know that I Am Love.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

Slowly inhale.

Hold.

Slowly exhale

Pause. Count to 10.

Repeat 4 times!

Happy You Matter Monday! Let us join together in our daily Virtual Candlelight Prayer Vigil. Let us light our candles and be at prayer. Tonight we pray that we may become peace makers and bridge builders. We pray that we may tear down the walls that divide so that we can see each other from the other side of river, border, ego, and unhealthy mindset. May we build bridges based on compassion, acceptance, love, and mercy. May we build bridges by being kind, gentle,just and respecting each other's dignity. May we build bridges with common ground and the knowledge that the God who made us makes us one. This we pray in the Name of God who is Creator, Redeemer,  Holy Comforter and most especially Love. Amen.

Taking time to pray with the ripples in the pond and an excerpt from last year's blog. Think of the ripples being bridges to each other from the center out and back. Flowing into each ripple and flowing back. Think of this as give and take. 

What the ripples represent:

The first ripple represents God's love for us
The second ripple represents our love for God
The third ripple represents our love for our family members. You may use the word neighbors.
The fourth ripple represents our love for ourselves
The fifth ripple represents our love for our enemies and those who hate us.
The sixth ripple represents our courage in loving the unlovable.
The seventh ripple represents God's love for all living things
The eighth ripple represents our Love for all living things.
The ninth ripple represents God's love for our invisible and marginalized family members we sometimes forget.
The tenth ripple represents God's reminding us to pray and serve the invisible and marginalized.
The eleventh ripple represents God's presence in our lives
The twelfth ripple represents our presence in God's life
The thirteenth ripple represents God's relationship with us
The fourteenth ripple represents our relationship with God.
The fifteenth ripple represents God's working through us in service to the world.
The sixteenth ripple represents our oneness in, with, and through God.
The three Sabbath Days represent Love, Love, and more love for God, every living thing, and each other.

So dear ones we will take time to pray the ripples tonight and as we do we will respond in this manner :  I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love myself, and I love me just as I love God and my family members. 

The first ripple represents God's love for us
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members. 

The second ripple represents our love for God
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members. 

The third ripple represents our love for our family members. You may use the word neighbors.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself just as I love God and my  family members. 

The fourth ripple represents our love for ourselves.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members. 

The fifth ripple represents our love for our enemies and those who hate us.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members. 

The sixth ripple represents our courage in loving the unlovable.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members. 

The seventh ripple represents God's love for all living things.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members. 

The eighth ripple represents our Love for all living things.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members. 

The ninth ripple represents God's love for our invisible and marginalized family members we sometimes forget.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members. 

The tenth ripple represents God's reminding us to pray and serve the invisible and marginalized.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members.

The eleventh ripple represents God's presence in our lives.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself,just as I love God and my family members. 

The twelfth ripple represents our presence in God's life.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members.

The thirteenth ripple represents God's relationship with us.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members.

The fourteenth ripple represents our relationship with God.I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family  members. 

The fifteenth ripple represents God's working through us in service to the world.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family  members. 

The sixteenth ripple represents our oneness in, with, and through God.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my  family members. 

The three Sabbath Days represent Love, Love, and more love for God, every living thing, and each other.
I love God, God Loves me, I love my family members and  neighbors, My Neighbors and family members love me, and I love myself, just as I love God and my family members.

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Good Night Dear Family of Love! I love you!  Remember you matter and are loved beyond all measure!

With love and more love!

Sara

P.S.

Tomorrow you will receive this week's ponder work and keywords and concepts!