Weekly Recap or Tuesday, May 3, 2016 from ProgressiveChristianity.org in Gig Harbor, Washington, United States - Can Christians learn from other religions? This and more in our Free Weekly Recap of our most viewed and new resources from last week.
Last Week At ProgressiveChristianity.org ...
We delved into the topics of Interfaith Solidarity, The Price of Freedom, Voter Motivation and Sacred Places.
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Interfaith Solidarity
Timothy Murphy
We are most faithful to the Christian tradition when we stand alongside those to whom others in our tradition condemn.
READ ON ... Following the way of Jesus asks of us to support and learn from people of other faith traditions. This may sound counter-intuitive at first. At its best, the Christian tradition asks us to listen for where the Divine is speaking, in whatever surprising places we may find it. We need others as a reminder of how much greater the Divine is than any one religious tradition’s ability to fully capture it.
This is especially important in a religiously plural country where many religious minorities face discrimination and violence from what we might call Christian supremacists. For most of America’s history, Christianity has been the dominant tradition, whether as a cultural identity marker or as a religious practice. We have a long legacy of actively instigating, condoning or remaining apathetic to violence against those outside our tradition. Only in the last few generations have Christians begun to constructively wrestle with the implications of a religiously plural world after centuries of animosity.
Affirming religious pluralism is at least a twofold process, what we could call a descriptive and a normative move, respectively. The first respects the right of diverse religious communities to exist and thrive in our pluralistic democracy. It takes this pluralism as a given, without necessarily saying whether one agrees with the content of their tradition. But others, like progressive Christians, go one step further: we seek to learn from other traditions that can provide insights that we ourselves lack or under emphasize.
Whether one takes this second, bolder stance, all Christians of conscience need to look for ways to support religious minorities in the United States that feel besieged in 2016. Hate crimes are increasing at an alarming rate against Muslims in particular. Muslim students are being bullied in schools, taunted as “ISIS.” Sikhs are being assaulted for how they dress, fueled by stereotypes over what a Muslim (indistinguishable from a terrorist in their eyes) looks like. The fear of Muslims that leads to acts of hatred is a greater threat to our country than ISIS could ever pose.
In the past, it has taken the shock of unimaginable violence against religious minorities to snap people out of their collective slumber. We must say, loudly and unequivocally, we will not tolerate outbreaks of violence in our country. Whether that means supporting local efforts of Muslim communities to build a mosque, or calling out Christian siblings spouting anti-Muslim hate, we all have something we can do.
We will not sit by and let Muslims be banned from entering our country. We will not allow patrols to roam the streets of Muslim neighborhoods. We will not permit Anti-Antisemitism, the dismissal of indigenous spiritualities, or other long-standing religious biases to continue to infect our society. Religious discrimination has no place in our country, and Christians make a mockery of the name of Christ when they act in such a way or stand by and do nothing.
We are most faithful to the Christian tradition when we stand alongside those to whom others in our tradition condemn.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
The Rev. Dr. Timothy Murphy is Executive Director of Progressive Christians Uniting. Click here to visit their website – Progressive Christians Uniting.
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The Bell of Liberty and the Price of Freedom
We are most faithful to the Christian tradition when we stand alongside those to whom others in our tradition condemn.
READ ON ... Following the way of Jesus asks of us to support and learn from people of other faith traditions. This may sound counter-intuitive at first. At its best, the Christian tradition asks us to listen for where the Divine is speaking, in whatever surprising places we may find it. We need others as a reminder of how much greater the Divine is than any one religious tradition’s ability to fully capture it.
This is especially important in a religiously plural country where many religious minorities face discrimination and violence from what we might call Christian supremacists. For most of America’s history, Christianity has been the dominant tradition, whether as a cultural identity marker or as a religious practice. We have a long legacy of actively instigating, condoning or remaining apathetic to violence against those outside our tradition. Only in the last few generations have Christians begun to constructively wrestle with the implications of a religiously plural world after centuries of animosity.
Affirming religious pluralism is at least a twofold process, what we could call a descriptive and a normative move, respectively. The first respects the right of diverse religious communities to exist and thrive in our pluralistic democracy. It takes this pluralism as a given, without necessarily saying whether one agrees with the content of their tradition. But others, like progressive Christians, go one step further: we seek to learn from other traditions that can provide insights that we ourselves lack or under emphasize.
