This part of the service is for deepening the worship of God through singing, through ritual actions or through reflection on music, images, or texts. The aim is to create the opportunity for the congregation’s response to God, and to enable our renewed awareness or sense of God. There are a range of different ways that people in the congregation have approached this part of the service. It’s sometimes hard to find songs or meditations that meet the congregation’s needs and expectations, because of the vastly different ways people have of engaging with God. What ‘works’ for some people can be completely alienating to others.
The question of congregational singing is ongoing for us at Cityside. How much singing is too much or too little? Some people have come to Cityside to get away from endlessly repeated choruses and emotional manipulation through music. They would be quite happy never to sing in church again. But for others, group singing is an important mode of expression and creates an environment where they can respond to God most deeply and effectively. There is the further difficulty of the limited availability of songs where the lyrics and images are relevant to our lived experience, and which manage to avoid the jargon, shallow theology, sexist language, and archaisms of much worship music. We have recently surveyed the congregation to find out what we all want in the way of music and many people favoured continuing to produce music from within the congregation. Several people already do this and we hope for this area to develop. One of the valuable things about congregational singing is that it is ‘inherently collective’ (Duck, p102), and can be a form by which the community can express faith together, in the absence of more formal creeds. This makes it all the more important that the music and lyrics actually express faith in a way that can be recognised and affirmed by the congregation. Having said that, it isn’t unusual for us to have a service with no singing in it, and singing three songs would be a big day for us! A service would not pass without any music at all, but this is more likely to be recorded than live, ‘secular’ than ‘sacred’.
Another issue to consider in relation to this section is the role of personality type in the kind of worship that will be meaningful to people. Those who are more introverted might value more inward contemplation; more extroverted personalities might prefer the group or interactive approaches. Furthermore, there is the question of whether the worship meets us in our intelligence and our ‘thinking’, as well as engaging with, and allowing us to express, our emotions. We are actively aware of this range and also of the range of stages of spiritual formation represented by the congregation. We do not try to cover all bases in every service but aim to do so over time and through the range of services we offer regularly, e.g.: evening Labyrinth prayer walk, storytelling, etc. (see section 3)
Other than songs, this section can make use of a range of rituals, silence, recorded music, symbols, images, and text. There can be a high level of interaction, such as involving the congregation in writing, drawing, moving, lighting a candle, and so on. It is important that there is content for people to engage with in these activities. Some alternative worship expressions can have interesting form and a range of multimedia tricks, but offer little in the way of ‘food’ for the participant.
Pacing this section requires that the person leading is sensitive to the mood and level of engagement of the congregation. It helps if there is a high degree of clarity in any explanations so that the congregation is allowed to attend to God and pursue their own reflections without confusion or interruption. At Cityside, some of the things we do tend to be one-off, because of the nature of the roster. However, there is value in having some repetition, so that over time people can become familiar with songs or texts, and go deeper into them, rather than learning something new each time.
Examples of Songs/Meditation from Cityside’s morning service:
- Congregational singing. Below are some songs that we either use regularly, or that have been important on particular occasions. Several are taken from the Iona Songbooks: Heaven Shall Not Wait, Enemy of Apathy, Love from Below Volumes 1-3, by John Bell and Graham Maule, with the Wild Group Worship Group, Wild Goose Publications: Glasgow, 1987, 88, 89)
‘In the warmth of the womb I met you’ Heaven Shall Not Wait
‘Enemy of Apathy’ Enemy of Apathy
‘Stay with us now’ Love from Below
‘Be still my soul’ to the Finlandia tune
‘We shall go out’ tune Londonderry Air
‘I heard the voice of Jesus say’ standard hymn book
‘Sent by the Lord am I’ unknown source
‘Lord be my vision’ standard hymn book (traditional words ‘Be Thou my Vision’, modified words in Hymns for Today’s Church, Jubilate Hymns, Hodder and Stoughton, 1982)
2. Several people within the congregation have written chants and songs that we use in our morning worship. Some of these are included in Section 7.f: Further Resources – Citysiders’ Songs.
