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Prayerful Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Posted on October 29, 2013October 23, 2013 by a quiet walk

The Lord’s Prayer

These past two week have been difficult. There are wildfires again in Australia, cyclones in the India, conflict in Chile, an early winter storm in Colorado, and the unwillingness of our government to govern, to name just a few. All of these crises make my unhappiness with the gloomy skies that have settled over western Washington for more than a week seem pretty puny in comparison.

As I was praying about what to write for today I honestly couldn’t offer anything better than what Jesus gave his disciples when they asked him “teach us to pray.” You see sometimes all you can do is pray, and when I can’t find the words I remember what my father always told me; “Ruth, you don’t have to say anything, G-d knows what’s in your heart, just sit and let your heart speak.”

So this week with no words to describe our hearts ache I ask that each of you to take five minutes out of your day and just sit, letting your heart speak. If you wish you may end with the prayer Jesus taught his disciples so long ago. Below is an English translation from the Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, of the Lord’s Prayer. In addition I have included a link to a beautiful singing of the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic From the album, Sacred Ragas, by IndiaJiva. May you draw comfort from the Lord’s blessing and may they bless your day and coming week.

Shalom, Ruth Jewell

The Lord’s Prayer

(An English transliteration from the original Aramaic of Jesus)

O Breathing Life, your Name shines everywhere!
Release a space to plant your Presence here
Envision your “I can” now
Embody your desire in every light and form.
Grow through us this moment’s bread and insight.
Untie the knots of failure binding us,
as we release the strands we hold of others’ faults
Help us not forget our Source.
Yet free us from (all unripeness) of not being in the Present.
From you arises every Vision, Power, and Song
From gathering to gathering

Amen.

May our future actions grow from here!

Prayerful Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Posted on October 15, 2013 by a quiet walk

Playing with the Spirit

In the past month I have begun the InterPlay Life Practice Course. For those of you who have never heard of InterPlay I can only described it as a time to play with my body/spirit/heart/mind all at the same time and it is a blast! Of course the founders of InterPlay have a much longer definition, that in brief, is a system and practice that allows you to lean slowly at your own pace to love being an embodied being by bringing into one whole Mind/Body/Spirit/Heart. But for me the term “it’s a blast” works best. (If any of you are interested in the longer definition please visit http://www.interplay.org and there you will find all kinds of information and also where you might find an InterPlay play group of your very own.) Within my small community of new friends and playmates I am discovering what it means to free myself from the confines of “ought and should” for the openness of the possible within me and I find it extremely freeing and uplifting. In the freedom to dance and song, alone and in community I am discovering a new me. Well not really a new me rather let me say the real me, the one who laughs, and sings, and dances, and prays, and cry’s and morns, and laments, and worries, and creates, and brings to fruition all of the pieces that make up the being I am, in this body, in this place in time, the real Ruth is beginning to step forward. My steps are tentative and small right now, but I am hopeful that in the very near future they will become leaps and bounds of joy.

I realize all of this probably makes little sense to all of you, heck it still isn’t making much sense to me. But I hope that in the coming months I will be able to clarify the joy I am feeling and be able to share just a little with you. I realize I can’t just give you my experience, but maybe I will be able to open the door for one or two of you, inviting you into a space where you too may explore your true being. It might not be with InterPlay, it might be in some other way that allows you to open your being to new light, and I hope you will share that with us here at the Begin Again, Cloaked Monk blog, or here on my blog, A Quiet Walk.

So, today as a way to begin anew, I invite you to join me in a body prayer for morning:

1. I invite you to stand, if you are able to, if you are near a window or have access to the outside that would be wonderful, but not necessary.

2. Stand for a moment and breathe deeply, taking air in and letting it out slowly.

3. Now take another breath, this time noticing how cool the air is as it enters your lungs and how warm it is when you exhale.

4. Take a third breath and follow it into your lungs, noticing how your lungs expand to hold the fresh air. Imagine that you are seeing the exchange of oxygen that fuels your body for the waste product of carbon dioxide. Let yourself find joy in the workings of your body.

5. Now raise both hands to your chest placing them palm to palm in a prayer position. As you do so offer a prayer of thanksgiving for your health and well being.

6. Now raise your arms up over your head, stretching out to reach for the sky and offer a prayer of supplication for someone who lies on your heart.

7. Lower your arms and return your hands to a praying position. Bend head, and/or body, slightly and offer the following, “may the peace of the Holy Spirit be with me and those I love this day, Namaste.”

8. Stand still for just a moment to allow yourself to return to your day.

And so my prayer for all of you this day is; “May the peace of the Holy Spirit be with each and every one of you this day, Namaste.”

