Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Mist of meadow incense rises gently,
flames on wild asparagus candelabras gleam,
birds in the choir loft sing a dozen anthems
and the sun walks up the aisle of grasses,
ringing a bell.
I am swept.
But I have to leave for four days of meetings at our Annual Conference. The sessions will drag, and mire in argument, and produce more talking than listening. It’s another world. How will I stay in the holy place, maintain my reverence, sustain a spirit of awe and wonder while we are caught up in “motions” and counter-motions that—ah, cruel irony!—do not move us? For that matter how do I, every day, keep the spirit of morning prayers during the afternoon coffee break?
When you are bored or angry or anxious
go into prayer.
Go into prayer right there.
Follow your breath.
Pay attention to the Spirit
breathing in and out of you,
weaving together the worlds
outside and inside you.
Let Jesus come sit by you
and breathe with you
and embrace the hall in love.
Live in the other world
even in the midst of this one
until there is only one world.
As the cantor chants his presentation on insurance claims, a flock of birds settles on the stage. An ancient psalm, sung in unbroken prayer for four thousand years, rises out of the papers, broods above your heads. It rains. You do not care how long the meeting is, or what transpires. You just enjoy sitting here quietly with the Holy One.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
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Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net