3. Listening to music
Various CD tracks have been played and the congregation is invited to meditate on the music. Preferably, the lyrics of the track are put up on the overhead for people to read along with listening. Sometimes the person leading the worship offers some stimulus by way of a quote, verse, or reflection for people to think about as they listen.
- Photocopied versions of four different psalms (each with a different ‘mood’) were made available and people were invited to choose one that they wanted to reflect on. An overhead transparency was put up with suggestions of how to use the psalm in meditation (reproduced below). Large sheets of paper and crayons/felts/pastels were scattered round the room. As music was played, people were invited to engage with the psalm using one of the suggestions on the overhead. To finish, the congregation sang the psalm-like ‘How Great Thou Art’
Things to do with a Psalm:
? take a verse or two and meditate on it, learn it, write it out
? write your own psalm, picking up on some of the main ideas or emotions of the original
? take an image or metaphor from the psalm and soak in it
? read it out loud, chant it
? draw a picture or symbol that reflects your response
? set the psalm, or part of it, to music
? journal your response to it
? re-write it using the same basic statements but locating it in a different context, using language that relates to your life
(Brenda Stone)
5. Themed sequence: The Holy Spirit as wind
Sound effects CD of crashing waves was played throughout. The congregation read aloud James K. Baxter’s poem ‘Song to the Holy Spirit’, with half of the congregation reading alternate verses. We were then invited to meditate on two Bible texts on the overhead projector:
Genesis 1:1-2 ‘In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters’ (NRSV) and John 3: 8 ‘The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit’ (NRSV). Then we sang together ‘Enemy of Apathy’ (see 1 above for source)
(Brenda Stone)
6. An Act of Worship
Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – which is your spiritual worship.
Romans12;1 (NIV)
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you; Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
Romans12;1 (Message)
In olden times, when you entered the presence of a king or emperor, it was common to prostrate yourself on the floor at the foot of the throne as a sign that you acknowledged the sovereign’s authority over you. When you’re lying face down, you’re quite helpless, and your neck is exposed; the king could – if he chose – take up his sword and chop your head off.
This is a striking (sorry about the pun) image of surrender. We find throughout the Bible that people bowed down in the same way – in front of God’s altar, in the presence of angels, before Jesus.
Mostly these days we tend to think of worship as a form of music. We sing to God about how wonderful He is, and when this comes spontaneously out of the fullness of our hearts it’s a lovely thing. But God doesn’t have any self-esteem problems – God doesn’t need our assurance that He’s OK – and the offering of worship God’s really longing for is the gift of ourselves.
To assist us in our desire to worship, “in spirit and in reality” today, we have some tangible elements we can use. – and we also have a song. The elements are a basket of blossoms and a small pond of water.
I’d like us all to take a few minutes to consider our everyday lives, the things we do, the talents we have, and decide what we would like to offer God of ourselves – our “living sacrifice”.
When you feel ready, you can come to the basket, select a blossom as a symbol of your gift, and place it on the water of the pond. You might like to think of the pond as the water of life, or the sea of God’s love – something like that.
For those of you who find it helpful to write things down, we also have some pencils and small pieces of paper. You could write your gift and float the paper instead of – or as well as – your blossom. Alternatively you could keep the paper, as a reminder to yourself of what you’ve given.
As we come, and as we reflect on our gift – and its recipient – we can sing this prayer.
Lord I have this and I give it to you
Do with me whatever you want to do
(this is sung over a modal texture. Sing one verse, then leave one instrumental — to allow time for reflection — then sing again, etc)
(Mark Laurent)
7. Themed Sequence: Guidance
Opened with CD sound effect of a roaring wind and thunder in the desert. Alongside the sound was a Bible reading, Exodus 13:21: ‘The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.’
Congregational singing of the hymn: ‘Guide me O Thou Great Jehovah.’
This was followed by a reflection from worship leader on what appears to be a shift in the Bible from external to more interior forms of guidance with the indwelling of the Spirit, after which we read the following responsive reading:
God, you led your people through the desert towards the land you had promised them.
You led them with fire and with cloud.
God, it would be helpful to experience you leading us in the same way.
But when we look for the pillar of cloud and fire we often find only darkness and a desert without signposts.
God, at Pentecost, you came with fire and filled the hearts and minds of your people. You removed the law from stone tablets and wrote it on hearts of flesh.
