The Golden Elixirs of Life! Meditating on my Plasma and Platelet Donation today!

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters!

Happy Friday and our time of retreat and re-collection. Today I began my weekend retreat by donating the Golden Elixirs of Life- Platelets and Plasma. These two donations will help save 4 patient's lives. As I stared at the golden bags I thought of many things: Our souls look the same, our platelets and plasma are the same color, and our blood cells are rich and red. These are holy things that live in our bodies and are the life elixirs that God made. Not only that they are a constant reminder that we are one body, one spirit, and one family (Beloved Community). So tonight we celebrate this unity very gently and a reminder to try to donate blood to save a life.

Let us light our candles and be at prayer:

Tonight we begin our  time in prayer in silence without written words, only contemplation.

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.

"Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love?' These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will be many fruits, here in this world and the life to come." - Henri Nouwen

 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.

Ubi Caritas

Where charity and love are, God is there.
Christ's love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
As we are gathered into one body,
Beware, lest we be divided in mind.
Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,
And may Christ our God be in our midst.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
And may we with the saints also,
See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:
The joy that is immense and good,
Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen.

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


Tonight we light our candles and pray for an end to hatred an fear that keep us from being reconciled to each other and ourselves.  We light these candles for all of our family members who live in fear because they are afraid to be who they are. We pray and light candles for reconciliation between all family members who have sought to be divided and not united. We pray and light our candles in memory of all indigenous peoples of the world and that we may respect their history, their persons, and their gifts to the world. We pray and light our candles this night so that we may light up the world with God's light as a message of Love, Peace, Hope, and Joy to all who have been affected by hatred, bigotry, racism, phobias, discrimination, violence, abuse, and terror. We pray that we may shine the light of God by authentically showing to others our true selves that God has made in God's image and likeness. We light our candles and celebrate each other's diversity and the gifts we bring to this beautiful world that God created. We lift up our prayers each day for the 
all who have been victimized by terror. We pray for_____________________. The Light of Christ in Me, Recognizes the light of Christ in you!

If You Speak My Name I will live forever!

We speak the names this day of : Sandra Bland, Rekia Boyd,Alesia Thomas, and Shantel Davis as we remember victims of police brutality. 

Psalm 122 Lætatus sum

1 I was glad when they said to me, *
"Let us go to the house of the Lord."

2 Now our feet are standing *
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

3 Jerusalem is built as a city *
that is at unity with itself;

4 To which the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord, *
the assembly of Israel,
to praise the Name of the Lord.

5 For there are the thrones of judgment, *
the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: *
"May they prosper who love you.

7 Peace be within your walls *
and quietness within your towers.

8 For my brethren and companions' sake, *
I pray for your prosperity.

9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, *

I will seek to do you good."

Job 5:8-9,20-27

8 ‘As for me, I would seek God,

   and to God I would commit my cause. 

9 He does great things and unsearchable,

   marvellous things without number. 

20 In famine he will redeem you from death,

   and in war from the power of the sword. 

21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,

   and shall not fear destruction when it comes. 

22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh,

   and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth. 

23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,

   and the wild animals shall be at peace with you. 

24 You shall know that your tent is safe,

   you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing. 

25 You shall know that your descendants will be many,

   and your offspring like the grass of the earth. 

26 You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,

   as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing-floor in its season. 

27 See, we have searched this out; it is true.

   Hear, and know it for yourself.’ 

A Song of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 36:24-28

I will take you from among all nations; *

and gather you from all lands to bring you home.

I will sprinkle clean water upon you; *

and purify you from false gods and uncleanness.

A new heart I will give you *

and a new spirit put within you.

I will take the stone heart from your chest *

and give you a heart of flesh.

I will help you walk in my laws *

and cherish my commandments and do them.

You shall be my people, *

and I will be your God.

2 Corinthians 5:16-20

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;^* even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view,^*we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,^* not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

A Song of Christ’s Goodness

Anselm of Canterbury

Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you; *

you are gentle with us as a mother with her children.

Often you weep over our sins and our pride, *

tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgment.

You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds, *

in sickness you nurse us and with pure milk you feed us.

Jesus, by your dying, we are born to new life; *

by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy.

Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness; *

through your gentleness, we find comfort in fear.

Your warmth gives life to the dead, *

your touch makes sinners righteous.

Lord Jesus, in your mercy, heal us; *

in your love and tenderness, remake us.

In your compassion, bring grace and forgiveness, *

for the beauty of heaven, may your love prepare us.

John 16:33-17:5

33I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

17After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people,* to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

A Song of Our Adoption

Ephesians 1:3-10

Blessed are you, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, *

for you have blessed us in Christ

with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Before the world was made, you chose us to be yours in Christ, *

that we should be holy and blameless before you.

