A time of silence and reflection on our Retreat and a Story From the Window.

Good Evening Dear Family!

Happy Take Care Tuesday! Let us take time to return to our place of silence and reflect on how silence and quiet time has changed you, changed us, and changed y/our world view. Take this time for reflection and don't forget to invite God in and welcome each other in spirit.  After we spend this time let us make light candles and make vigil. Tonight's prayer focus and vigil will be on the words we use and say. After prayers we will have our weekly Story from the Window.

God we come to you this night to light our candles and use words and thoughts that heal and are loving in acts of prayer and comfort. We pray this night for our family members who have chosen to use words that hurt and bully. We pray that they may be led to right speech and turn away from hate words and bigotry and be transformed by words of love and light. We pray that we ourselves may be conscious of what we say, post, and write. We pray that we may be on our loving and best behavior towards our family members in social media and off. We pray that we may respect the dignity of all humankind and that we ma seek to know and love each other more fully and without fear. We pray that we may instill in our family members throughout the world by our words and actions a sense of CALM (compassion, acceptance, love, and mercy). We pray that our words may light up the world in loving speech, justice, for the benefit of family members who differ from us, and as beacons that will promote equality and equity for all. We light our candles tonight as a symbol of speaking truth to power and as a means to carry the light of Christ into the world' where there is darkness. Let us remember these words" The light of Christ in me, Recognizes the Light of Christ in you!" Let us be lights to this fragile and broken world with our loving words, actions, and hearts. Amen.

 Let us us this time tonight to be at prayer and pray for courage to be the Light, be a Voice, be a Peacemaker, Be a Child of God, Be the one who speaks up when someone won't. 

Let us spend time in silence and prepare ourselves to be God's voice in a broken world. 

God of justice we pray that we may have courage to speak truth to power.

God of compassion we pray that we may love others not just in our words but in our deeds.

God of kindness we pray that we may use our voices to heal, comfort, and lovingly support.

God of peace we pray that we may use our voices as your beloved children to make peace and not wage war in this world.

God of all people, we pray that we may be the voices who seek to protect and serve the most vulnerable of our family members.

God of justice we pray that we may we have the courage to Stand Up, Step up, and Speak Up for all of your children who need us to act and not be silent. 

God of Love we pray that we may use the Love Energy that is within our Heart Homes to be your Light to the world. May we shine your light in dark places so that our family members may see and be guided away from the darkness that infects our world.

God of healing we pray that we may seek to use our voices to heal and not harm.

God of creation we pray that we may use our voices to speak for good conservation practices to heal and renew the face of the earth and respect all living things in your Cathedral of Live.

God of diversity, we pray that we may be voices of unity and that we may seek to come to know one another and respect the dignity of all beings.

God and creator of us all may we seek to follow the examples of Jesus and John the Baptist and speak, love, act, and pray and be mindful of the needs and concerns of others this day and always! 

God we offer our own voices in prayer and thanksgiving remembering____________________.

We lift up these our prayers in the name of Jesus the Good Shepherd whose voice we hear and who calls us all by our names. Amen. 

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Gracious and Loving God we light our candles and pray for an end to darkness and fear. We pray that our hearts may be lifted out of all the dark places that are infecting our bodies,minds,and spirits. Give us peaceful hearts as we confront the feeding frenzy of fear that often incites us into actions that we know that aren't Godly or good for humanity. We pray that all acts of verbal terror may cease and those who speak words of terror may learn that words and deeds indeed do hurt many. Help us to speak truth to power with strength and loving tongues. We pray this night for all victims of word terror be it bullying, bigotry, hate speak, and all forms of speech that seek only to divide and not unite. We pray for unity, justice, peace, equality, and CALM (Compassion, Acceptance, Love, and Mercy) We pray these our prayers as we place our worries, fears, anxieties, and any thing else that separates us from being united with God and each other into our Worry/Sabbath box as we prepare for our weekly Self-Care and Sabbath Rest Weekend Retreat. Let us light our candles now and carry them into the world with love and as a symbols that we are to be the lights of the world. Every person we meet may we remember these words "The Light of Christ/God in me recognizes the Light of Christ/ God. in you. Amen.

A Prayer attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen.

Today's Story From the Window 

 Please pray for our family members who come to the window today. Lots of sadness. Pain anguish and lots of worry. If only we could have our candidates get out of their ivory towered finery and see what's in the real world not the rally halls. There are no cheers, there are no petty and dangerous cat calls and slogans only sorrow and fear and not knowing where they our family members will lay their heads! If only you my family members on FB could see this maybe your hearts would become softened and see Jesus in these faces and why what we people of all faiths know for sure is that God made us in God's loving image and likeness and are precious. Take these our precious ones in your hearts as you go to the voting booth and ask your selves How is my vote going to reflect the needs of the homeless, hungry, marginalized, LGBTQ, minorities, various faith groups, and the strangers and resident alien in our midst. If your vote doesn't include being in solidarity with all people and the least of these maybe you need to spend some time evaluating why you have become hard hearted. That's today's story from the window.

Our Wellness Piece from IThrive

Day 3

Another potential source of noise pollution is actually people. We realize that it’s not possible to just stop talking to people but perhaps there are ways to cut down on unnecessary “noisy” conversations. Maybe it means taking a break from lengthy phone conversations or idle chatter with a co-worker. Without being rude, find ways to excuse yourself from idle conversations. Take the time to listen instead to the sound of silence. With attention, you can actually hear silence. Curious? Give this a try today! 

Just a heads up that on Day 4, we’d like you to pick a quiet spot outside and observe silence in nature. So give some thought as to where you may be able to go to enjoy the sounds of silence outdoors.

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Good Night Dear Ones! I love you ! May you rest gentle and be awakened in joyful renewal to be ready for  #WisdomWednesday ! I  give God thanks for you each and every day. 


With love,hope, joy, and peace,

Sara