Ruth Jewell, ©October 15, 2013

Prayerful Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Posted on September 17, 2013 by a quiet walk

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of G-d.

Namaste

In the last few days it seems our world has slipped another cog on its sanity wheels. There have been floods in Colorado, a devastating fire in New Jersey, children have gone missing, there are continuing world economic problems, people are dying in conflicts in the Middle East and South America . . . there are just too many to name. Are you as overwhelmed as often as I am?

Sometimes I just have to stop and find something that reminds me that I am not alone in this world of many sorrows. G-d walks with me through the pain and suffering I see all around me. It is important for all of us to remember G-ds grace is in all things, all people, every moment even if we are to frightened or too busy see that amazing presence. On this Prayerful Tuesday I offer to you the practice of Visio Divina, a visual meditation on something in creation.

Sometime today pause and find something to focus on for a few moments; it could be a leaf, a sunbeam, the face of a friend or loved one, or you may use the picture of clouds above. Pick something that reflects G-d’s presence to you at that moment.
Hold that image in your mind and meditate on the gifts God has given you.
You might take a moment to jot down any thoughts you may have for later contemplation.
When you have finished your contemplation offer your own prayers of intercession
End your time of prayer with a prayer of thanksgiving to the blessed creator.

My prayer for you this day is a “Prayer of Blessing” from John Phillip Newell’s book, “Praying with the Earth, A Prayerbook for Peace.”

Prayer of Blessing

Peace where there is war
healing where there is hurt
memory where we have forgotten the other.
Vision where there is violence
light where there is madness
sight where we have blinded each other.
Comfort where there is sorrow
tears where there is hardness
laughter where we have missed life’s joy
laughter when we remember the joy.

(John Phillip Newell, Praying with the Earth, A Prayerbook for Peace,
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2011, pg. 44)

May you find your moment of stillness and may it fill you with peace. Namaste

Prayerful Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Posted on September 10, 2013 by a quiet walk

Into the Wilderness

An old Hebrew root for wilderness means “to speak,” {dabar – meaning “to speak” is a primitive root of midbar – meaning wilderness, a place where you can hear G-d speak}. Those who traveled into the wilderness were outsiders, minorities, women and Judean peasants and they were the ones that heard G-d speak. All too often we believe we have to be on the “inside” to hear G-d’s voice, we must “do it the right way” in order for G-d to notice us and accept us. Yet that isn’t the way I’ve observed G-d work. It is the outsider, the minority, the woman, the one who seems to be doing it all wrong that is called by G‑d.

How often do feel as if you are on the outside? Might G-d be calling to you, inviting you into the wilderness, to hear the voice of the Creator? Today I invite to take this moment and breathe deeply. Breathe out your burdens, worries, your cares and the responsibilities that weigh on you. Sit in stillness and open up to G-d’s voice. G-d will take your concerns and tend to them while you rest in G-d’s loving kindness and grade. Breathe in G-d’s presence and love for you. Remain still for 5 or 10 minutes in your inner silence and breathe the breath of G-d.

My prayer for you this day is that the stillness of this moment will remain within your heart all day letting you see G-d’s grace and blessings in all of the days tasks.

The Peace of G-d be upon you.

Ruth Jewell, September 10, 2013

Fall Blessing

Posted on September 3, 2013September 3, 2013 by a quiet walk

Prayerful Tuesday
September 3, 2013
We are at that strangely wonderful place, between summer and fall. The temperature feels like summer, but, the air and light tells us that fall is just beyond the next horizon. The grand harvesting of vegetables is well on its way, with too many zucchini and not enough ripe tomatoes. Fresh Washington apples are appearing in the stores and those lovely peaches are becoming rarer. Oh how I will miss this summer!

But time rolls on to the next season and the joys of copper colored leaves and yellow pumpkin faces crookedly grinning at me from front porches. Each season has its own joys and Fall calls us to a time to celebrate the abundance of G-d’s world while preparing us for the rest and renewal of winter.

On this Prayerful Tuesday I invite you to join with me in reflecting where you have felt G-d’s presence in the past summer, how are you feeling the joys of G-d today, and what hopes do have for the future. Take just a few moments today and contemplate what it is that fills you with remembrance of pleasures past, joys of the moment, and hope for future renewal.

Fall Blessing

The blessings of sun and moon be on you,
the blessings of gentle rain be on you,
the blessings of earth be on you,
the blessings of good company be on you.
On you and all that walks this land
the gift of love and light
the gift of grace and spirit
the gift of rest and stillness
the gifts of heaven, earth, sea and sky,
the gifts of G-d’s abundance
on you and all creation.