Monday Meditation

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Dear and loving God,
thank you for the gift of mystery.
If we are honest,
we have no idea
what you are
or how you work.

If we are faithful,
we come to realize
that neither of those things matter.
All that matters is
to sense your gentle touch,
your loving breath,
and your warm embrace,
all around us;
coursing through our veins,
the very lifeblood of our being.

[pause to sense the presence of God]
 

We confess that
it is all too easy
to become enraptured by
and trapped in
this soulless world.
We get caught up in crass commercialism.
Our hearts become hardened to
the needs of our brothers and sisters.
Fear of lack, limitation, and otherness
causes us to act rashly
and without reason.
We readily and foolishly
elect to follow hawks
rather than doves.

Send us the dove of peace,
the prince of love,
the Christ who opens our minds
and unbinds our hearts
from fear.
Unchain our souls
and free us to love
and be loved
in your image.

[pause to sense the presence of God]

It is as beings
made in your image
that we offer prayers for healing.
We humbly ask that
comfort and grace
be showered upon
all those in the world
who are suffering
due to disease, violence,
natural disaster, oppression,
and slavery of all kinds.

[pause to sense the presence of God]

You are the creative essence
of everything that exists,
our Holy God of all being.
You are everything we imagine;
all things seen and unseen.
Help us settle ourselves
into your comforting presence.
Compel us to understand that
recognition of you
in everyone we see,
in all of this bountiful
and beautiful
natural world,
is the only thing
that breaks these ties that bind.

In you fear is dissolved,
hatred is vanquished,
and love, pure and perfect,
takes root and flowers
in a mind-blowing variety
of colors, shapes,
thoughts, and dreams.

May all the people
on this little blue speck of a planet,
in a galaxy unfathomably large,
in a universe whose size
is beyond comprehension,
finally come to understand
just how precious, inspiring,
and freeing
this diversity of life truly is.
In your many names, we pray.
Amen.

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