Whether one takes this second, bolder stance, all Christians of conscience need to look for ways to support religious minorities in the United States that feel besieged in 2016. Hate crimes are increasing at an alarming rate against Muslims in particular. Muslim students are being bullied in schools, taunted as “ISIS.” Sikhs are being assaulted for how they dress, fueled by stereotypes over what a Muslim (indistinguishable from a terrorist in their eyes) looks like. The fear of Muslims that leads to acts of hatred is a greater threat to our country than ISIS could ever pose.
In the past, it has taken the shock of unimaginable violence against religious minorities to snap people out of their collective slumber. We must say, loudly and unequivocally, we will not tolerate outbreaks of violence in our country. Whether that means supporting local efforts of Muslim communities to build a mosque, or calling out Christian siblings spouting anti-Muslim hate, we all have something we can do.
We will not sit by and let Muslims be banned from entering our country. We will not allow patrols to roam the streets of Muslim neighborhoods. We will not permit Anti-Antisemitism, the dismissal of indigenous spiritualities, or other long-standing religious biases to continue to infect our society. Religious discrimination has no place in our country, and Christians make a mockery of the name of Christ when they act in such a way or stand by and do nothing.
We are most faithful to the Christian tradition when we stand alongside those to whom others in our tradition condemn.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
The Rev. Dr. Timothy Murphy is Executive Director of Progressive Christians Uniting. Click here to visit their website – Progressive Christians Uniting.
-------
The Bell of Liberty and the Price of Freedom
Steve RobertsonOnce upon a time I was proud to be an American. Now, at the age of 55, I find myself deeply embarrassed to call myself one.
READ ON ...
Once upon a time I was proud to be an American. Now, at the age of 55, I find myself deeply embarrassed to call myself one. The values we once stood for as a country: honor, justice, democracy and freedom, those which I grew up with believing were the sacred hallmark of our great nation, now gag in my throat. Where has it all gone wrong?
“When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When people fear the government there is tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
During WWII, our country was called to arms by our allies in Europe, who surely would have fallen to the dictatorship of Hitler, had we not stepped in and sacrificed the precious lives of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers in the name of freedom. Most are not aware nor have the courageous to know of the sinister strings that were pulled to orchestrate this War, and all others, from the 5th dimensional chest board play of a certain few. This however, is another story and one for another time.
“We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of… If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it.” Dr. Edward L. Bernays – considered the founding Father of Public Relations. (1891-1995)
Hitler, the sadistic genius and megalomaniac, successfully enrolled his countrymen and the might of Germany’s industrial military complex in a methodically orchestrated mass genocide. Germany’s extremely disciplined soldiers, charismatically hypnotized by Hitler’s Aryan vision, were like an unstoppable machine, rolling over one country after another. The technological might of Germany’s army of tanks, ships, submarines, airplanes, rocketry, guns and ammunitions was quickly found to be faster, more powerful and lethal than that of America’s and our allies. Clearly, without the heartfelt conviction of our brave soldiers and their willingness to fight and die in the name of freedom and democracy, this war, and much much more, would have been lost.
“What good fortune for governments that think people do not think.” – Adolph Hitler (1889 – 1945)
In the wake of winning this epic War, the bell of freedom rang clearly around the world. It’s magnificent sound echoed in the hearts of Americans and in the souls of our young men. Wise sage, former soldier, and retiring President Dwight D. Eisenhower forewarned the American people of the dangers of having a standing army and of the Military Industrial Complex buildup. As prophesized, War, the unthinkable and horrific, had become profitable. A President’s wise warning had come to pass, falling unfortunately on the deaf ears of Americans, who naively still reveled in their triumphant victory and gift of freedom to the world.
“All Wars are fought for money” – Socrates (469 BC)
Life was good again. Things were safe and evil now put in its place. Our nation was strong. People were endowed with the belief of righteousness and a sanctimonious mantra of freedom. Every red blooded American felt it as coursed through our veins, never to be questioned. The strength our nation’s people had been great however, our military technology was found to be lacking. Vowing a new military readiness, over the next decade and a half, our government harnessed the creative talents of our manufacturing industry and produced from it, a new generation of technologically advanced weapons, including jet propulsion, rocketry and planet killing bombs. We had a new fleet of ships and submarines, faster stronger tanks, new jets and bombers, and the weapons to end all weapons, the Atom bomb and H bomb. We were ready.
“The means of defense against foreign danger have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people.” ― James Madison
Armed now to the guile and nowhere to fight, military manufactures soon discovered that the bountiful revenues that had once adorned their shareholders now yielded but a faint financial trickle. During times of peace, it seemed, military training maneuvers only generated small residual revenues in the forms of purchased fuel, bullets, bombs, and replacement parts. Newly built and purchased big ticket items like tanks, planes, ships, military transport equipment weren’t being destroyed, and didn’t after all, need to be replaced but every ten or so years.
