A prayer by St. Benedict of Nursia, 480-547 A.D.

O gracious and holy Father,
give us the wisdom to perceive Thee,
intelligence to understand Thee,
diligence to seek Thee,
patience to wait for Thee,
eyes to behold Thee,
a heart to meditate upon Thee,
and a life to proclaim Thee;
through the powers of the Spirit
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

A prayer from Bahmo Samaj

Brahmo Samaj is an offshoot and radical updating of Hinduism, and a sort of East Indian relative of Unitarian Universalism.

Here is a hymn from the Brahmo Samaj liturgy:

Thou art the Real, the prime cause of the Universe. We bow to Thee
Thou art the All-wise, the one refuge for all. We bow to thee.
We bow to thee, the Absolute, the Giver of salvation.
Thou are the Supreme, the Eternal. All-present Brahma, we bow to Thee.
To Thee alone is honor due, Thou alone art the protector of all,
Thou alone preservest the universe, the Self revealed.
Thou alone art Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer of all.
Most high, motionless, and fixed of purpose,
Thou the dread of dreads, the terror of the terrifying,
Thou art the end of all creatures, the purifyer of all who purify,
Thou alone art the Ruler of all high estates, holier that the holiest,
the Guardian of all who guard.
We commune with Thee, we pray to Thee,
Thou art the Witness of the universe, we bow to Thee.
Let us seek refuge in the one, absolute God, Who is shelter, self-poised,
Who is our raft on the sea of life.

I think that it would be a usefull exercise, spiritually and intellectually, for us to look into this prayer and compare to it our own spiritual beliefs and world-concept. Responses are welcome!

A Beguine poem

Tighten
to nothing
the circle
that is
the world's things.

Then the Naked
circle
can grow wide,
enlarging,
embracing all.

From "Women in Praise of the Sacred," edited by Jane Hirschfield.

railroad tracks

I had an image yesterday of building a railroad through a desert as a metaphor for the way faith can help us move through tough times in our lives.

Trying to build a railroad in the middle of a desert would be impossible if the only materials we could use were what we could find around us. The desert doesn't offer the stuff that we need to build railroad tracks. It feels the same way when we're going through a desert in our lives. The situation we're in just doesn't provide the resources to help us keep going and eventually move out of the desolate place. A lot of people get stuck in the desert because all they see when they look around is endless desert and nothing they can use to create a way out.

But a railroad connects the furthest point out with every point already reached, all the way back to the begining. Even when the path takes us through a desert we have a ready supply line and a train that can run back and forth and pick up whatever we need. People of faith aren't stranded in the desert because they stand at the end of an already built track.

Everybody goes through desert times. People with a track of faith behind them can take advantage of that connection to reach back to resources already navigated and use them to keep moving forward.

nice sentiment bad advice

i was shopping for a greeting card, today. I noticed one of those quote cards that I considered buying. The quote was attraibuted to James Dean:

"Dream as though you would live forever. Live as though you would die today."

At first I liked it. But the more I thought about it I realized it wasn't really good advice. If we knew we really would never die I doubt that we would dream at all. it's only because we know that this life will come to an end that we set goals and work to achieve them. If I had forever anything I wanted to work on could always wait until the next day. Which adds up to about zero motivation and a very dull life.

And if I really thought I was going to die today that would set up a very unnatural situation where I would want to huddle together with my loved ones and maybe spend some time praying. But I sure wouldn't want to spend the last day of my life, taking risk, or setting plans, or challenging myself to new growth and development. The last day of your life is appropirately reserved for closing down, but nobody ought to live every day that way.

The meditation and prayer group and this blog are wonderful opportunities for spiritual development; as a member of both, I encourage other congregants at UUs of SCV to join if they are interested.

I hope that other members of the group will work with me toward organizing an event for the first Sunday in May, 2008, which will be the National Day of Prayer for that year. I hope that we will be able to develop the event in cooperation with other religious bodies in Santa Clarita Valley.

Here is a poem of which I am very fond. I am happy to have a way to share it with others:

A vein of sapphires
hides in the earth,
a sweetness in fruit;

and in plain-looking rock
lies a golden ore,
and in seeds ,
the treasure of oil.

Like those,
the Infinite
rests concealed from the heart.

No one can see the ways
of our jasmine-white Lord (Shiva).

Mahadeviyakka,
a poet of the 12th century

getting started

Since I will be away for quite a while this new group with the internet connection is reassuring to me. The church can seem at times all business and tasks. This is also a great way for our members who are ill to keep in touch. As you can see I figured out how to get on the sight and comment. Lucy

welcome

This blog will be a place where members of our church can discuss their spiritual practice. Authors of the blog will be able to post entires that describe their spiritual practice, teach others how to try out the practice, and describe insights they've received during their practice. Readers of the blog are encouraged to keep the discussion going by posting comments and questions. We also plan to have two meetings once a month or so at the church. One meeting, before Sunday service will be a half hour time to participate in a spiritual practice hosted by a member of the church. The other meeting, after a Sunday service will be a longer meeting for discussion and exploration of what all of us are doing.

Thanks for being here. And we hope to see you at church