Food for the Soul | November 4th, 2020
11/4/2020
Dear Friends,
With the beautiful fall weather upon us I have been walking a lot in our neighborhood and in the forest, admiring the trees in their full majesty; many have lost their leaves completely, some are not there yet. When the leaves first drop to the ground they form a carpet around the tree, each tree with a different colored carpet according to its leaves. At times it seems like these leaves form a halo around the tree to indicate the sacredness of its life, and reminding us of the story of Moses and the burning bush, where God spoke to Moses and said: Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. Then when I look at the trees that are totally bare I am in awe about their beautiful structure, all you can see is their true essence, in all their naked vulnerability; their sap is flowing down, down, down from every branch back into their root system, as if reuniting with their Ground of Being, and then remaining still until the next cycle of new life.
Our nation is also awaiting a new cycle of life. The campaigns are done, the votes cast, and now we await in silence the final results. Let us be open to whatever comes. Don’t let anxiety take over. Allow yourselves the luxury of stillness. Then be ready to fully engage in a new way of being together as the loving community of God.
PRAYER
The Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
PRACTICE
I offer you today the last vision for a peaceful world that Thomas Keating dictated on his death bed; it seems so appropriate at this time as we wait in expectation of final election results and as we meditate on how to bring us all together as one nation.
“In the universe an extraordinary moment of civilization seems to be overtaking us. Through the great discoveries of science and spirituality we find ourselves in essentially a new place, a new and different place than ever before in history. It is a time of enormous expectancy and possibility. We are called to start not with the old world contracts, now that we know that they are all lies, but with what we know is the truth as proved by silence and science. So I call upon the nations to consider this as a possibility: That we should begin a new world with one that actually exists. This is the moment to manifest this world by showing loving concern for poverty, loving appreciation for the needs of the world, and opportunities for accelerated development. We need to find ways to make these really happen. I make this humble suggestion that now arms-making is of no significance in the world. It hinders its progress. This will allow and offer the world the marvelous gift of beginning, creating, of trusting each other, of forgiving each other and of showing compassion and care for the poor and putting all our trust in the God of heaven and earth. I leave this hope in your hands and hearts coming as the real inspiration from the heart of God. What does God care about who has this or other lands when the power to begin with the truest history is coming from religion as expression of the source that has been realized for centuries: Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, indigenous and Christianity. All religions, Oneness is their nature. Amen.”
POEM
Stillness
Our true nature is stillness,
The source from which we come.
It manifests itself within us
As a rising tide of silence,
A flowing stream of peacefulness,
A limitless ocean of calm,
Or just sheer stillness.
The deep listening of pure contemplation
Is the path to stillness.
All words disappear into It,
And all creation awakens to the delight of
Just Being.
Thomas Keating