Thursday, October 29, 2015

Reflections and Silence


Our Need for Silence
Reverend Tom Capo led a Vespers service on October 28th, during which the following readings were offered with long period of silent reflection.  After each period of silence, those present were given time to offer verbal reflections on the readings.  These readings are offered below so that you might read them, sit with them in silence, then write or talk about them.  Silence is an important part of spiritual growth.


When I work too hard and then lie down,
Even my sleep is sad and all worn out.
You want me to name the specific sorrows?
They do not matter.  You have your own.
Most of the people in the world
Go out to work, day after day,
With their voices in their throats.
I am swimming a narrow, swift river.
Upstream, the clouds have already darkened
And deep blue holes I cannot see
Churn up under the smooth flat rocks.
The Greeks have a word, paopono,
For the complaint without an answer,
All the time our faces appear calm
Enough to float through in the moonlight.

By Maggie Anderson






For as we venture forth today,
Know that you will see
A better day.
For the rumblings of the Earth
Will bring forth a dawn…
And … the suffering and hate and sadness
 Will be banished from our paradise
And be buried in the womb of Mother Earth
To be our jewels of the future.
Observe the transformation,
Know, love and respect yourself.
For it is in the love that we feel for ourselves
That will dissolve the salts of fear
And the bitterness of hate.
Know who you are, be kind to yourself,
Forgive yourself.  Effortlessly ride
Your swell through life,
Gliding through the ups and downs.
Always know there
Is a powerful retreat inside
That no other energy
Can invade or destroy…
By Deborah Clark