Taking a sacred journey into our weekend retreat! Getting to the heart of the matter!

Good Evening Dear Family,

Happy Friday! I hope everyone is ready to take a sacred journey into our weekend retreat! God knows we all need it. Let us start by doing our Worry Free Sabbath -Jar, Journal or Box work. Instead of the usual canticles we will be using quotes from e.e. cummings and William Penn who celebrate birthdays today. 

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.

Peace be still.
Peace be.
Peace.

Pause
Inhale Gently.
Exhale Gently.

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

Peace be still.
Peace be.
Peace.

Pause
Inhale Gently.
Exhale Gently.

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

Peace be still.
Peace be.
Peace.

Pause
Inhale Gently.
Exhale Gently.

Or this form:

Be still and hear the whisper of God in the Wind, in the waves, and in our hearts
Be still and hear the whisper of God in the Wind,in  the waves.
Be still and hear the whisper of God in the Wind.
Be still and hear the whisper of God.
Be still and hear the whisper.
Be still and hear.
Be still.
Be.

The Light of Christ in me Recognizes the Light of Christ in you!"
I hold holy space for you in love and peace this day and always!

Gracious and loving God we pray that as we walk this virtual labyrinth we may calm our minds so that we may enter into this most holy time of q and a. May our answers to the questions we are about to ponder lead us more deeply in listening and in conversation with you. We pray that our hearts and heart homes may be expanded and warmed so that we may go out into the world that you created and be peacemakers and show your love and light to a fragile and broken world and see you in each face and acknowledge them as our family members. Amen.




most people are perfectly afraid of silence
e. e. cummings

We need to stop arguing about Christ and start living like Christ.

William Penn

Let us come together in this healing circle of love to pray, meditate, hold sacred space in this cyber sanctuary together.  May we practice the CALM Principles and repeat our mindfulness exercises again 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.

Peace be still.
Peace be.
Peace.

Pause
Inhale Gently.
Exhale Gently.

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

Peace be still.
Peace be.
Peace.

Pause
Inhale Gently.
Exhale Gently.

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

Peace be still.
Peace be.
Peace.

Pause
Inhale Gently.
Exhale Gently.

Or this form:

Be still and hear the whisper of God in the Wind, in the waves, and in our hearts
Be still and hear the whisper of God in the Wind,in  the waves.
Be still and hear the whisper of God in the Wind.
Be still and hear the whisper of God.
Be still and hear the whisper.
Be still and hear.
Be still.
Be.

Let us Sow Seeds of:

C= Compassion
A= Acceptance
L= Love
M = Mercy

Let us speak in words that are:

C= Comforting
A= Appreciative
L= Living and Loving
M= Mindful and Matter

Let our deeds be:
C= Caring and Compassionate
A= Admirable
L= Life giving
M= Mannerly

Let us be engaged in our:

Community

Actively

Loving one another

Ministering to everyone's needs

Light of the World Phos hilaron

Light of the world, in grace and beauty,
Mirror of God’s eternal face,
Transparent flame of love’s free duty,
You bring salvation to our race.
Now, as we see the lights of evening,
We raise our voice in hymns of praise;
Worthy are you of endless blessing,
Sun of our night, lamp of our days.

The Light of Christ in me Recognizes the Light of Christ in you!"

I hold holy space for you in love and peace this day and always!

IN LAK’ECH

Tú eres mi otro yo.
You are my other me.
Si te hago daño a ti,
If I do harm to you,
Me hago daño a mi mismo.
I do harm to myself.
Si te amo y respeto,
If I love and respect you,
Me amo y respeto yo.
I love and respect myself.

Luis Valdez

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.

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.

e. e. cummings

O Lord, help me not to despise or oppose what I do not understand.

William Penn

Psalm 84:1-6

84 Quam dilecta!

1 How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! *
My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

2 The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *
by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.

3 Happy are they who dwell in your house! *
they will always be praising you.

4 Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *
whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way.
5 Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, *
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

6 They will climb from height to height, *
and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

Love is the hardest lesson in Christianity; but, for that reason, it should be most our care to learn it.

William Penn

You and I are more than you and I because it's we.

e. e. cummings

Isaiah 12:1-6

12You will say on that day:
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
   for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
   and you comforted me. 

² Surely God is my salvation;
   I will trust, and will not be afraid,
for the Lord God ^* is my strength and my might;
   he has become my salvation. 