“If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” – James Madison (1751 -1836)
Coincidently, in the 60’s, we were told of a new brewing trouble and the freedom bell was rung again. A new enemy had arisen, this time, the political philosophy of communism. The word “enemy,” interestingly, comes from Latin and means “not friend.” Communism, we were told, through the media, was spreading like a worldwide plague. During this era few ever questioned the media relative to factual accuracy or suspected it to be any sort propaganda machine, America’s moral compass never pointed this direction, so we were told to believe.
“The conscious and intellectual manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. – Dr. Edward L. Bernays – considered the founding Father of Public Relations.
Having recently infected North Vietnam, communism was now, like a rabid dog, threatening to bite into the freedom of the South Vietnamese people and infect their lives. Our job, as global heroes and newly-self-deputized police of the planet, was to stop the spread of this infectious disease and at all cost protect democracy and freedom. Most importantly, we were to promote the vision of the American way, “freedom for all”. The time was ripe, thought those who pulled the strings of power, “ring the bell of freedom.”
Click Here to Read Part 2
Click Here to Read Part 3
Article Originally Published Here: Huffington Post
-------
A Successful Experiment in Voter Motivation: Culver City Counts
READ ON ...
Once upon a time I was proud to be an American. Now, at the age of 55, I find myself deeply embarrassed to call myself one. The values we once stood for as a country: honor, justice, democracy and freedom, those which I grew up with believing were the sacred hallmark of our great nation, now gag in my throat. Where has it all gone wrong?
“When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When people fear the government there is tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
During WWII, our country was called to arms by our allies in Europe, who surely would have fallen to the dictatorship of Hitler, had we not stepped in and sacrificed the precious lives of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers in the name of freedom. Most are not aware nor have the courageous to know of the sinister strings that were pulled to orchestrate this War, and all others, from the 5th dimensional chest board play of a certain few. This however, is another story and one for another time.
“We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of… If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it.” Dr. Edward L. Bernays – considered the founding Father of Public Relations. (1891-1995)
Hitler, the sadistic genius and megalomaniac, successfully enrolled his countrymen and the might of Germany’s industrial military complex in a methodically orchestrated mass genocide. Germany’s extremely disciplined soldiers, charismatically hypnotized by Hitler’s Aryan vision, were like an unstoppable machine, rolling over one country after another. The technological might of Germany’s army of tanks, ships, submarines, airplanes, rocketry, guns and ammunitions was quickly found to be faster, more powerful and lethal than that of America’s and our allies. Clearly, without the heartfelt conviction of our brave soldiers and their willingness to fight and die in the name of freedom and democracy, this war, and much much more, would have been lost.
“What good fortune for governments that think people do not think.” – Adolph Hitler (1889 – 1945)
In the wake of winning this epic War, the bell of freedom rang clearly around the world. It’s magnificent sound echoed in the hearts of Americans and in the souls of our young men. Wise sage, former soldier, and retiring President Dwight D. Eisenhower forewarned the American people of the dangers of having a standing army and of the Military Industrial Complex buildup. As prophesized, War, the unthinkable and horrific, had become profitable. A President’s wise warning had come to pass, falling unfortunately on the deaf ears of Americans, who naively still reveled in their triumphant victory and gift of freedom to the world.
“All Wars are fought for money” – Socrates (469 BC)
Life was good again. Things were safe and evil now put in its place. Our nation was strong. People were endowed with the belief of righteousness and a sanctimonious mantra of freedom. Every red blooded American felt it as coursed through our veins, never to be questioned. The strength our nation’s people had been great however, our military technology was found to be lacking. Vowing a new military readiness, over the next decade and a half, our government harnessed the creative talents of our manufacturing industry and produced from it, a new generation of technologically advanced weapons, including jet propulsion, rocketry and planet killing bombs. We had a new fleet of ships and submarines, faster stronger tanks, new jets and bombers, and the weapons to end all weapons, the Atom bomb and H bomb. We were ready.
“The means of defense against foreign danger have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people.” ― James Madison
Armed now to the guile and nowhere to fight, military manufactures soon discovered that the bountiful revenues that had once adorned their shareholders now yielded but a faint financial trickle. During times of peace, it seemed, military training maneuvers only generated small residual revenues in the forms of purchased fuel, bullets, bombs, and replacement parts. Newly built and purchased big ticket items like tanks, planes, ships, military transport equipment weren’t being destroyed, and didn’t after all, need to be replaced but every ten or so years.
