Readings
The sacredness of trees
(Christchurch Park, Ipswich)
He was the King of Trees
Keeper of the glades …
(Cat Stevens, ‘King of Trees’, 1974)
In the middle of an oak grove,
with trees of a few years old and trees of centuries,
feel the sacredness, the everlasting power
of the life around you,
and know the transitory nature of your own.
The ancient druids,
Fragrance of apples
The fragrance of apples conjures a dream
of blossom humming with bees,
singing with the voices of chaffinches in its midst;
of young apples forming, growing, ripening
from green to shades of russet and of red.
And then the harvest:
apples to eat as they are,
to cook in pies and crumbles;
apples to quench our
Sorry from A-Z
With thanks to Gary Kowalski
We mourn for the Earth and its lost creatures,
and we are sorry from A to Z –
for Atlas Bears, Arabian Ostriches, and Ascension Island Rails;
for Big-eared Hopping Mice, Bush Wrens, and Broad-faced Potoroos;
for Caribbean Monk Seals, Chatham Island Penguins, Cuban Red Macaws,
and Carolina Parakeets;
for Dodos,
Opening devotions for a committee meeting
We come together as a group of individuals with diverse needs and diverse gifts.
May we rise to the responsibility vested in us by our fellow members of this chapel and make our decisions wisely.
May we discover that delicate balance between the needs of the individual and the interests of the greater community.
May we listen to
Such quiet ecstasy
Deepening
Falling
Sinking
Into Spherical Endlessness
Such Peaceful Reverie
Expanding
Absorbing
Melting
Into Vibrant Spaciousness
Such Simple Profundity
Bathing
Gliding
Opening
Into Anointed Presence
Streams of Light and Nectar
Fill my Being
In Delight
Granting Blessings and Purifying –
My Baptism
Of Service,
My Refuge
Of Self,
My Becoming
Into Being,
My Inner Worship.
Rev. Jenny Miller, Interfaith Minister
Inner dancing
Luxuriating Light
Flashes and Sparkles
Dancing to Joy
As the Double Base
Of the Dantien
Steadies the Beat,
Grounding the Rhythm
Of His excited Apsaras,
Catching vibrations as they twirl –
No effort to their Grace.
The cold floorboards
Compliment the Heat of the Dance
In the Open Hallway of my Mind.
Heart-flames caress my cheek
Reminding me,
“I’m Here” –
No distance to
Dance with my Unveiled Self
Who tunes her
Let us give thanks
A prayer for use at the General Assembly Annual Meetings, 2022
Let us give thanks for:
The meeting organisers
The secretaries and letter writers
The minute takers
The small-change counters
The safeguarding officers
Those website wonks and brave Zoom managers
The article writers
The flower arrangers
The meeters and greeters
The biscuit providers
The gloved washer-uppers
Those who dust, mop and vacuum
The chair stackers
The car-lift givers
The hand holders
Those
Now and then
Now and then somebody calls at the old chapel.
Searching, – for solitude, tranquillity, history or more likely – ancestors.
As they make their way up the ancient flagstone path they wonder whether they’re walking in the footsteps of their long dead relatives.
Is this the way that their great grandparents walked to their wedding? Were they nervous?