Meeting Meditation, Broken Hearted People

Issues of race are taking center stage during this time of social distancing. Hello, I am Andrew Faiz. I am a religious journalist that writes on popculture and race and I am offering Love Letters this week.

“It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase. Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel. – Proverbs 20

 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. – Corinthians 13

Oh, get born, keep warm. Short pants, romance. Learn to dance, get dressed, get blessed. Try to be a success. Please her, please him, buy gifts. Don’t steal, don’t lift. Twenty years of schoolin’, and they put you on the day shift. – Subterranean Homesick Blues

 And when the broken-hearted people, living in the world agree. There will be an answer, let it be. For though they may be parted, there is still a chance that they will see. There will be an answer, let it be. – Let It Be

The poet and the prophet for thousands of years in literature, both faith and secular, from the pulpit and from the communal fire have made the same point, again and again and again, that what we pursue is empty. The poet and the prophet have told us that love is greater than wisdom, which is greater than financial wealth.

Mic Drop. That’s it.

It’s been a strange few months. A silent killer out there, out for all seven billion or so of us. We’ve been in hiding, in our homes, some alone, lonely, all of our diversions pulled from us. Once it was up in the morning, out the door, to work, pick up a coffee and a bun on the way, camaraderie with colleagues, a sense of accomplishment that created a paycheque, and then home, or on the way a quick shop, or a quick stop to meet a friend for a coffee or a beer, and then home, dinner, kids, the evening rituals which we claimed were what our lives were all about, but weren’t, not really, because we couldn’t find the time and space for them, and then to bed, and up again, out the door. Dinner with friends on the weekend, chores, and all that. All that gone since March.

It’s been a season of losses; counting all the plans we had made now impossible to achieve. If we still have a paycheque, the way we earn it has changed. The work is different, the process is different. Our friends and colleagues are flat screens. A friend said her marriage was perfect as long as they both were out of the house most of the day, met in the evening for a meal and each other’s company, but she feared spending 24/7 with her husband would prove the weaknesses in their relationship. Kids at home, all the time, demanding your time, now; friends, partners, colleagues, all demanding your time, now; corporations, organizations, churches, and every community to which you belong, demanding your time, now. We are all exhausted from being home, from being anxious.

We fill our angst with a lot of diversions. Sex, work, coffee, gardening; but the anxieties are still there, always. And then suddenly there’s this horrible murder of a man in Minneapolis, and it plays over and over again on TV, and it unleashes in us all that scream we have been holding in for months, and if you’re Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Colour, for years, decades, generations. It is a moment of pure anger, of rage.

Then the moment passes; not the rage, not the anger, just that screaming moment. The rage is always there, always. The rage is there if you’re a woman, if you’re LGBTQi, if you’re BIPoC, if you live in poverty, if you feel othered and ignored by society at large. Last month we were indignant about ageism as our elders were killed in care homes; this month we discovered Race; next month perhaps it’ll be Gender; we’ve been on this carousel before, and each time we are shocked, indignant, angry, screaming, and then, nothing, just nothing, nothing comes of all that. Oh there might be a coalition; the first ‘rainbow’ coalition I was part of was in the 1970s about multiculturalism, then there was a rainbow coalition on poverty issues in the 90s, then about sexuality in the ‘00s.

Do I sound cynical? I’m not. I don’t think. I’m more amused, or bemused, like Jesus in this story, one of my favourites: “The young man said to Him, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

Despite thousands of years of the poet and the prophet telling us the same thing – divest yourself, seek the kingdom – we walk away sorrowful because we have great possessions. We tiptoe back with mea culpas and rainbow coalitions, with indignation and donations. That’s real life, and it is good, and it sucks.

The Church is addicted to its possessions; to bricks and mortars, to those who support bricks and mortars, to the comfortable structures and traditions. The Church, in its various parts, like every other major and minor corporation and organization, has policy statements to prove it is not racist, or misogynist, or homophobic, or whatever, and yet its membership and leadership does not reflect that. Nobody thinks they are racist, or misogynist, yet many feel diminished, set aside. And we hold it in because it is too exhausting to fight it all the time. Then a black man is butchered on TV, or a woman is raped, or a homosexual is stoned, or an Indigenous woman is dragged by her hair, and then the Church, all sincere, along with every organization and institution which has our email address, comes running, flashing its policy statements, admitting its ‘privilege’, eager to listen and have us on a committee. Or be a guest blogger.

