from Singing the Living Tradition, #646
Take courage friends.
The way is often hard, the path is never clear,
and the stakes are high.
Take courage.
For deep down, there is another truth.
You are not alone.
-- Wayne B. Arnason, from Singin the Living Tradition, #698
from Singing the Living Tradition, #483
from Singing the Living Tradition, #688
Each of us brings a seperate truth here,
We bring the truth of our own life, our own story.
We don't come as empty vessels...
But rather we come as full people -- people who have their own story and their own truth. We seek to add to our stories.
This room is rich with truth, rich with experience.
All manner of people are here: needy... joyful... frightened... anxious... bored...
We all bring our truth with us.
May we all recognize the truth and the story of everyone's life.
And may we hear and honor the truths that we all bring as we gather together...
Together we have truths.
Together we have a story.
Together we have a community.
-- Penny Hackett-Evans
A community is made up of people who enjoy and are ready to participate in mutual helfulness. Not that they are busybodies always prying into one another's affairs. They are not conscious "do-gooders," but they know how to be helpful without making a big thing of it.
-- Harry Meserve
Questions: How do we want to be in community? How do we want others to be? What do we experience as helpful? What do you need to know about me; and what do I need to know about you?
And now we take our leaveBefore we gather here again
- may each of us bring happiness to another's life;
- may we each be surprised by the gifts that surround us;
- may we each be enlivened by constant curiousity;
- and may we remain together in spirit
'til the hour we meet again-- Barbara Cheatham
from Singing the Living Tradition, #567
Many value this time as a time for oneself without further obligations, a place to grow and "be fed!" And many or most participants serve in other roles in the congregation. Yet, a maturing spirituality issues forth in service and a shared project could deepen the groups connections and experience. And small sharing groups can be overly self-involved.
What do you think?
from Singing the Living Tradition, #692
Why should we live in such a hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry. I wish to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. I wish to learn what life has to teach, and not, when I come to die, discover that I have not lived. I do not wish to live what is not life, living is so dear, nor do I wish to practice resignation, unless it is quite necessary. I wish to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, I want to cut a broad swath, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms. If it proves to be mean, then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it is sublime, to know it by experience, and to be able to give a true account of it.
-- Henry David Thoreau
from Singing the Living Tradition, #706
from Singing the Living Tradition, #647
from Singing the Living Tradition, #698
We come together in an attitude of openness - not knowing quite what will happen, yet daring to receive a new idea, a new experience, sustenance for our minds and our hearts.We come with an attitude of praise, expressing our thankfulness for the good which has come into our lives.
We come with an attitude of humility, knowing how much we need one another, how alone we can be in the world, how vulnerable if we face life solely by ourselves.
We come in the spirit of love, seeking human warmth and fellowship in the hands and faces of those around us.
We come in the spirit of joy, seeking reconfirmation and renewal of life, of love, and of hope.adapted from Peter Lee Scott
The only usafe group is a closed one, a world in which awareness of change is not present.Questions: What's your response to change? Dread, anxiety, anticipation, exhilaration, challenge? How have you moved through change in your life? What was gained? Lost? What have you found helps you most in moving through change?
-- Arnold Mindell
Just as individuals resist the pain and dislocation that comes with changing their attitudes and habits of behavior, societies resist learning as well.
-- Ronald Heifetz
We must always change, renew, regenerate ourselves; otherwise we would harden.
-- Johann von GoetheThis is a world of permanent white water in which we're all roaring down a wild river, none of us feeling like we either understand or control what we're in the middle of.
Peter Vaill
May beauty infuse our lives;
May a vision lead and guide our ways;
May others, sharing, make us wise;
And love ennoble all our days
-- Gordon Gibson
from Singing the Living Tradition, #524
Because of those who came before, we are.
In spite of their failings, we believe.Because of, and in spite of the horizons of their visions, we, too, dream.
Let us go remembering to prase,
to live in the moment,
to love mightily,
to bow to the mystery.-- Barbara Pescan
For the sun and the dawn which we did not create; for the moon and the evening which we did not make; for food we plant but cannot grow; for friends and loved ones we have not earned and cannot buy; for this gathered company; which welcomes us as we are, and from wherever we have come; for our free churches that keep us human and encourage us in our quest for beauty, truth and love, for all that comes to us as gifts from sources beyond ourselves; for gifts of life and friendship, and for this day may we give thanks.
-- Richard M. Fewkes (adapted
from Singing the Living Tradition, #718
Spirit of life and love, that lives in us and in all people, be present with us this day. Help us to be grateful for all that we have, grateful for this time of connection, grateful of these friends, and for all who enrich our lives. Spirit of life, be present with us as compassion, that we may open our hearts, listen with care, and be truly present with one another. Spirit of life, be present with us as a generosity of sprit, that we may meet the world with good will. Be present with us as vision, so that we may see beyond this moment and beyond the limits of our own day to day concerns, and remember, once again, that we are a part of a larger world, and all that lives therin. Amen
-- Calvin O. Dame
As we leave this place and this company, may the fellowship of this circle carry us forward, remind us of that which we hold to be most sacred and encourage us in every hour, until such time as we meet again. Amen
-- Calvin O. Dame
from Singing the Living Tradition, #428
"There are places I remember, all my life..." -- Lennon/McCartney
We all have places that have been important in our lives, and that remain significant in our memories. Ask participants first to recall a special or sacred place from the past, to reflect on the importance in their lives and then to draw a picture of that place, including in-as-much as they can those details which make the memory rich. Then share.
from Singing the Living Tradition, #682
from Singing the Living Tradition, #721
from Singing the Living Tradition, #706
If you knew how I felt inside, you would not act that way outside.But most likely,
If I knew how you felt inside
I would not mind so much the way you act outside.Why don't we try
turning ourselves
inside out!-- Edward T. Atkinson
We cannot let the world's wounds destroy our spirits. We cannot let our hurts and betrayals destroy our capacity for growth and caring. That there will be judgment and, perhaps, justice, is necessary. That the violence be confronted and, if possible, contained is essential. But, most important is our capacity to nurture a loving heart, to affirm and not to curse, to forgive even when we cannot completely forget.