“If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.” – James Madison (1751 -1836)
Coincidently, in the 60’s, we were told of a new brewing trouble and the freedom bell was rung again. A new enemy had arisen, this time, the political philosophy of communism. The word “enemy,” interestingly, comes from Latin and means “not friend.” Communism, we were told, through the media, was spreading like a worldwide plague. During this era few ever questioned the media relative to factual accuracy or suspected it to be any sort propaganda machine, America’s moral compass never pointed this direction, so we were told to believe.
“The conscious and intellectual manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. – Dr. Edward L. Bernays – considered the founding Father of Public Relations.
Having recently infected North Vietnam, communism was now, like a rabid dog, threatening to bite into the freedom of the South Vietnamese people and infect their lives. Our job, as global heroes and newly-self-deputized police of the planet, was to stop the spread of this infectious disease and at all cost protect democracy and freedom. Most importantly, we were to promote the vision of the American way, “freedom for all”. The time was ripe, thought those who pulled the strings of power, “ring the bell of freedom.”
Click Here to Read Part 2
Click Here to Read Part 3
Article Originally Published Here: Huffington Post
-------
A Successful Experiment in Voter Motivation: Culver City Counts
Jim Burklo
The 24% voter turnout completely overshadowed that of neighboring Los Angeles county cities ... the much larger city of Long Beach got only an 11.5%.
READ ON ... Something remarkable happened in Culver City on Tuesday.
On April 12, 2016, Culver City, CA, with a population of roughly 40,000, held its city council election. It is estimated that when all vote by mail ballots are counted, the turnout will hit 24% of registered voters.
This may seem low, except that the turnout was 14.2% in the last election. The 24% voter turnout completely overshadowed that of neighboring Los Angeles county cities that held elections that day. The much larger city of Long Beach got only an 11.5% turnout on April 12.
What was different about Culver City?
In 2015, the city government committed itself to doing something about its abysmal voter participation. It took a risk and contracted with a new nonprofit organization, SeePolitical.com, to mount a campaign called Culver City Counts.
Nate Kaplan founded SeePolitical.com to increase voter participation by creating clever animated videos to educate citizens about ballot issues. As a young staffer for politicians, he discovered that even they had trouble comprehending the turgid voter information booklet distributed by the state of California to explain ballot initiatives. How much harder was it for the rest of the voters to make sense of the propositions? Nate recruited Hollywood professionals and college students in animation programs to produce short, creative, engaging video explanations of the issues that would be accessible on smart phones. Culver City became aware of his fledgling project, and hired him to work his magic on its voter turnout problem.
SeePolitical.com designed a brand logo for the campaign: “Birdee”, a very cute, squat little bird image that “tweeted” the message of voter participation. “Culver City Counts”banners with the Birdee image appeared over intersections on Culver City streets, on sample ballots and vote by mail ballots, on city publications and the city website, and in emails sent to citizens’ groups, churches, and temples. It may be the first time that an election itself, rather than a candidate or proposition, has been “branded”. The campaign included a couple of animated videos in English and Spanish featuring Culver City landmarks, with Birdee flapping happily about, urging people to register, vote, and work at the polls.
I got to know Nate in the course of a nonpartisan, interfaith project in which I’m engaged, to put spiritual ritual into the process of voting as a way of deepening people’s commitment to participation in elections. So I joined in Nate’s experiment, taking a bit part in the campaign to spread the message to churches and temples in Culver City. One afternoon, I joined Nate at the Culver City Farmers’ Market to pass out campaign flyers. The most common feedback we heard was about Birdee: people saw the image everywhere in town and loved it. I made Birdee stamps to mark the hands of people who committed to vote. Nice idea, but really only the children wanted their hands stamped! Nate took the Birdee message to the high school, to neighborhood organizations, and to candidate forums.
Nate’s goal was to double the voter turnout to 28%. But the nearly 10-point increase was still a resounding achievement, given the very low base-line for participation in the past.
Culver City’s boundary is gerrymandered, with a weird tentacle reaching deep into LA’s Westside to hoover up sales tax revenues. Some people in this little city, notable for its concentration of media studios, have no idea that they live in Culver City at all; they think they are Angelenos. And others who live in LA City but within the Culver City zipcode are confused in the opposite way. The gargantuan sprawl of the Los Angeles area decouples many residents from any sense of civic identity or participation. No mortal mind can comprehend this monstrous metropolis, its politicians included. So it is no wonder that the nation’s already terrible level of voter turnout is even worse in this region.