And all I want to do is quote Ecclesiastes: “Everything is meaningless, completely meaningless.” And I feel cynical. But I am tired. I am so tired. On the podcast White Homework two women chat about race. One asks, What did you do last week, as that horrible video cycled on every media, and people protested across the country. Her friend replies, I stayed home and played the Sims. And I totally get that. I get it. I am horrified by the violence and hate, and I am horrified by the rhetoric of care.

I don’t know why I read Ecclesiastes: “The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.” Even Jesus doesn’t make it all easy: “I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” I mean, the poet and the prophet are not comforting. But, they have wisdom, and they have love and that works for me. And they are antidote to the cynicism of our institutions and culture.

I have no answers. So let me leave you with the last verse of Bob Dylan’s Every Grain Of Sand:

I hear the ancient footsteps like the motion of the sea
Sometimes I turn, there’s someone there, other times it’s only me
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand.

Beginning of Meeting:

Listen to Every Grain of Sand. You can find it on YouTube. And on another window have the lyrics. Read along. Or read Ecclesiastes 1. Or both.

Psalm:

The day, with all its pain ahead, is yours.
The ceaseless creasing of the morning sea,
the fluttering gamboge cedar leaves allegro,
the rods of the yawning branches trolling in the breeze,
the rusted meadows, the wind-whitened grass,
the coos of the stone-colored ground doves on the road,
the echo of benediction on a house—
its rooms of pain, its verandah of remorse
when joy lanced through its open-hearted doors
like a hummingbird out to the garden and the pool
in which the sky has fallen. These are all yours,
and pain has made them brighter as absence does
after a death, as the light heals the grass.
And the twig-brown lizard scuttles up its branch
like fingers on the struts of a guitar.
I hear the detonations of agave
the stuttering outbursts of bougainvillea,
I see the acacia’s bonfire, the begonia’s bayonets,
and the tamarind’s thorns and the broadsides of clouds from the calabash
and the cedars fluttering their white flags of surrender
and the flame trees’ siege of the fort.
I saw black bulls, horns lowered, galloping, goring the mist
that rose, unshrouding the hillocks of Santa Cruz
and the olives of Esperanza
Andalusian idyll, and answer
and the moon’s blank tambourine
and the drizzle’s guitars
and the sunlit wires of the rain
the shawls and the used stars
and the ruined fountains.    – Derek Walcott

Discussion:

Please read and repeat this meditation. Seven works of prophets and poets have been quoted here. They are hints towards something that may not produce conclusion or policy. Still I urge you to discuss whatever confession this stirs in you.

If you desperately need a question, I leave you this from Ecclesiastes 11:  Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both. Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning. When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there will be many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless. Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless.

Concluding Prayer:

You could sing this, or recite it, or hum it:

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer, let it be
For though they may be parted
There is still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

And let it be, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be
Let it be, let it be
Let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

Meeting Meditation, Black Lives Matter

 

Issues of race are taking center stage during this time of social distancing.

Hello, I am Rev. Canon Cheryl Palmer. I am Black and I am offering Love Letters this week.

I refused to watch the video of the police officer using his knee to squeeze the breath of life out of George Floyd. It was disturbing enough to hear about it…seeing it would be fodder for nightmares. So I have spared myself the horror. However, when Dawn asked me to write this reflection, I was stumped. Maybe I should have watched the video.

As a Black woman living in Canada, I was not relating to the happenings in the United States. Yes, I was shocked, horrified and saddened, but so were many other people. Fear, hate and evil have that effect on most of humanity. My feelings were not uniquely Black. After the shock and horror wore off (rather quickly, I might add), I was left with only a little sadness and a lot of flatness (depending on the news article read or the podcast heard). And I knew those were not the right feelings. As a Black person, shouldn’t I be more exercised? I should be waving my fists and reciting all the wrongs I have experienced at the capricious white society in which I live and move and have my being. I should have more Black friends and gather with them in sorrow and anger. As a Black person who easily moves in both Black and white worlds, I should be coaching white people on how to right their wrongs. I should make sure that the world is a better place for my young nieces and nephews.

Maybe I should have watched that horrific video in order to stir up feelings that would incite me to attend a protest or write a really good reflection. Maybe the video could make me feel more united with my Black compatriots in the United States who have had hundreds of years of racial abuse.