The sound of a rushing wind breathed life into the stillness.
God, is it possible that the pillar of cloud and fire is closer than we think?
As we walk through the desert places of our life and of our world, help us experience your inner leading.
Help us to see by the light of the flame that burns in us.
Help us to choose confidently in the knowledge that we have all the guidance that we need.
Then we listened to the track: ‘Let your Soul Be Your Pilot’, by Sting ex Mercury Rising album.
(Brenda Stone and Malcolm McKinlay)
8. Themed Sequence: Grace
The leader of this sequence began by telling us about how her perception of the concept of ‘grace’ had shifted over time. She read a poem she had written to illustrate this shift:
Grace
The clamour wouldn’t stop
and so I ran
to find some fraying corner
where unravelled threads
point to an inadequate God.
And there – a hedge.
Thorns crouched smugly.
‘Abandon hope all you who enter here’,
they whispered, beckoning.
Crawling in and under
I bitterly rejoiced at every scratch
as proof of pain’s deserving.
Then, looking up, I saw among the rot
a daisy –
sunny disposition undeterred by its surrounds.
A thaw began to tingle at my fingertips.
And I recalled those other twists
where hidden magic
colours the grey-palette skies.
When time is pressing in
and running out
and then…
a vast space spreads and laughs between the seconds.
When, convinced of ugliness,
your name is called
‘beautiful’
by the voice you love.
I kneeled and kissed the daisy’s face,
whispering thanks to the moment
and dancing to the song of the trees.
Then, she played the U2 track ‘Grace’ (ex All that you can’t leave behind, Island Records 2000), while putting the following quotes one by one up onto the overhead for the congregation to reflect on.
‘Grace…travels outside of karma’ (U2)
‘Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us. We taste only sacredness.‘ (Jelaluddin Rumi)
‘God the Father laughs. And from this laughter, proceeds the Son. The Son laughs, and from this laughter proceeds the Spirit.’ (Meister Eckhart)
‘Grace is nothing else than a beginning of glory in us.’ (Thomas Aquinas)
‘Grace…the moments of meaning in the mundane.’ (Celeste Snowber Schroeder)
‘A state of mind that sees God in everything.’ (Charles G. Finney)
‘Divine action has always been the source from which flows a torrent of grace which spreads over everything. Henceforth I shall no longer seek it within the narrow confines of a book or the life of a saint or a sublime idea.’ (John Pierre de Caussade)
Then, she played the Neville Brothers version of ‘Amazing Grace’ (not sure what album), and passed round pencils and paper, inviting us to write our own statements about grace and share these with one another.
(Brenda Stone)
9. Themed Sequence: Fear
The leader of this sequence introduced the theme by reading the story by Dr Zeuss – ‘What Was I Scared Of? She then led us through a meditation on the poem ‘I go among the trees…‘ by Wendell Berry, from A Timbered Choir: The Sabbath Poems 1979-1997.
(Gwen Strickland)
10. Song re-writing
The worship leader played us a song with which most of the congregation were familiar, and then asked the church to form into groups (of about 5-6 people) and in the group to rewrite the content of the verse with words and phrases that were meaningful for us. Then, we sang the new song as a church – each group sang their verse, and in between, the whole congregation joined in with the chorus. The time allotted for revising the verse wasn’t much more than five minutes, so the result was fairly hasty, but it was enjoyable listening to the contributions of others. The song we ended up with went like this:
Chorus:
I will bless the Lord and give him glory (Repeat)
Verses:
The ultimate genetic engineer
Webmaster of the universe
Honest creative economist
She holds the balance of all life
The Lord is generous like Auckland rain
Warms the soul like winter sun
beyond all measure cannot be contained
our song to bless you has just begun
God is purple and full of light
He’s the rainbow after stormy nights (Repeat)
The Lord is mother and father to us
caring, protecting and nurturing
He knows our needs before we ask
Thank you God for your love for us
The Lord is is is is is is is
The Lord is is is is is is is
The Lord is is is is is is is
The Lord is is is is is is is
(Alternatively rendered as…
The Lord is is is is is is is
not contingent (in the larger sense)
self existence is really neat
we dependent beings say…)
(Fergus McKinlay)
11. God’s love meditation
Call to mind a moment when you felt loved by another being…
(a pet, a parent, a lover, a friend…..)
