sacred gesture
I greet you with affection, my Beloved One, as this new winter day begins. The weather weaves a chilly spell around me, as I seek to keep warm and dry. May this my morning prayer awaken me to the needs of others, to all the needs I will encounter this day.
While my body naturally responds to the winter wind with a shiver, may my heart respond with a warm wave of love as I seek to make my heart aflame like yours. Make me one with the earth as it makes its journey through this season of winter. Make me one as well with all those who lift up their hearts to you at this early hour, as, through the doorway of silent prayer, I seek to enter your compassionate heart.
period of silent prayer or meditation
One in stillness with you, I have also sat in the stillness of creation wrapped in winter sleep. On behalf of creation that slumbers till spring, in harmony with all earth's children, I now lift up my heart in prayer.
a psalm, spiritual reading or personal prayer
O Merciful God, you who held me in the palm of your hand as I slept, hold me in your love and providence as I begin this new day. May I not fear the challenges of this day but rather see them as opportunities to live out my beliefs in non-violence, compassion and justice.
May my work this day be a continuous prayer of praise to you. I ask your loving care for all those who are in need, especially for:_______. I lift up to you all who begin this day frozen without hope or empty of purpose and meaning.
I bow before you, O Beloved Source of my life, you from whom I have come and to whom I return.
Blessed and beautiful are you, my God.
May your light be my sun this winter day.
sacred gesture
sacred gesture
O you for whom my heart hungers, the night sky is arched over me like a winter window that looks outward onto the vastness of space. Earth, her sister planets and their moons and our great daystar are on an eternal voyage toward a cosmic mysterious destination. I too journey toward a lover's rendezvous with you. May this time of silent prayer be but a foretaste of that eternal encounter.
period of silent prayer or meditation
Invisible Lover, I know that you are here even if my senses do not experience your presence. I thank you for being at my side every minute of this day that is now concluding. I sing of my gratitude for your abiding presence, as I now pray.
a psalm, spiritual reading or personal prayer
May the hours of sleep into which I shall sink, grant me the divine gift of elasticity. May I know the gift of new wine skins, which are able to embrace the new and the untried. When I awake tomorrow I will need such flexibility to flow with the changes in my life and in the world. Such a gift is a necessity if I am to be a faithful steward of the Spirit in these times of great transition.
I pray now for those who live in my heart, my family and my friends:_______. I pray as well for all the citizens of this earth, men and women of all races and creeds, of various political beliefs. I ask that you gift us all with elasticity of mind and heart, so that we might create a new earth according to the design of your son Jesus' new age.
But for now, I let go of my quest for peace and justice and surrender myself into your loving nighttime embrace.
O Guardian of galaxies,
Mother of the cosmos and
Father of stars beyond counting,
may I sleep in you tonight.
sacred gesture