Then it hit me… HUNDREDS of years of racial abuse… HUNDREDS of unbroken years. Turning that around to a new society where Blacks and whites harmoniously live as equals no longer seems like a long game, but an impossible game. I am not exercised, because I feel helpless and hopeless. How can one incident turn around 400 years of fear, hatred and evil in the United States against Blacks?

There are other videos of Blacks being brutalized or killed by police (Rodney King) and “citizens” (Ahmaud Arbery) and yet nothing has changed. Nothing. Has. Changed. And the country that claims to be the “land of the free and the home of the brave” is among the worst culprits of heinous acts against Blacks. From the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade in the 15^th century between Portugal and Africa to our present day, Blacks have been systemically seen as “other” by Whites—an “other” to be abused, feared and hated. I feel helpless and hopeless to change that which is now in the DNA of some countries. This is therefore another season of lament.

Have pity on me, O Lord;
see the misery I suffer from those who hate me,

O you who lift me up from the gate of death. Psalm 9:13

Beginning of the meeting

Listen. You may wish to read this reflection again. Hear the lament. Resist the temptation for trite optimism or a solution. Let the words of lament be heard deep in your soul. Then quiet your thoughts, still your body, and be open to the stirring of the Holy Spirit who meets us in the reading of scripture.

Psalm 13, NRSV

¹ How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I bear pain in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

³ Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, ‘I have prevailed’;
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

⁵ But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Discussion Questions

If you are in an e-conference, reflect on each question for a few moments in silence, then invite discussion. Help the group identify common themes and issues. If you are alone, you may wish to record your reflections in a journal. You may wish to share your thoughts, questions and insights in the “reply” space below. 

1. What do you hear in the Psalm and in the reflection above?
2. How do you feel when you hear it?
3. How does the Psalm and the reflection challenge you?

Concluding Prayer

Invite the people into an 8:46 period of silence, which was the length of time the police officer held down George Floyd with his knee and took his life.

As a closing prayer, invite people to listen to Lift Every Voice, known as the African American National Anthem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONgOH_tq7-Q

Lift Every Voice and Sing

Lift every voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list’ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast’ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered.
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who hast by Thy might,
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.

James Weldon Johnson – 1871-1938. Copyright © 1917, 1921, 1935 James Weldon Johnson, renewed 1963 by Grace Nail Johnson.

Spiritual Practice

Learn more about Lift Every Voice as an anthem. Learn about slavery in your country and the history of the Black culture in your city or town.  Where there are feelings of contrition or lament, perhaps you can use the words from the General Confession in the Prayer Book or read a Psalm of lament.

Meeting Meditation, Trinity Sunday

Issues of race are taking center stage during this time of social distancing. You may wish to use this scripture meditation for an e-conference small group or alone as a personal devotion. Give yourself the time to process the challenging issues you are facing.

“I can’t breathe!” Can you hear this cry of truth? It is hard to listen to and more horrible to watch. There is a widening gap between those that have and those that struggle to have, and it is marked by colour. The unawareness of this gap is called privilege and it is suffocating God’s people.

Remember our story? God’s exodus people were made free so they could breathe in the promise land. God’s incarnated love breathed through an unwed, brown woman who lived in poverty. A Middle Eastern brown man was the Breath of Life and spoke truth to the powerful. Finally, at Pentecost, he shared the breath of life and the people were strong and bold and free.

“I can’t breathe!” Listen. Hear the Spirit’s cry. Look at the divide, the gap and breathe life.

Beginning of the meeting

Quiet your thoughts, still your body, and be open to Jesus who meets us in the reading of scripture.

Matthew 28:16-20 New Revised Standard Version

¹⁶ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Discussion Questions

If you are in an e-conference, reflect on each question for a few moments in silence, then invite discussion. Help the group identify common themes and issues. If you are alone, you may wish to record your reflections in a journal. You may wish to share your thoughts, questions and insights in the “reply” space below. 

1. Have you ever known a time when you couldn’t breathe? Tell your story and what it felt like?
2. How has the phrase “I can’t breathe” captured the issues being protested?
3. The Gospel passage tells us that all people are to have access to God’s love, presence and power. How does our lifestyle limit others’ fullness of life, their ability to breathe?

Concluding Prayer

Invite the people to hold their breath for as long as they can as you count each second.

Then invite the people into prayer. Ask them to quiet their minds and bodies and become aware of God presence and love and breathe deeply…

With Job of old we cry out:
Everywhere the innocent suffer.
Our desires and efforts achieve us little.
O God, are you good, yet do nothing to help us?

Our answers have holes, and we fall through.