…a moment when you felt deeply loved and appreciated…
Recall the environment, and what the other was doing or saying that communicated love to you…
Rest for a while in the way you felt at that time.
Now imagine that God is in that picture…nurturing the moment, enabling you to receive the love, weaving the bonds of connection…rejoicing over you.
Imagine a place where you feel safe and comforted.
Hold a picture of that place inside you…call the feeling of being in that place into the present moment…
Now put God into that picture…where is God in that place?
Allow yourself to believe that God created, and dwells in, and nurtures the safety of that place.
Think of a person in your life whom you experience, or have experienced, as a deeply loving person.
…what is it about them that communicates love?
…call to mind their face, the sound of their voice, their actions.
Allow yourself to believe for a moment that this person is an expression of God in the world…this person is reflecting God’s love to you…
Rest for a while in that love.
(Brenda Stone)
12. Write a corporate prayer that names God with us.
Get the people into a number of groups, and give each group a letter. Their assignment is to find some words that start with that letter that are distinctly New Zealand (somewhere between 3 and 7 words). Make sure they know there is lots of room for leeway. Each group needs one speaker. Then get the speakers up and pray using a formula like …
God of _____________ , ___________, and _____________
(It helps to have written something as a backup, in case you have some
non-starters)
At the end have an overhead projector that has a draw together response…
We used something like :
God of Zeal, New Zeal, stale zeal, this is our land.
This is your turangawaewae, your standing place
And we are your people. Be present with us.
Here’s a rough personal version.
God of Aotearoa, Apricots and Alpine flowers
God of Buzzy Bee, beech tree and brick houses
God of Cabbage Tree, Custard Square and Crayfish
God of Desert highways, and Cream on your dessert (don’t mix them up or
you’ll get sand in your mouth)
God of Empty churches, and English Students
God of Fish and Chips, Fishing rights
God of Gorse bush, and golden Beaches
God of Hangis and Hero Parades
God of Iwi and internet
God of Japanese power tools, and 2nd hand imports
God of Kauri Stumps, and Kiwi burgers,
God of lattes, and Long drop loos
God of Mouraki Boulders, Moreporks, and railways’ mince pies
God of Night skies resplendant
God of Ozone holes and flakey skin,
God of Pohutukawa, pavlova and Plunket nurses
God of our Queen’s head stamped on shrinking coins, God save her.
God of Rugby shorts, tattered and torn
God of Shortland street, Student Loans and sunburnt sheep
God of Tussocks, takahe and text messages
God of unemployment and unkempt hair,
God of Marlbourgh’s vineyards, drinking deep
God of winding roads, Wellington’s hills, and Whanau
God of Xena, Xtreme sports, Skiers and bungy jumping tourists
God of Yobbos, Yahoos and you and me
God of Zeal, New Zeal, stale zeal, this is our land.
This is your turangawaewae, your standing place
And we are your people. Be present with us.
(Colin Wood, Ilam Baptist Church)
(NB. Apologies to non-New Zealand readers for the large number of New Zealand-specific cultural references in this poem. Too many to explain.)
13. Bio-poem of God
Hand round pen and paper.
Put template on overhead projector or Whiteboard – people fill in the gaps…and are encouraged to move outside the fixed form if they wish.
Collect the finished products together and read them out….and staple into a book to put in the church space for later reading.
God…
(4 adjectives that describe God)
Father/Mother/ (or other) of…
(your name or other)
Lover of…
(3 of these)
Who feels…
Who needs…
Who gives…
Who fears…
Who would like…
Of… (country, city , street name, other)
An example:-
God,
Holy, loving, Faithful, Perfect
Mother of all races, creeds, colours, languages
Lover of these peoples, this land, of me
Who feels our pains and joys
Who needs nothing
Who gives everything for us
Who fears apathy
Who would like to restore us
Of the land of Aotearoa-New Zealand.
We collected these poems and they hang on the wall of the church bound into a booklet titled ‘The Book of God’.
