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For a Rose in the Midst of the Struggle.
There once was a path. It went on for a very long distance indeed. The path was steep. It was bumpy and sharp. Those who climbed the steep path rarely even looked up to see where they were. They never saw the grass or the trees or the animals who lived there in the park. The path and its difficulties stole all of this from the travellers. Truth be told, that path was one that feet struggled to travel on. But there, in the midst of the struggle- not separate from it, but in the midst of it- lay a little, delicate rose. Its petals were thin and wonderfully shaped.…
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Love Is All
I invite you to find a quiet spot and allow yourself a little time to relax, meditate, pray. Begin by sitting still, focusing on your breathing. Don’t try to change your breathing; just notice that you ARE breathing. Acknowledge each breath as a sign of the life you have within you. Now, speak silently or aloud as you breathe. On the in breath: “I am loved” On the out breath: “I am love” Repeat this for a minute or so. As you do, my invitation is for you to know that God loves you. Whatever your relationship with God (or even if you don’t really think…
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God, We Need You Now!
God of healing, God of comfort, God of hugs, We need you now. God of fire, God of truth, God of justice, We need you now. God of the lost, God of the lonely, God of the hurting, We need you now. God of the scandalised, God of the scorned, God of the written off, We need you now. God of the hungry, God of the poor, God of the foreigner, We need you now. God of the persecuted, God of the crucified, God of the bleeding, We need you now. God of the sick, God of the…
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A Conversation With God
Some days prayer comes easily and freely. Other days, I find it helpful to have a kind of scaffold or structure within which to frame my prayer. This is one such stucture: Today will bring lots of different things our way: people, places, situations that bring joy or sadness or frustration to name but a few. Let’s have a conversation with God. God, hello. I slept (insert your own adjective here. Something like “well”, “fitfully”, “badly”) last night. I’m grateful that I had a bed to sleep in, as I know many people don’t. I thank you that I woke up and am breathing (take a few…
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Night prayer- as easy as 1,2,3!
At the end of this day, take a little moment to yourself. Get a quiet spot in the house or wherever you are tonight. Take this time as reflective time or prayer time if you are a praying person. Begin by allowing quietness to settle on you and in you. Concentrate on your breath, without needing to change your breath or the way you breathe at all. Simply notice your breath and experience it. Now think 1-2-3 1 Call to mind one thing that you are concerned about at the minute. Give it your full attention. What is it that concerns you? Think about it rationally, without…
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Meditation: for the stormy times.
In 1944, Ella Fitzgerald and the Inkspots recorded a song called, ‘Into each life, some rain must fall’. The first verse goes like this, Into each life some rain must fall But too much is falling in mine Into each heart some tears must fall But some day the sun will shine Some folks can lose the blues in their hearts But when I think of you another shower starts Into each life some rain must fall But too much is falling in mine I guess we all know how Ella felt. Sometimes our lives have more than just ‘some rain’ falling. At times it feels like a…
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A prayer for the weird and the wonderful
These are unsettled and often unsettling times we live in. Please join me in a moment of prayer… For the lost and the lonely For the weird and the wonderful For the believer and the not yet For the settled and searching… For the young and the old For the living (here) and the living (beyond) For the sick and the not yet For all of us are becoming one A one-ing is upon us Cosmicly coming Always unfolding Emerging, evolving If we but knew We are one “That they may be one, father, as you and I are one” The One came and told us the Way We…
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For those under attack
This is an example of what is called a Tau cross. I’ve made it from beautiful American Redwood. You can see and shop for crosses I have made here. The word ‘tau’ is a letter in the Greek alphabet and resembles the letter T in English. The cross Jesus was executed on was likely this shape (as opposed to the cross we’ve become used to seeing depicted) and therefore it is sometimes known as the executioner’s cross. For me, this cross reminds me of the execution of Jesus and the fact that there are many among us who feel that they are under attack; that there are those who out…
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A day without death
Today, the 15th June 2020, is the first day since the beginning of the pandemic that we have recorded no deaths due to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours right across the island of Ireland. Setting politics and constitutional matters aside for a moment, we can see that this virus respects no borders- it respects nothing at all it seems. And so, infection in one part of the island can mean infection in another part. So, to be able to say that this day is the first day that we see no deaths reported on the island is a massively positive thing, for which we would rightly give thanks. I…
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Trinity Prayer and Meditation
PRAYER: Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity- the glory of three persons in one God. I love the early description of the Trinity as perichoresis, meaning a kind of rotation or interconnectedness going round and round together in a wonderful dance of unending love. Here is a poetic prayer that is a kind of perichoresis, I guess. It is a circular prayer; the end is another beginning. Let’s pray it together and contemplate where we have seen God in our day today. ONCE: Once we see God truly, we truly see God everywhere. Once we see God everywhere, everything is transformed. Once everything is transformed, we…