Invite the people into silent prayer.

For what do we come before God this day and cry out and lament? For what do we confess? The people are invited to voice their public laments aloud or in silence.  

The prayers continue.

Hear us, O God:

Show yourself, O God:

Give all of us life and help all of us breathe.

Let us pray.
O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope.
Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance.
Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination. Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams. All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Blessing

May God give you grace never to sell yourself short,
grace to risk something big for something good,
and grace to remember that the world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love.
In the name of the Father, and +the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Read about the issues people are protesting against. Become more informed about living and work conditions of people of different races. Bring this awareness to prayer and seek God’s guidance. Take on one thing to make a different and live into the prompting of God’s calling.

https://www.anothermag.com/design-living/12567/how-to-be-anti-racist-black-lives-matter-protest-george-floyd

http://theoklahomaeagle.net/2020/05/27/75-things-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice/

We are here together, and we can do this because Christ dwells within us.

 

Prayer texts are adapted from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2016.

Meeting Meditation, Pentecost

During this time of social distancing you may wish to use this scripture meditation for an e-conference small group or alone as a personal devotion. Give yourself the time to process the changes you are facing and the care you require.

We are entering a new stage of the global pandemic management. Are you ready to take that next step?

With gradual, careful planning, we will likely be allowed more social engagement. “Bubble buddies” and face masks will be our next new normal. It is becoming clear, however, that most people do not want to return to the old normal. Survey after survey says people prefer a more paced, less environmentally destructive lifestyle that allows for greater global equity.

Before we plunge into the ecstasy of reconnecting—amplified by the warmth and lushness of the greening Spring—let’s take just one more moment to pause, breathe and consider:

1. Do you know what “new normal” you are being called into?
2. What changes must you make to ensure this new normal becomes a reality?
3. Who empowers you to make these changes?

As you open that upper room door and are momentarily blinded by the rush of light, recall, commit and then step…

Beginning of the meeting

Quiet your thoughts, still your body, and be open to Jesus who meets us in the reading of scripture. 

Acts 2:1-7, 14-21 New Revised Standard Version

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. ⁵ Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶ And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷ Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵ Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
¹⁹ And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
²⁰ The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
²¹ Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

 Discussion Questions

If you are in an e-conference, reflect on each question for a few moments in silence, then invite discussion. Help the group identify common themes and issues. If you are alone, you may wish to record your reflections in a journal. You may wish to share your thoughts, questions and insights in the “reply” space below. 

1. What prophecies, visions and dreams do you have for the post-COVID future?
2. What practical next steps do you need to take? Who will hold you accountable and how will you ensure those next steps are taken?
3. Trying to make change without the power of the Holy Spirit has been compared to crossing the ocean in a sailboat with only your breath to fill the sail. How does this metaphor relate to your experience?

 Concluding Prayer

Invite the people into a time of prayer. Ask them to quiet their minds and bodies and become aware of God presence and love.

 Play a piece of music that speaks to the promised empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Suggestion: Veni, Sancte Spiritus, Taizé, Music of Unity and Peace, Berthier, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D866MGVFA2o&gt;

 Prayer for the empowering of the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful people.
And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
And you will renew the face of the earth. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Light a candle. (Please remember to be careful and never leave it unattended). Set a timer for at least five minutes and pray the centering prayer using “Come, Holy Spirit” as your sacred phrase.

Focusing on the questions above, adjust your Rule of Life for the changes you are being called to make.

We are here together and we can do this because Christ dwells within us.

Meeting Meditation, Easter 7, Ascension and COVID-19

During this time of social distancing you may wish to use this scripture meditation for an e-conference small group or alone as a personal devotion. Give yourself the time to process the changes you are facing and the care you require.

It is comforting to know that when we say the word “goodbye” we are actually saying “God be with ye.” What a profound blessing! We are voicing a hope that as you continue on your journey, you may know the comfort, peace, guidance and power of divine intimacy.

Jesus is saying goodbye to his beloved friends in our Gospel reading today. In the form of a prayer, he is asking God to protect them and help them maintain unity. But more importantly, Jesus is asking God to stay close to them, as close as God was to himself. So close that their very thoughts, words, and actions would be indistinguishably “of God.” He called this kind of intimacy eternal life.

As we slowly emerge from our homes to the gradual light of this new day, there are things we know have changed. There are things we know we will have to say goodbye to. There are things we know may bring loss, confusion and failure to our future. But the new and unknown path is our calling, our Way.