Few people in the political class have much of a direct, personal interest in increasing voter turnout. The fewer folks who actually vote, the cheaper it is to reach them with a campaign message. Added to this is a long-term, cynical strategy by some politicians to demonize government, resulting in dysfunction in governance, compounding people’s distrust in democracy. And now there is a voter suppression effort succeeding in many states, making it harder for low-income and minority people to cast ballots.
Besides getting people turned on to voting, Nate Kaplan’s passion is surfing. He knows something about swimming against the tide. In Culver City, he’s caught a wave that other jurisdictions ought to be riding with him.
JIM BURKLO
Website: JIMBURKLO.COM Weblog: MUSINGS Follow me on twitter: @jtburklo
See the GUIDE to my articles and books
Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California
-------
Weekly Liturgy
The 24% voter turnout completely overshadowed that of neighboring Los Angeles county cities ... the much larger city of Long Beach got only an 11.5%.
READ ON ... Something remarkable happened in Culver City on Tuesday.
On April 12, 2016, Culver City, CA, with a population of roughly 40,000, held its city council election. It is estimated that when all vote by mail ballots are counted, the turnout will hit 24% of registered voters.
This may seem low, except that the turnout was 14.2% in the last election. The 24% voter turnout completely overshadowed that of neighboring Los Angeles county cities that held elections that day. The much larger city of Long Beach got only an 11.5% turnout on April 12.
What was different about Culver City?
In 2015, the city government committed itself to doing something about its abysmal voter participation. It took a risk and contracted with a new nonprofit organization, SeePolitical.com, to mount a campaign called Culver City Counts.
Nate Kaplan founded SeePolitical.com to increase voter participation by creating clever animated videos to educate citizens about ballot issues. As a young staffer for politicians, he discovered that even they had trouble comprehending the turgid voter information booklet distributed by the state of California to explain ballot initiatives. How much harder was it for the rest of the voters to make sense of the propositions? Nate recruited Hollywood professionals and college students in animation programs to produce short, creative, engaging video explanations of the issues that would be accessible on smart phones. Culver City became aware of his fledgling project, and hired him to work his magic on its voter turnout problem.
SeePolitical.com designed a brand logo for the campaign: “Birdee”, a very cute, squat little bird image that “tweeted” the message of voter participation. “Culver City Counts”banners with the Birdee image appeared over intersections on Culver City streets, on sample ballots and vote by mail ballots, on city publications and the city website, and in emails sent to citizens’ groups, churches, and temples. It may be the first time that an election itself, rather than a candidate or proposition, has been “branded”. The campaign included a couple of animated videos in English and Spanish featuring Culver City landmarks, with Birdee flapping happily about, urging people to register, vote, and work at the polls.
I got to know Nate in the course of a nonpartisan, interfaith project in which I’m engaged, to put spiritual ritual into the process of voting as a way of deepening people’s commitment to participation in elections. So I joined in Nate’s experiment, taking a bit part in the campaign to spread the message to churches and temples in Culver City. One afternoon, I joined Nate at the Culver City Farmers’ Market to pass out campaign flyers. The most common feedback we heard was about Birdee: people saw the image everywhere in town and loved it. I made Birdee stamps to mark the hands of people who committed to vote. Nice idea, but really only the children wanted their hands stamped! Nate took the Birdee message to the high school, to neighborhood organizations, and to candidate forums.
Nate’s goal was to double the voter turnout to 28%. But the nearly 10-point increase was still a resounding achievement, given the very low base-line for participation in the past.
Culver City’s boundary is gerrymandered, with a weird tentacle reaching deep into LA’s Westside to hoover up sales tax revenues. Some people in this little city, notable for its concentration of media studios, have no idea that they live in Culver City at all; they think they are Angelenos. And others who live in LA City but within the Culver City zipcode are confused in the opposite way. The gargantuan sprawl of the Los Angeles area decouples many residents from any sense of civic identity or participation. No mortal mind can comprehend this monstrous metropolis, its politicians included. So it is no wonder that the nation’s already terrible level of voter turnout is even worse in this region.
Few people in the political class have much of a direct, personal interest in increasing voter turnout. The fewer folks who actually vote, the cheaper it is to reach them with a campaign message. Added to this is a long-term, cynical strategy by some politicians to demonize government, resulting in dysfunction in governance, compounding people’s distrust in democracy. And now there is a voter suppression effort succeeding in many states, making it harder for low-income and minority people to cast ballots.
