Time to fall back and pray our way back into equilibrium !

Good Evening!

I hope everyone is still trying to be on retreat! It's not easy I know but we must do it for our stress level. Tonight we need to relax before the time change and that means praying our way back to normal. 


Tonight we need to take some time and do our old fashioned mindfulness exercises along with "Be Still's.

First, find yourself a timing device, musical piece, or app. Let's set it for our own particular time. 

For those who would like to join in the musical meditation please do.  Tina Turner is into meditation and has a beautiful piece in which to do this!
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Tina Turner - Peace Mantra


Close your eyes and breathe and relax
Origin: Hindhuism
Language: Sanskrit

Om Om Om
Sarvesham Svastir Bhavatu
Sarvesham Shantir Bhavatu
Sarvesham Poornam Bhavatu
Sarvesham Mangalam Bhavatu
Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

Mantra's Meaning: 

May there be happiness in all
May there be peace in all
May there be completeness in all
May there be success in all.

Breathe deeply and exhale gently.


Now let us engage in the "Be Stills"

Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.

Breathe deeply and exhale gently.

As they say on the shampoo bottle: Lather, rinse, repeat if necessary!

Let us make vigil and light one candle tonight as a symbol of our oneness.

Now let us take time to hold each other in our hearts and minds. Visually in our minds let us encircle  and wrap one another in a prayer quilt of CALM (Compassion, Acceptance, Love and Mercy)


Let us take time to pray and be in solidarity with Standing Rock, Aleppo, Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, and everywhere there is violence and division.

Let us cleanse and make holy our hearts, heart homes, lands,  waters, and relationships by praying this smudging prayer.

Below is the prayer and the link to the ceremony. We are using the prayer only.

Smudging as a Christian Aboriginal Ceremony

A Smudging Prayer

 Creator, our Father in heaven, we come to you as your children. We confess that we are weak and broken images of you. We pray for the forgiveness and healing you give in Jesus Christ. May his Spirit clean our spirits, minds, hearts, and bodies. We pray that your Holy Spirit will help us to worship in spirit and truth. We pray in the name of Jesus, so that his Spirit will carry our prayers to you. Amen.

Prayers in the stillness

*Those may be replaced with names, or by using Family Members.

Quiet our minds O God so that we can listen and hear your voice and what you are calling us to do and to be.
Help us to be still and listen to that quiet place in our heart and spirit. Help us to unwind our minds O God.

Quiet our bodies that we may turn our bodies from human doings to human beings.
Take the keys away  that drive our bodies to do and not be.

Help us to feel our spirits and the indwelling of  You and the Holy Spirit in this time of being quiet and still.
May our spirits be enlivened even in the quietness. 

Lord we pray for all who are traveling may they take time to rest and be alert.

Lord help us to lay down our burdens each day at your feet so that we may find rest and spend time with You.

Give us the peace of mind that we are always seeking. 

While we spend time with you Lord please take care of all of our loved ones and those whom we have been praying for. If we should fall asleep and rest be with them as we rest in the quietness.

In the stillness  O Lord may we drink of the Living Water of Life and be refreshed and feel it coursing through our  veins and give us the energy to do your will to your glory and in service to others.

In the stillness we remember and pray for all those who have requested our prayers for themselves and on behalf of others________________________________.

In the stillness we give thanks for the gifts of quiet, contemplation, rest, and times for our bodies, minds, and spirits to be renewed.  We give thanks for__________________________

In the stillness we celebrate those times of joy and those who have made a difference in our lives remembering_____________________

In the stillness we remember those who have entered in to life eternal especially________________
And we remember those continue to grieve.

We pray for those awaiting surgery in the weeks ahead. Calm their fears and anxieties Lord.

We pray for those who are being beset by bad weather O Lord. Ease these weather patterns Lord.

We pray for those who live in earthquake prone areas. Quiet their minds and give them  the peace and knowledge that You O God are there. 

Lord God watch over this your troubled and divided world. Set us on fire to help heal and unite it with our prayers, love, service, and actions. Give us grace, courage and love energy to do this in Your Name. Amen.

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From The Charter of Compassion on Facebook and Twitter:

"If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are. “Interbeing” is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix “inter-“ with the verb “to be,” we have a new verb, inter-be."
~ excerpt from Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
image: theidproject.org

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Good Night Dear Ones we may go longer tomorrow. I love you and Give God Thanks for you always.

Love and blessings!

Sara