Using whatever means available, gather, pray, wait upon the Spirit and then…

God will be with you!

Beginning of the meeting

Many churches will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension this Sunday. The readings for both the Ascension (which is Thursday) and for Easter 7 are about Jesus leaving his disciples. The faithful followers know they must face a new day with a different spiritual orientation. Quiet your thoughts, still your body, and be open to Jesus who meets us in the reading of scripture. 

John 17:1-11 NRSV

After 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, ² since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴ I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. ⁶ ‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; ⁸ for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰ All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. ¹¹ And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

Discussion Questions

Each person will need a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. If you are in an e-conference, reflect on each question for a few moments in silence, then invite discussion. Help the group identify common themes and issues. If you are alone, you may wish to record your reflections in a journal. You may wish to share your thoughts, questions and insights in the “reply” space below. 

1. What goodbyes are you facing? Perhaps your goodbyes take the shape of hopes and dreams; financial, economic or job changes; loss of loved ones; an altered disposition toward social issues…. Write down a list of the things you anticipate will change for you over the next 12-18 months.
2. How do you grieve? Everyone says goodbye differently. What is your pattern? What do you need to do to grieve?
3. What do you need or want to do to begin the new way forward?

 Concluding Prayer

1. Invite the people to review their list of anticipated losses from Question 1 above.
2. Ask them to write down the items from the list again but, this time, in the form of a doodle prayer so that they are scattered over the page.
3. In the middle of page ask the people to write “The Past.”
4. Ask the people to decorate and doodle around each item as they reflect on the particular loss associated with each one.
5. Then, ask the people to quiet their minds and bodies and become aware of God’s presence and love.
6. Invite the people to place their hands on each item and offer a prayer of gratitude and blessing. Perhaps, “Thank you, and God go with you.” 

Prayer for Healing

God our healer, keep us aware of your presence, Support us with your power,
Comfort us with your protection, Give us strength and establish us in your peace. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Sometime over the next week take your piece of paper with the doodle prayer on it, say the prayer below and bury it in the earth. Perhaps you can use a spot in your backyard if you have one, a place deep in a planter in your home or somewhere in the woods. (Another alternative is to burn the paper in a tinfoil plate where it is safe to do so.)

I commit these prayers to you, O God; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

God, I thank you for all that I have had and all that I must say goodbye to. Now give me strength and courage to leave this list in your care, confident in your promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us (and all we commend to God’s care) from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8.38–39

Holy God, I place myself in your hands.

I believe in you. I trust you.
I love you.

Prayers adapted from the Canadian Book of Alternative Services, 1985 and the New Zealand Prayer Book, 1989.

We are here together and we can do this because Christ dwells within us.

 

Meeting Meditation, Easter 6 and COVID-19

During this time of social distancing you may wish to use this scripture meditation for an e-conference small group or alone as a personal devotion. Give yourself the time to process the changes you are facing and the care you require.

What makes you happy? What satisfies your deepest yearning? For the longest time we assumed it was the accumulation of new things. But if this worldwide lockdown has proven anything it is that acquiring new stuff might not be enough. Consumerism at all costs is insufficient in the face of a global pandemic. A deeper, truer value has emerged. The protection of life, it turns out, has a priority over buying new things.

The same goes for us churchgoers. We put a lot into our buildings, but it turns out there was something greater that brings us together. As Paul says, “The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands.”

What are we truly searching for? What would make us content?

Beginning of the meeting

In this Sunday’s reading from Acts, Paul is engaging with the Greek philosophical thinkers in Athens. He had noticed, as he walked through the city, that they all have a common yearning for spiritual connection with God.

Now quiet your thoughts, still your body, and be open to Jesus who meets us in the reading of scripture.

ACTS 17:22-31 New Revised Standard Version

²² Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, ‘Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. ²³ For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, “To an unknown god.” What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. ²⁶ From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, ²⁷ so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸ For “In him we live and move and have our being”; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we too are his offspring.” ²⁹ Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. ³⁰ While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.’

Discussion Questions

If you are in an e-conference, reflect on each question for a few moments in silence, then invite discussion. Help the group identify common themes and issues. If you are alone, you may wish to record your reflections in a journal. You may wish to share your thoughts, questions and insights in the “reply” space below.  

1. Paul said that we search and grope for a God who, in fact, is not far from each one of us. How is this true for your spiritual life?
2. Paul had a profound spiritual experience on the road to Damascus which transformed his understanding of God. To Paul, God is close, wants to be in relationship and affects all parts of our life. Reflecting on your experience, how would you describe God?
3. As you reflect on the past eight weeks of this global pandemic, what values and priorities are shifting?