You destined us for adoption as your children through Jesus Christ,

*

according to the good pleasure of your will,

To the praise of your glorious grace, *

that you have freely given us in the Beloved.

In you, we have redemption through the blood of Christ,

the forgiveness of our sins,

According to the riches of your grace *

which you have lavished upon us.

You have made known to us, in all wisdom and insight, *

the mystery of your will,

According to your good pleasure which you set forth in Christ, *

as a plan for the fullness of time,

To gather together all things in Christ, *

things in heaven and things on earth.

PRAYER (contemporary language) 

Almighty God, of your grace you gave Conrad Weiser the gift of diplomacy, the insight to understand two different cultures and interpret each to the other with clarity and honesty: As we strive to be faithful to our vocation to commend your kingdom, help us to proclaim the Gospel to the many cultures around us, that by your Holy Spirit we may be effective ambassadors for our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the same Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

3 sets of prayers from blogs past 

God give us strength to seek unity with our brothers and sisters who differ from us!

Let us love Them as you Love us.

God help us to be loving towards those who are unloving!

Let us love  our family members as you Love us.

God help us to seek and see you in all of our family member's eyes

Let us love our family members  as you Love us.

God we pray for all the least of these who are in need of our love and assistance

Let us love our family members  as you Love us.

God we pray for all who are in need of a soft place to fall  when they are ill at ease and in mourning

Let us love our family members  as you Love us.

God we pray for peace in this world and an end to violence that infects our family members' hearts.

Let us love our family members  as you Love us.

God we pray for common ground among differing faith communities.

Let us love our family members  as you Love us.

God we pray for good conservation of the world's natural resources

Let us show love for all of Your Cathedral of Life.

God we pray for _________________________

God we give thanks for______________________

A Prayer attributed to St. Francis (From the Book of Common Prayer)

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.

or these

Let us pray for all God's Children this night an always. Remember as we pray for All God's Children that means all of us. 

We pray for all of our family members this night and always.

We pray for all children that they may be loved and gently cared for and treated with dignity and respect.

We pray for all caregivers that they may be afforded love, respect, and respite care.

We pray for our enemies that we may learn to love and find ways to become united.

We pray for our animal kingdom family members and especially those who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

We pray for all refugees, political prisoners, victims of violence, abuse, and terror.

We pray for all of our family members who are vulnerable and feel invisible. 

We pray for all of our LGBTQ family members who are continuing to seek for inclusion and loving acceptance. We pray that we who are in the process of coming out may find it a safe place and a place of springs. We pray that we may be afforded love and dignified treatment.

We pray for all of our family members who practice other religions not our own may be given the same love, respect, dignity, and  freedom to practice their and our faiths without fear or retribution.

We pray for all of our family members who have different political leanings as ours that we may come to a mutual understanding of dignity and respect and find common ground.

We pray for all of our family members who are in need of food, clothing, and shelter that we may rise and lovingly respond to their needs.

We pray for all our family members who are grieving, lonely, lost, and afraid. We pray that we may lovingly respond and be compassionate with empathetic and sympathetic hearts.

We pray for _______________

We give thanks for_______________

We remember___________________

We celebrate_________________

We lift up these our prayers to our Brother, Redeemer, Friend, Jesus who teaches us daily how to be one with each other in love.  Amen.

Or these 

Tonight let us reflect on the day past while listening to this song and may our spirits be light!

 A message from Kermit the Frog:   The Rainbow Connection

Dear God may we enjoy times of rest and play and never forget to have a childlike faith in you!

Help us to rely and trust on you fully even in times of despair and sadness. 

We pray for all children throughout the world that they may enjoy childhoods free from violence abuse, and illness. We pray especially for all children who are refugees and victims of human trafficking, and famine.

We pray for all refugees who are seeking sanctuary and an escape from persecution of any kind, violence, war, economic hardship, and oppression.

We pray for peace in your broken world and that all wars, violence, persecution, and anything that keeps us from being the loving Family of Yours that you made us to be.

We pray for all who are hospitalized and in care facilities. We pray for safe living and healing conditions and compassionate medical and care giving teams.

We pray that we may be more loving, more compassionate, more empathetic, more kind, more grateful and more of everything that will connect us more fully to You and to the rest of our family.

Help us to be ever mindful of the least of these and may we respond to their cries for help, love, acceptance.

God we offer our own prayers, thoughts, remembrances, thanksgivings, and celebrations to you especially those persons or situations we have been asked to pray for. Jesus we name them now _______ We ask these prayers In your most Holy Name. Amen.

A Song of God’s Love

1 John 4:7-11

Beloved, let us love one another, *

for love is of God.

Whoever does not love does not know God, *

for God is Love.

In this the love of God was revealed among us, *

that God sent his only Son into the world,

so that we might live through Jesus Christ.