(Adee Wood, based on an educational resource by Ruie Pritchard)
- We watched the music video (and listened to the song) of a Johnny Cash cover of a Nine Inch Nails song: ‘Hurt’ – images of loss, grieving, aging and suffering.
(Dave Cullen)
- We watched a video segment taped from CNN news, while listening to the Moby song ‘Why does my heart feel so bad’ (ex Play album). The segment was introduced with the words,
‘For our ‘songs slot’ this week I want to share my small foray into a kind of random video art.
I’ve chosen a track by Moby, which I regard as being like a modern Psalm because it reminds me of David’s anguished poetry.
Next I pointed my video camera at the TV screen while CNN was playing on Friday night. Not knowing what news stories they would be reporting, or in what order they would emerge, I gathered these random images.
They aren’t edited in any formal way. Rather, as you can see I just started and stopped the camera as the stories rolled out.
Maybe this exercise will portray, in some small way, how God may have felt as he watched over the world last week…
Maybe it will give you a new perspective on your own week…
Perhaps it will remind you that you didn’t think any wider than your own circumstances…
Or perhaps it will have an entirely different meaning for you…’
(Perry Bradley)
- We were led in a meditation based on the different aspects of the sense of taste. The leader (A food technologist) introduced us to the five main taste sensations – sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. He handed round food for us to taste that corresponded to these – M and Ms, lemon, salt, bitter lettuce and green bananas, while we contemplated the variety and complexity of a sense that we don’t often spend much time thinking about.
(Clinton McClean)
17. On some occasions a group from within the congregation will perform music for our entertainment and reflection. Sometimes this involves a choral ensemble. On a couple of occasions groups have performed pieces from Handel’s Messiah. Jazz groups, blues groups (performing Tom Waits’ gospel tracks) and various other musicians have played for us. Sometimes this is slotted in to the songs/meditation part of the service, other times it is woven through the service, or used as the ending to a service.
18. The Community of the Desert and the Loneliness of the City.
The premise
There is something special about the desert, and something special about the Desert Fathers who chose to live out a frugal separate existence in the desert. I was interested in looking at setting up a ‘desert’ time or trying to create a small time out from the city … while still being in the city.
I started out not knowing who or what the ‘Desert Fathers’ were, and finishing by realising
a. they had some very interesting things to say and
b. they were ordinary people like you and me
Websites I searched for information (a lot of these websites I just chose snippets of info from):
http://www.beth-israel.org/worship/sermons/gross/020715_Devarim.asp
http://www.kwanumzen.com/primarypoint/v17n3-1999-fall-FatherKevinHunt-ChristianContemplation.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/46/story_4677_1.html
http://mytapestry.crosswinds.net/centering_prayer.html
http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8158.asp
http://www.sacredmesa.com/SoulJournal/DesertFathers.html (desert fathers sayings and prayers)
http://dydimustk.com/wiki/120_wise_sayings_of_the_desert_fathers.html (loads of sayings)
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/commonworship/
Set Up
I used a pile of sand on a blanket laid out at the front of church. People were invited to come and run their hands through the sand and then pick up one of many cards with quotes (see below) to take back to where they were sitting and meditate on. Other possible ideas included small bags and mats people could use to take the sand to their seats or home afterwards for contemplation during the week. During the meditation I played some middle-eastern themed music. Try the tracks by Lisa Gerrard on the Gladiator soundtrack.
Spoken Introduction
When Sarah and I traveled overseas we were lucky enough to spend a bit of time in Syria and Jordan. Part of this trip was spent in the desert and one night we had the chance to sit away from the others we were with and contemplate the stars and breathe the peace of the desert.
It is one of the few times I have experienced the ‘space around the edges’. You know the space we never really have the time to find…the space which is always ruined by a ringing phone, a lawn mowing neighbour, or just plain old weariness.
I wanted to try today to provide the means for each of us to have our own desert experience. And to experience loneliness. Not the desperate loneliness that our modern lives in the city bring us, but creative loneliness where we follow the life exemplified by the natural separation of monastic from the world. Where we withdraw ourselves from the noisy crowds which are so superficial, so distracting, and so counterproductive — in a withdrawal which is healthy, beautiful, and good, to make space for the One who is always waiting, the incarnate Logos and God.
