Wesley Quiet Space - 19th September 2021
Today
Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word.
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.
The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little. the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.
But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m travelling
a terrific distance.
Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple Mary Oliver
Silent Reflection
The Opening of Eyes
The day I saw beneath dark clouds
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then as I had before
that life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.
It is the opening of the eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years
of secret conversing
speaking out loud in the clear air
It is Moses in the desert
fallen to his knees before the lit bush.
It is the man throwing away his shoes
as if to enter heaven
and finding himself astonished,
opened at last.
fallen in love with solid ground. from Songs for Coming Home
Space for Reflection
Dear God.
We pray for another way of being;
another way of knowing.
Across the difficult terrain of our existence
we have attempted to build a highway
and in so doing we have lost our footpath.
God lead us to our footpath:
Lead us there where in simplicity
we may move at the speed of natural creatures
and feel the earth’s love beneath our feet.
Lead us where step-by-step we may feel
the movement of creation in our hearts,
And lead us there where side-by-side
we may feel the embrace of the common soul.
Nothing can be loved at speed.
God lead us to the slow path; to the joyous insights
of the pilgrim; another way of knowing: another way of being Amen
Michael Leunig
Space for reflection
Go Peaceful
in gentleness
through the violence of these days.
Give freely.
Show tenderness
in all of your ways.
Through darkness,
in troubled times
let holiness be your aim.
Seek wisdom.
Let faithfulness
burn like a flame.
God speed you!
God lead you,
and keep you wrapped round His heart!
May you be known by love.
Be righteous.
Speak truthfully
in a world of greed and lies.
Show kindness.
See everyone
through heaven’s eyes.
God hold you,
God enfold you,
and keep you wrapped around His heart.
May you be known by love. Paul Field
Space for Reflection
We have to be candles,
burning between
hope and despair,
faith and doubt,
life and death,
all the opposites.
That is the disquieting place
where people must always find us.
And if our life means anything,
if what we are goes beyond the church walls and
does some good,
it is that somehow,
by being here,
at peace,
we help the world to cope
with what it cannot understand. William Brodrick
Space for Reflection
Then to close we share the Grace together
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God, and
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit
Be with us all, now and always. Amen