In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us *

and sent his Son that sins might be forgiven.

Beloved, since God loved us so much, *

we ought also to love one another.

For if we love one another, God abides in us, *

and God’s love will be perfected in us.

Settings of the Lord's Prayer as found in A New Zealand Prayer Book

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and for ever.    Amen.

or the alternative form.

Eternal Spirit, 

Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, 

Source of all that is and that shall be, 

Father and Mother of us all, 

Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! 

The way of your justice be followed by the peoples

of the world! 

Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! 

Your commonwealth of peace and freedom 

sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us. 

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. 

In times of temptation and test, strengthen us. 

From trials too great to endure, spare us. 

From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, 

now and for ever. Amen.

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.

For the Human Family

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us

through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole

human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which

infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us

unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and

confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in

your good time, all nations and races may serve you in

harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ

our Lord. Amen.(BCP)

The Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In your presence O God, we come together as one family of love. Give us courage to lay down the weaponry of hate and find common ground.

In your presence O God, take all the gunk in our lives that prevent us from truly serving you and the least of these.

In your presence O God, give us courage to discern where you are sending us and help us to respond accordingly with "Here I am send me"!

In your presence  O God, make us truly the Beloved Community intent upon serving you and our family members with CALM (Compassion, Acceptance, Love, and Mercy) 

In your presence O God, help us to stand fast and ready to speak truth to power and seek out ways to be the change you want to see in the world.

In your presence O God, may we feel and know your love for us so that we may serve others. 

In your presence O God, we offer these our prayers________________________________

In your presence O God we lift up these our prayers to you in the name of your only begotten Son Jesus. Amen.

We close our vigil with these prayers:

The Woke Prayers of St. Francis

Help us O God to be woke!

Woke as your peacemakers, change makers, heart changers, and love energy bringers!

Woke to the hatred so that we may sow seeds of love.

Woke to the injury so that we may heal the hurt and cease the harm.

Woke to the divisiveness that we may be eager to heal and unite as one neighborhood and family.

Woke to uncertainty that will lead us to be renewed in faith.

Woke to the despair of all our neighbors so that we may sow seeds of radical hope, love, hospitality, and inclusion.

Woke to the knowledge that we are God's beloved children. Help us to be woke to sing the words of  "Light One Candle"

LIGHT ONE CANDLE

Peter Yarrow

Light one candle for the Maccabee children

With thanks that their light didn't die

Light one candle for the pain they endured

When their right to exist was denied

Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice

Justice and freedom demand

But light one candle for the wisdom to know

When the peacemaker's time is at hand

chorus:

Don't let the light go out!

It's lasted for so many years!

Don't let the light go out!

Let it shine through our love and our tears.

Light one candle for the strength that we need

To never become our own foe

And light one candle for those who are suffering

Pain we learned so long ago

Light one candle for all we believe in

That anger not tear us apart

And light one candle to bind us together

With peace as the song in our hearts

(chorus)

What is the memory that's valued so highly

That we keep it alive in that flame?

What's the commitment to those who have died

That we cry out they've not died in vain?

We have come this far always believing

That justice would somehow prevail

This is the burden, this is the promise

This is why we will not fail!

(chorus)

Don't let the light go out!

Don't let the light go out!

Don't let the light go out!

Help us to be woke enough not to think of ourselves being the comforted, help us be the comforters and wounded healers.

Help not to be know it alls and be woke to understand what is plaguing our inner beings, neighbors, neighborhoods, the least of these, our family members.

God wake us up to be Woke to your agape love so that we may love everything that you have made. Wake us to be Woke to Radical Love, Hospitality, and inclusion.

Help us to know that being truly woke means being open to radical and random acts of kindness and giving. Where the giver is given and receives much by acts of giving.

Help us to be woke enough to forgive and then find ourselves being actually forgiven 

God Wake us Up to Be Woke to know that death isn't the end but only the beginning of a new birth in your heavenly Kindom. Amen and let it be so!

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)

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more

than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to

generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.

Amen. Ephesians 3:20,21

++++

Good Night Beloved Community! I love you. Don't forget to do our Worry Free Sabbath Work Box so that our hearts, minds, spirits, and bodies may be free of the gunk that gets us down during our time of Sabbath Rest and Self-Care. 

Blessings, peace, and joy!

Sara

Resources

Enriching Our Worship

Book of Common Prayer on Line

Metis Aboriginal Ministries

In Lak 'Ech- Luis Valdez

Walk With Me On Our Journey

A New Zealand Prayer Book

Other Resources as Noted

Oremus Bible Browser

Action items: 1. Take time to find out how you can be of help in your community. Volunteerism is what is needed today. 2. Seek out groups that have networking that meet together to learn about what is happening in your community. 3. DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS- THEY ARE OUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE AND CARE FOR THEM!