So today we have a piece of music to listen to…hastily remixed together last night from a soundtrack I have; apologies for the rough fades. The intention is to provide a backdrop against which you can almost imagine that you have retreated to your own piece of desert. Here I hope we can each have our own personal experience.
I have provided a selection of quotes from various sources to try and start the process off; also here is something useful I found when looking for ideas last night …
One of the earliest realisations in the Christian tradition was that the quintessence of prayer and meditation is a quiet mind.
The best way to achieve that is simply to return to one point. Just return to one point, over and over again. After a certain amount of practice of returning quietly to one point, one discovers that all this running around from the ears up (that dialogue that is like a broken record in your head) really isn’t that important. Then you begin to let go and it drops off. As it drops off, you discover spaces. In these spaces there is no I, or ME, or you. There is no up or down, no in or out. It is simply presence, awareness.
GOD, unto whom all hearts be open, and unto whom all will speaketh, and unto whom no privy thing is hid. I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee, and worthily praise Thee. Amen
It is more important
to remember God
than it is to remember to breathe.
If you really wish to achieve spiritual stillness
and to guard your heart successfully,
then let the prayer
“Lord Jesus, have mercy upon me”
become one with your breathing,
and in a few days you will see
how it can all be achieved.
My soul, seek the Only One . . . My soul, you have no part with the earth; for you are from heaven. You are the image of God: seek your First Image. My soul, you are an immaterial spirit, immortal… In Him alone you will find your rest.
Even if we have thousands of acts of great virtue to our credit, our confidence in being heard must be based on God’s mercy and His love for men. Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved.
The knowledge of the Cross is concealed in the sufferings of the Cross
Holy God,
holy and strong,
holy and immortal,
have mercy upon us.
To you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul;
O my God, in you I trust.
Eternal light, shine into our hearts,
eternal goodness, deliver us from evil,
eternal power, be our support, eternal wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance,
eternal pity, have mercy upon us;
that with all our heart and mind and soul and strength
we may seek your face and be brought by your infinite mercy to your holy presence,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Almighty God,
your Son Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
Grant that your people may shine with the radiance of his glory,
that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed
to the ends of the earth,
now and for ever.
(Steve James)
19.
Meditation based on ‘Hidden Dreams’ from Seasons of your Heart — Prayers and Reflections by Macrina Wiederkehr (Harper, SanFrancisco, 1991), page 176.
Materials:
- Stars cut out of thick paper or cardboard (coloured paper produces a good effect visually)
- a length of string hung across the worship space
- some means of attaching the stars to the string e.g. wool, thread, paper clips
- pens or pencils to write / draw on the stars. In a smaller group a wider range could be offered, e.g. felts, coloured pencils, stickers.
(Here’s what I said )
Today the advent theme is “hope”. Our meditation will centre around a word related to hope — dreams.
Just as Mary was pregnant, I think of a dream as something God given with which I am pregnant — it doesn’t yet have a life of its own but once I recognise its existence I can feed and protect it and watch it take shape until finally the dream is born and becomes a reality. And as the angel appeared to Mary to announce her pregnancy, I think sometimes God sends a messenger to help me recognise the very small beginnings of a dreams I haven’t yet recognised, or to remind me of a dream that I have been ignoring, except that the messengers have never been angelic, but people, things, or events from my everyday life.
In the newsletter there is a piece by Macrina Wiederkehr that will be the focus of our meditation this morning. In a moment Kath will read it for us. Then I invite you to spend some time reflecting on these words and if you would like to, take the star you chose on the way in and make some response by writing a word or words, or drawing something on it, then hanging it up on the string. It occurred to me yesterday that maybe at this end of the year some of us might feel too tired to dream! If that’s the case, feel free to express that on your star. Or if you prefer, just hang the star up without adding anything to it. There will be about 6 or 7 minutes for this meditation, and the music that will be played is a movement from the Christmas Concerto by Corelli.
Closing prayer: God of Hope, inspirer of dreams, we acknowledge in your presence these dreams for ourselves and for others. Help us to be stars that shine for each other, and may the strangers we walk with find they can afford to dream. Amen.
(Jeannie Cochrane)