-- Glenn H. Turner
Some questions to ask:
May the love which overcomes all differences,
which heals all wounds,
which puts to flight all fears,
which reconciles all who are separated,
be in us and among us
now and always.
-- Frederick E. Gillis
from Singing the Living Tradition, #614
I have journeyed to a place of great sorrow and there did I cry from the very depths of my soul. For days you thought I might never return, but I have come back to you: stronger, richer, with greater knowledge of myself. The crack in my heart will remain forever -- its purpose no longer to let grief out, but to let greater love in.Some questions to ask:
-- Myrriah Osbourde
Hold on to what is good, even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.
-- Nancy Wood
We gather to affirm the potential we all share:
for building community, for undertaking constructive change,
for engaging in mature growth,
for achieving greater humanity that we have known.
May our meeting together be a time of reflection on possibilities untried.
May it help us on our perilous ways during the weeks ahead.
-- adapted from Harold Babcock
Whether or not we soften the sense of "sinners" to what Eugene Kennedy calls "mistake makers," the fact remains we are not and never can be perfect. This is not to say we are condemned to making the same mistakes over and over. If we learn from past mistakes, we shall have the joy and sorrow of making some entirely new ones and learning from them as well. That is learning. That is growth. That is what being alive is all about.
-- Glenn Turner
Possible Questions: What have we learned from our mistakes or our failures? How do we make imperfection a wise teacher?
We receive fragments of holiness, glimpses of eternity, brief moments of insight. Let us gather them up for the precious gifts that they are, and, renewed by their grace, move boldly into the unknown.
-- Sara Cambell
from Singing the Living Tradition, #490
As we leave this community of the spirit, may we remember the difficult lesson that each day offers more things than we can do. May we do what needs to be done, postpone what does not, and be at peace with what we can be and do. Therefore, may we learn to separate that which matters from that which matters least of all.
--Richard S. Gilbert
Who can make an accounting of gratitude?For the universe we give thanks, an expanse fo life to stretch us with wonder...
For the earth we give thanks, fragment of the stars that is our home...
For life we give thanks, the burning of stars ordered and tempered here allowing us life and breath...
For growth we give thanks, for the heritage of the spirit, for all the forces past our knowing, power past our control...
For the ages which follow us, for the eternity of days, in which life is ever renewed and fulfilled, we give thanks.
-- Adapted from Kenneth Patton, "Hymns for the Celebration of Life"
Questions we should answer:
from Singing the Living Tradition, #615
THE DECORATIONS OF CHRISTMAS ARE HUNG IN OUR TOWNS AND CITIES. WE HAVE LEFT-OVER TURKEY SOUP AND (?) MORE SHOPPING DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS.
This is the advent of peace and goodwill, songs to be sung, choirs to do their Messiahs. There will be Christmas Teas and office parties, Christmas Fairs, and hot rum toddies.
BY THIS WEEK WE SHOULD HAVE OUR CARDS IN THE MAIL, GREETINGS TO A HUNDRED FRIENDS ALL OVER THE WORLD, EACH WITH A LETTER TELLING ALL THAT WE DID FOR THE YEAR. LAST WEEK OUR PACKAGES SHOULD HAVE BEEN MAILED. WHEN IS THERE TIME TO GO SHOPPING?
Giving gifts takes more time than we have. Sitting in the endless traffic, hustling and bustling through the stores, lining up in the Post Office behind the man with six packages all going overseas, all to be insured, all to be registered.
SOON WE'LL BE EATING AND DRINKING MORE THAN WE SHOULD. ANXIOUS, UNEASY, WE MAY MISS THE SPIRIT WE SEEK. WE PAUSE, CENTER DOWN, AND REFLECT ON THE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS.
What shall we celebrate? A closeness with family and friends, a warmth in the chill of winter, a birth - what shall we celebrate?
THE YULE LOG, THE FEASTING, THE GIFTS - THE CARDS, THE TREES, AND THE WREATHS ALL POINT TO OUR FEELINGS OF CLOSENESS, DECLARE OUR NEED FOR A CARING COMMUNITY.The winter is cold, the snow will lie on the ground, soon are the snowmen and skating, hot chocolate, skiing, and singing - all that this season is bringing.
THERE MUST BE SPACE FOR THE SINGING OF ANGELS, BRIGHT LIGHTS OF BEAUTY AND MEANING. THERE MUST BE A PLACE UNDER THE STARS TO CHART A COURSE THAT IS OURS TO OUR OWN BETHLEHEMS.Some questions to ask:-- Glenn H. Turner
Give us a child's heart, that we may be filled with wonder and delight.
-- Sara Moore Campbell