Concluding Prayer

Invite the people into a time of prayer. Ask them to quiet their minds and bodies and become aware of God presence and love.

Play a piece of music that speaks to the intimacy of God. Suggestion: I Arise Today, from the Pilgrim by Shaun Davey. End with a poem or prayer, possibly one from below.

Covid Poem

When this is over,
may we never again
take for granted
A handshake with a stranger
Full shelves at the store
Conversations with neighbors
A crowded theatre
Friday night out
The taste of communion
A routine checkup
The school rush each morning
Coffee with a friend
The stadium roaring
Each deep breath
A boring Tuesday
Life itself.

When this ends,
may we find
that we have become
more like the people
we wanted to be
we were called to be
we hoped to be
and may we stay
that way–better
for each other
because of the worst.   Laura Kelley Fanucci

Prayer for Healing

God our healer, keep us aware of your presence, Support us with your power,
Comfort us with your protection, Give us strength and establish us in your peace. Amen.  New Zealand Prayer Book

Spiritual Practice

Spend at least 10 minutes each day in quiet prayer. If a mantra is helpful, repeat the phrase with each breath, “In God I live and move and have my being.” 

We are here together, and we can do this because Christ dwells within us.

 

Meeting Meditation, Easter 5 and COVID-19

During this time of social distancing you may wish to use this scripture meditation for an e-conference small group or alone as a personal devotion. Give yourself the time to process the changes you are facing and the care you require.

Don’t be troubled?!

Easy to say while tucked up in a cozy home, receiving a steady income and with no sign of ill-health. But what if this is not the case? Financial anxieties, family discord and failing health are not a mere trifle. It is a spiritual truth that adversity is like the refiner’s fire, but no sensible person invites these hardships.

Jesus’ final words to his close friends was of comfort and assurance while knowing full well that great adversity was just around the corner. In the fullness of this awareness, he reminds his followers that they must never forget that God wants them to dwell in the divine assurance of intimacy, belonging and in safety. And if adversity tempts them to question the nature of God, then they must remember his teachings: “the first will be last,” “love one another,” “love your enemy,” and “love yourself.”

Do not let your heart be troubled. Remember.

Beginning of the meeting

The gospel reading for this Sunday is often heard at funerals. It tells of the intimate and caring nature of God. Read the reflection above and now quiet your thoughts, still your body, and be open to Jesus who joins you in this journey.

 John 14:1-14 New Revised Standard Version

14 ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ ⁵ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ ⁶ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ ⁸ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ ⁹ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

Discussion Questions

If you are in an e-conference, reflect on each question for a few moments in silence, then invite discussion. Help the group identify common themes and issues. If you are alone, you may wish to record your reflections in a journal. You may wish to share your thoughts, questions and insights in the “reply” space below. 

1. “If you know me, you know the father.”  If you had to describe Jesus to someone unfamiliar to the faith, what would you say? Would you use those same words to describe God the Father? Why or why not?
2. What is the difference between “believe in God” and “abide in God”?
3. If you could ask God for anything right now, what would it be?

Concluding Prayer

Invite the people into a time of prayer. Ask them to quiet their minds and bodies and become aware of God’s presence and love. Ask the people to imagine placing their prayer requests from Question 3 on an offering plate, imagine raising it up, then placing it on an altar and then leaving it there. End with a moment of silence followed by a concluding prayer. Here are a few possible prayers:

You Lord are in this place, Your presence fills it, Your presence is peace.

You Lord are in my life, Your presence fills it, Your presence is peace.

You Lord are in the storm, Your presence fills it, Your presence is peace.  David Adam

 

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who wake or watch or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, give rest to the weary; sustain the dying ones; calm the suffering and pity the distressed, all for your love’s sake. Saint Augustine 354-430AD

Spiritual Practice

Each day write down at least five prayer requests to God. Offer them in prayer by imagining placing them and then leaving them on an altar. Practice abiding in God’s presence in silence, during prayer.

We are here together, and we can do this because Christ dwells within us.

Meeting Meditation, Easter 4 and COVID-19

During this time of social distancing you may wish to use this scripture meditation for an e-conference small group or alone as a personal devotion. Give yourself the time to process the changes you are facing and the care you require.

