Today, may we also say a prayer for the many names that do not appear on any memorial and the ones that remain unspoken aloud due to the fear that exists in our country. May those grieving the loss of such loved ones find warmth in the embrace of those they can trust with their truth. May our planet usher in a time when all are safe and welcome and free.
Join Us!
Sunday, September 9th, 2018 (10:00 am)
The Universalist Unitarian Church of Waterville
69 Silver Street, Waterville, Maine
The Winds of Summer:
a Water Communion Service to Gather The Beloved Community
Guest in the Pulpit: Rev. “Twinkle” Marie Manning
”Community means strength that joins us our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free." ~ Starhawk
A colleague in one of our collegial Facebook groups asked this week:
1- How do You pray? 2- How in your mind does prayer work?
My response to the thread:
As a theist, prayer for me means intentionally connecting with and experiencing that which I call Holy. Daily I do so in stillness and silence, extending deep gratitude for life and the gifts therein. Also as a practice through reciting the Aramaic version of Kabbalistic Cross aloud as the vibration of the mantra brings me into full presence with the divinity in me and around me.
Gregg Braden’s book “Secrets of the Lost Mode of Prayer” really resonated with me a few years ago. As does the philosophy of Laura Day in The Circle where she demonstrates how the power of a single wish can transform one’s life.
I turn to prayer in gratitude and also in surrender when circumstances are beyond my control. Sometimes my prayers manifest in writings and visualizations; oftentimes the simple act of touching my hand to my heart and humming (kind of like the Om) places me in conscious union with the divine.
There is holiness in quiet and in sound, in stillness and in movement.
I believe that prayer can be as diverse as that which we call Holy and can be made manifest through words, thoughts and deeds, such as daily acts of grace and gratitude.
I believe the energy of prayer can heal.
My theology is to live life as a prayer.
“Move Your Body!” This is a message I believe most of us need throughout out each day, and especially during stressful or worrisome times. And, most critical to those among us who cope with degrees of depression and anxiety.
Human minds innately have a universal mode of working overtime keeping us focused on what is paramount in our hearts. When new love or excitement about an upcoming adventure is in our hearts, we focus on that. When financial burdens or circumstances out of our control are weighing on us, we focus on that.
While the first scenario can be quite welcome, bringing with it boosts in healthy hormones, the latter can become debilitating in the chemical and emotional states it places our bodies in as we find our thoughts in repetitious patterns, looping over and over the circumstances taking precedence in our hearts and minds. We can spiral downward, and critically so.
The Move Your Body mantra can become a life-saving tool to turn to to snap yourself out of the congestion of our minds and help achieve moments of homeostasis. When we notice we are in mental gridlock, if we cultivate a new pattern of Moving Our Bodies, we can condition our hearts, minds and bodies toward a new kind of self-regulated equilibrium. Like any new skill, it takes commitment and practice.
Special Thanks to my friends Heather Bond and Beth Amine for both emulating and demonstrating this life-saving conditioning for their clients!
“May we enter the Holy Quiet:
That place of Being that is within us,
and through us, and beyond us.”
an excerpt from Pulpit of Peace
by Rev. “Twinkle” Marie Manning
Gathering inspiration for upcoming UU Water Communion Services. This was singing in my heart this morning, now it’s playing on our stereo. Blessed Peace washes over the listener. Hallelujah.
This sermon on The Spiritual Practice of Right Relationship by Rev. David A. Miller is one I’ve referred to on more than one occasion over the past couple of years. It is ever important, especially when conflicts or misunderstandings arise, for those in positions of power to establish a place of safety and trust. It is important too to be mindful of our assumptions about each other and to respectfully work from a place of gentleness and compassion towards reconciliation and to overcome challenges so that our relationships are loving, and that we may all flourish.
https://uucf.org/sermon-042416/
I appreciate so much about Bishop Carlton Pearson’s ministry, and I honor the unusual path he traveled to arrive where he is today serving our UU Faith. He was mentored by Oral Roberts and ordained first by the Pentecostal denomination and later was accepted as a United Church of Christ minister. In 2008 his ministry and his congregation became part of All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa. I commend All Souls Tulsa, and their senior minister Rev. Marlin Lavenhar, for inviting this evangelical minister into our UU Faith tradition and welcoming the gifts he brings and his unique ministry, even though the path he took to get here was not the one typical UU ministers take.
In this sermon Bishop Carlton Pearson talks about how our spirituality grows and changes throughout our lives. He talks about how our “certainties” can paralyze us not only from personal growth, but also prevent us from offering authentic welcome to others. He emphasizes that we see the divinity in each other and love each other “way beyond belief.”
