A Spring Blessing to all! The pomegranate, sweet and red, is food for living and for dead. Now after time of wintering, may we who drink its juice find Spring. Let us drink the juice of the pomegranate that we may remember those who have gone before us, and in remembering, give them life again. Let us drink the juice of the pomegranate that we may remember — in the winters of our doubting, in the frozen paralysis of our pain — that the seasons of our lives, like the […]
“When the heart is ready for a fresh beginning, unforseen things can emerge. And in a sense, this is exactly what a beginning does. It is an opening for surprises. Surrounding the intention and the act of beginning, there are always exciting possibilities. Beginnings are new horizons that want to be seen; they are not regressions or repetitions. Somehow they win clearance and become fiercely free of the grip of the past. –John O’Donohue What is the new horizon in you that wants to be seen? Beginnings often frighten us […]
Ever-renewing and energizing Creator, Come, stir in my dormant spiritual limbs. Wake up my tired prayer. Revive my weary efforts of care. Sing hope into my discouragement. Wash my dusty, drab attitude with the cleansing rains of your vision. Go deep to my roots and penetrate my faith with the vibrancy of your grace. Shake loose the old leftover oak leaves of my tenacious ego-centeredness. Coax joy to sprout from my difficulties. Warm the buds of my relationships so they bloom with healthy love. Clear out my wintered debris with […]
Why Pray for someone else’s miracle today? “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson “No one has ever become poor by giving.” –Anne Frank “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” ―Charles Dickens “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” –John Bunyan “I don’t want […]
Community Branches touch. Limbs assure one another, “I’m here.” No matter how fierce the storm, “I’m here.” In spite of how jagged and torn the branches, I’m here beside you through the long turbulent nights. I’ll reach to connect with you in the wildest winds. Be assured of my presence. Have confidence. I’m here.” –Joyce Rupp It is such a privilege to have people who continue each day to bless us with their love and prayer. These inner friends of the heart confer on us inestimable gifts. In these times […]
I know the way you can get When you have not had a drink of Love: Your face hardens, Your sweet muscles cramp. Children become concerned About a strange look that appears in your eyes Which even begins to worry your own mirror And nose. Squirrels and birds sense your sadness And call an important conference in a tall tree. They decide which secret code to chant To help your mind and soul. Even angels fear that brand of madness That arrays itself against the world And throws sharp stones […]
It is our inward journey that leads us through time — forward or back, seldom in a straight line, most often spiraling. Each of us is moving, changing . . . . As we discover, we remember; remembering, we discover. –Eudora Welty, One Writer’s Beginnings As we remember, we discover, as we discover we are re-membering. And so it is we begin this Sacred Sunday at the same place we began one year earlier. And as we look down the two paths we are reminded of the two worlds by […]
In the leaving, in the letting go, let there be this to hold onto at the last. the enduring of love, the persisting of hope, the remembering of joy, the offering of gratitude, the receiving of grace, the blessing of peace. –Jan Richardson– One of the most powerful ways we express love is through gratitude; it keeps our hearts open to each other. It is impossible to have a closed heart when we are thankful. This keeps us learning and growing. and frees our GENEROSITY. –Angeles Arrien […]
“Sometimes I get to the end of the day and feel exhausted by all of the “what if that had happened” and “what if this happens.” And then I realize that I’ve been sitting on the sofa—that it’s just me and my own thoughts driving me crazy.” (Lisa Cappa/Elinor Ochs: authors of Constructing Panic) “Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” –John Muir “Perhaps the truth depends on […]
We don’t set out to save the world: we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people’s hearts. –Pema Chodron There is no power for change greater than that of a community discovering what it cares about. Now it’s time for you to begin the conversation . . . Beginning in 2017 the second Tuesday following Forest church will be an evening of conversations following the previous Forest Church topic. ‘Listen to the Forest’ is a place to […]
FOREST CHURCH YYC 