Impersonating a police officer! Driving a car made to look like a police vehicle! We continue to process the news from the tragic shooting in Nova Scotia. In the midst of this international pandemic, the violation of trust, the crumbling assumptions and unimaginable behaviour just got magnified. Who can be believed? What can we count on? How do we be safe? The temptation is to trust no one and to live in a state of heightened vigilance and anxiety. But where is abundant life in that? Jesus offers another possibility. Know and follow the voice of love.

Beginning of the meeting

This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday, an image depicted in many of our church windows. It tells us so much about the caring nature of God. Read the reflection above and now quiet your thoughts, still your body, and be open to Jesus who joins you in this journey.

John 10:1-10, NRSV

‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ ⁶ Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. ⁷ So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Discussion Questions

If you are in an e-conference, reflect on each question for a few moments in silence, then invite discussion. Help the group identify common themes and issues. If you are alone, you may wish to record your reflections in a journal. You may wish to share your thoughts, questions and insights in the “reply” space below. 

1. This passage uses a number of different metaphors for God. Can you name them? Do you connect with these images of God? Why, why not?
2. Is the gateway for seclusion or security? Is there a difference?
3. Know God’s voice: have you ever sensed God was speaking into your life? Can you describe that experience? How was God’s voice different than your own thoughts, or a parent’s voice, or a political leader’s voice?
4. What could God’s abundant life look like in a post-Covid world?

Concluding Prayer

Invite the people to participate in a prayer practice called the Visio-Divina—sacred viewing. Choose a depiction of the Good Shepherd or use one of the images provided below. Review the steps of the process and then ask people to enter into prayer.   

1. Establish a comfortable position for prayer, relax your body, and take three deep breaths.
2. Visio: View the image for a moment and notice what stands out and attracts your attention. Close your eyes and be silent for a moment. Record your reflections.
3. Meditatio: View the image again and reflect on it more deeply. Analyze the structure, the colour and contrast, the texture, composition and beauty, etc. Note your feelings and reflect on how the image makes you feel. What desires and meaning are being conveyed from the image? What message does the image hold for you? Close your eyes and be silent for a minute. Record your insights.
4. Oratio: View the image again and this time pray directly to God and let the Holy Spirit speak through the image to you. Listen for God’s word to you. What does God want you to do or be in response to this image? Close your eyes and be silent for a minute. Write a prayer to God that has been forming in your heart.
5. Contemplate: View the image and this time abandon speech, thought and feeling. Rest in the silent presence of God and just be still.

Spiritual Practice

Engage in the Visio-Divina prayer process above using an image below or from the news that stands out for you this week. Where is God at work leading us to safety and an abundance of life?

We are here together, and we can do this because Christ dwells within us.

Meeting Meditation, Easter 3 and COVID-19

During this time of social distancing you may wish to use this scripture meditation for an e-conference small group or alone as a personal devotion. Give yourself the time to process the changes you are facing and the care you require.

The walks are a welcome relief. They carve out a path between the widening banks of sublime tranquility and gut-wrenching fear.

…each step is a breath, a connection with life, the thing we know so many are fighting for.

…each step is a risk, a movement away from safety, the thing we are being warned against.

…each step is an act of hope, an effort of mind and body, to trek through the terrain of unknowns.

The two travellers on their way to Emmaus were frightened and confused, and so what did they do? They talked. Jesus entered into their conversation and encouraged them to talk even more. We too are making a journey of loss and facing unknowns. We, too, are being encouraged to talk.

Beginning of the meeting

Read the reflection above. This Sunday we hear the story of the Road to Emmaus. Let the words, actions, themes and metaphors connect with the feelings and events of your life. Now quiet your thoughts, still your body, and be open to Jesus who joins you in this journey.

Luke 24:13-21 New Revised Standard Version

¹³ Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶ but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷ And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ ¹⁹ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰ and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹ But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.

Discussion Questions

If you are in an e-conference, reflect on each question for a few moments in silence, then invite discussion. Help the group identify common themes and issues. If you are alone, you may wish to record your reflections in a journal. You may wish to share your thoughts, questions and insights in the “reply” space below. 

1. Jesus wanted to know what the two travellers were talking about. What things are you talking a lot about these days?
2. When Jesus asked Cleopas and his companion what they were talking about, they stopped and felt sadness. Take a moment and check in emotionally. What emotions are you feeling right now?
3. What dreams and hopes are you beginning to see diminish?
4. What new dreams and hopes are beginning to take shape?