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴And you will say on that day:
Give thanks to the Lord,
   call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
   proclaim that his name is exalted. 

⁵ Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
   let this be known^* in all the earth. 
⁶ Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal^* Zion,
   for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. 

Love is the whole and more than all.

e. e. cummings

He that lives in love lives in God.

William Penn

2 Corinthians 4:11-18

11For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 12So death is at work in us, but life in you.

13 But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—‘I believed, and so I spoke’—we also believe, and so we speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. 15Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18 because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Love is indeed heaven upon earth; since heaven above would not be heaven without it; for where there is not love, there is fear; but, "Perfect love casteth out fear."

William Penn

Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear. . .

e. e. cummings

Luke 24:44-48

44 Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah^* is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses^* of these things.

Life ,for eternal us,is now

e. e. cummings

The adventure of the Christian life begins when we dare to do what we would never tackle without Christ.

William Penn

Charity is ... a universal remedy against discord, and an holy cement for mankind.

William Penn

Let us pray,

God we pray that the journey you have planned for us my lead us to you and in your service to a fragile and broken world.

God we pray that wherever we set our feet we may know that it is holy ground, for a holy people, a holy family, a holy life, a holy time, a holy love with love energy empowering us to be.

God we pray that we may have courage to walk in the ways that Christ commands us. We pray that ever action we do on this path may be guided by love, mercy,justice, and peace.

God we pray that our actions may be based upon radical love and welcome and that we may not fear each other only love and compassionately bind us as one.

God we pray that we may be truly be rooted in familyhood that is amazingly inclusive and sees in each other  God made manifest. That no one will feel left out and made to feel like they don't belong or are wanted.

God we pray that we may live without being hateful, violent, abusive, and the need to bully. We pray for an end to all forms of violence and that love may be the force that will enlighten and change the world for good in positive and life giving ways.

God we pray that as we spend time with you we may begin to know who we are.

God we pray that we may know where we are with you and each other and that we may be guided by your GPS system.

God we pray that we may use our voices lovingly to speak to one another and that when we are called to do so we may speak truth to power and let Justice Roll down.

God we pray that our hearts and heart homes may be warmed by your love and that we may spend this time of prayer, listening, and in conversation with you with love energy and gentle and peaceful minds. 

We pray these our additional prayers_____________________________________

We lift up these our prayers and thanksgivings in the name of Christ our Lord. Amen.

The  Beatitudes  Matthew 5:3–12 

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. (5:3)
Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted. (5:4)
Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth. (5:5)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled. (5:6)
Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy. (5:7)
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God. (5:8)
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God. (5:9)
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (5:10

 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.

Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)
Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

“Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing frighten you,

All things are passing away:

God never changes.

Patience obtains all things.

Whoever has God lacks nothing;

God alone suffices.” 

― Teresa of Ávila

The Song of Simeon Nunc dimittis

Luke 2:29-32

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, *

according to thy word;

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, *

which thou hast prepared before the face of all people,

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, *

and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

The Wisdom of God

the Love of God

and the Grace of God

strengthen you

to be Christ’s hands and heart in this world,

in the name of the Holy Trinity. Amen.

(source: Celtic)

Live without fear: your Creator has made you holy, has always

protected you, and loves you as a mother. Go in peace to follow

the good road and may God’s blessing be with you always. Amen.

(source: from Saint Clare)

The Light of Christ in me Recognizes the Light of Christ in you!" 

I hold holy space for you during this time of prayer, vigil, and meditation. 

Questions for this weekend's retreat!

Here n are our questions to ponder in our hearts and heart homes:

Where has our journey brought us this week?
 Are our feet touching holy ground?
Are we walking in the way that Christ commands us? 
Are our actions based on radical love and welcome ?
 Are our lives rooted in a familyhood that is amazingly inclusive and sees in each other God made manifest?
 Are we living without hate, violence, abuse, and bullying?
 Who are we?
 Where are we?
 Are our voices speaking lovingly to one another? 

Good Night Blessed and Dear Ones. I am sending Light to heal you to hold you: I am sending you Light to hold you in Love.*  Have a blessed and restful night! I love you and give thanks to God for you this night and always. 

Peace, love, prayers, and God's blessings!

Resources:

Satucket for Lessons 

Book of Common Prayer

Enriching Our Worship

John Phillip Newell *

Quote sites for prayers

Metis Aboriginal Ministries.

Walk With Me On Our Journey

In Lak' Ech Luis Valdez