Concluding Prayer

Almighty God, thank you for not abandoning me on this journey. I bring you my concerns which are___________________________________.

I feel____________________________________________________.

I had hoped_______________________________________________.

I open myself up to your dream. Enter into a moment of silence and be still in God’s loving presence. Let me be an instrument of your peace. In and through Christ’s love and empowered by the Spirit. Amen.

Spiritual Practice

Prayer Walk.  If you are physically able, perhaps you might go on a prayer walk. This form of prayer is good for those who prefer to connect with God in nature or who find sitting still difficult. A prayer walk is different than a power walk in that you intentional engage with God in the space around you. It is always good to remember that we do not bring God along on our walk. God’s redeeming love is already active and at work in our neighbourhoods and we are simply asked to notice and join in.

1. Determine a route. Dress appropriately for the weather. Make sure you have suitable walking shoes.
2. Stand at your door and say a prayer to begin your journey. It can be as simple as “Go before me, O God.”
3. As you walk by homes and buildings say a prayer of blessing on the people who inhabit those buildings. Given our present circumstances, pray for those who are struggling with finances or who are trapped in homes of violence or abuse, for families challenged with online education, for the elderly, disabled and for those who are alone.
4. Where it feels appropriate, perhaps at a park or along a common space, stop for a moment and be silent. Listen and allow your senses to take in all the sounds, sights and smells of the space. Close your eyes for a moment and offer a prayer for insight.
5. Notice the beauty in nature, the faces and gestures of passers-by and the messages of love and pain that surround you. Ask yourself where God is in all that you experienced.
6. Conclude with a prayer of thanksgiving as you conclude your journey back at your door.
7. Take a moment to record your thoughts, insights and experiences in a journal. 

We are here together, and we can do this because Christ dwells within us.

Meeting Meditation, Holy Week, COVID-19

During this time of social distancing you may wish to use this scripture meditation for an e-conference small group or alone as a personal devotion. Give yourself the time to process the changes you are facing and the care you require. 

“You will be scattered, each one to their own home…”. One of the painful themes of the Holy Week story is how the followers were thrown apart for their safety. And now we too find our homes have become our haven. Well, at least for those of us who have a home or have a safe home. But it is when we are communal that we make our story, that the story makes sense. And although the crock pot is stewing, the sun is streaming in, no one is coughing, and online conferences await, they belie the same tragic truth: frightening disruption is in process and we are apart. Holy Saturday is an agonizing standstill of alone-ness. Defiantly, Jesus declares: “Yet I am not alone!” You are not alone. We are never alone. We are in this no-space of Holy Saturday waiting. Who waits with you?

Beginning of the meeting

Read the reflection above. This is Holy Week. Because of the world response to COVID-19 it will be a very different and strange experience from previous years. As we enter into the heart of our Christian story, let us acknowledge the emotional highs and lows of this time: turmoil and peace, separation and connection, selfishness and selflessness, anxiety and love. Bring your grief and confusion to God in prayer. Open yourself up to the love of Jesus as you read or hear the following passage. 

John 16: 29-33

His disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. 33 I 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!”

 Discussion Questions

If you are in an e-conference, reflect on each question for a few moments in silence, then invite discussion. Help the group identify common themes and issues. If you are alone, you may wish to record your reflections in a journal. You may wish to share your thoughts, questions and insights in the “reply” space below. 

1. There are many examples of Jesus feeling deeply and passionately, and anticipating the feelings of his followers. We follow his example, so take a moment to become more aware of your feelings. Write down and then share the emotions you are feeling right now. Are they changing? Are they different from the previous week?
2. There is grief this week for Christians. Can you name that grief for yourself?
3. What does Jesus mean when he says he is not alone? 

Concluding Prayer

Invite people into a time of silence (about 3-5 minutes). Let them know the duration of the silence. Begin by asking them to be attentive to their breathing. Begin to slow their breathing and, with each breath, relax the muscles of their body, especially around their shoulders and face. Ask them to imagine God’s presence in the space. With each breath ask them to image God’s healing love coming into their whole body. With each exhale, ask them to imagine letting go of the anxiety, fear and confusion. Ensure the people that tears and weeping are God’s gifts of healing love. End the time of silence with the prayer below.

Concluding Prayer 

Show the Work of the People video: Praise Song for the Pandemic – written and read by Christine Valters Paintner, from Abbey of the Arts and music by Giants & Pilgrims.

https://www.theworkofthepeople.com

We are here together and we can do this because Christ dwells within us.