Besides getting people turned on to voting, Nate Kaplan’s passion is surfing. He knows something about swimming against the tide. In Culver City, he’s caught a wave that other jurisdictions ought to be riding with him.
JIM BURKLO
Website: JIMBURKLO.COM Weblog: MUSINGS Follow me on twitter: @jtburklo
See the GUIDE to my articles and books
Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California
-------
Weekly Liturgy
Week of: April 24, 2016
Sacred Places
There are places in the world that hold a special energy. You can feel it when you go there.
READ ON ...
There are places in the world that hold a special energy. You can feel it when you go there. Most of them are or have been holy sites for one group or another, since humans have always been drawn to places where the veil is thin and the energy is strong. Where are your sacred places? How do you feel when you have spent time there?
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In Sacred Places by Richard Holdsworth
Faith is the doctrine for happiness
Love, a scripture of life;
Service, our processional
Peace, the eternal rite
Where who we were meets who we are
With Truth that sets us free
When what you were meets what you are
To greet what you will be
Then all I cannot know is known
In perfect Mystery
Sacred Places
There are places in the world that hold a special energy. You can feel it when you go there.
READ ON ...
There are places in the world that hold a special energy. You can feel it when you go there. Most of them are or have been holy sites for one group or another, since humans have always been drawn to places where the veil is thin and the energy is strong. Where are your sacred places? How do you feel when you have spent time there?
-------
In Sacred Places by Richard Holdsworth
Faith is the doctrine for happiness
Love, a scripture of life;
Service, our processional
Peace, the eternal rite
Where who we were meets who we are
With Truth that sets us free
When what you were meets what you are
To greet what you will be
Then all I cannot know is known
In perfect Mystery
-------
Sacred Energy (Mass of the Universe) — Part 1 by William L. Wallace
Part 1 of Sacred Energy (Mass of the Universe) presents the mass in a form that you can interact with. Each individual musical segment has both an audio file (mp3) and a musical score (pdf).
A separate resource, Part 2, contains downloadable pdf’s with the complete text (including melody lines) as well the complete musical score for an accompanist.
Finally, Part 3 has some background commentary on the mass and the Powerpoint slides that illustrate it.
This narrated musical exploration of the mystical sense of oneness and sacredness of all that is was written by William L. (Bill) Wallace of Christchurch, New Zealand.
There are three narrative roles: Human Being, Universe, and Reader/Universe B; a Cantor (soloist); and a Choir (which could be All). “ppt” refers to the Powerpoint slides in Part 3.ppt. 1
SACRED ENERGY
MASS OF THE UNIVERSE
(For Congregation and/or Choir)
PRELUDEppt. 2
Fanfare and Flute or Organ Prelude
Human Being:
In the midst of my dreaming, I perceived a Way,
A Way to the sacred heart of the mystery,
A Way within and beyond the flesh and bone,
Stream and stone of the expanding Cosmos.
So I sang a song of Mass and Energy,
Of Eucharistic Death and Resurrection,
Crying out ‘O Golden Doors Now Open Wide’.
HYMN (All)
Click here to hear it:
Sacred Energy (Mass of the Universe) — Part 1 by William L. Wallace
Part 1 of Sacred Energy (Mass of the Universe) presents the mass in a form that you can interact with. Each individual musical segment has both an audio file (mp3) and a musical score (pdf).
A separate resource, Part 2, contains downloadable pdf’s with the complete text (including melody lines) as well the complete musical score for an accompanist.
Finally, Part 3 has some background commentary on the mass and the Powerpoint slides that illustrate it.
This narrated musical exploration of the mystical sense of oneness and sacredness of all that is was written by William L. (Bill) Wallace of Christchurch, New Zealand.
There are three narrative roles: Human Being, Universe, and Reader/Universe B; a Cantor (soloist); and a Choir (which could be All). “ppt” refers to the Powerpoint slides in Part 3.ppt. 1
SACRED ENERGY
MASS OF THE UNIVERSE
(For Congregation and/or Choir)
PRELUDEppt. 2
Fanfare and Flute or Organ Prelude
Human Being:
In the midst of my dreaming, I perceived a Way,
A Way to the sacred heart of the mystery,
A Way within and beyond the flesh and bone,
Stream and stone of the expanding Cosmos.
So I sang a song of Mass and Energy,
Of Eucharistic Death and Resurrection,
Crying out ‘O Golden Doors Now Open Wide’.
HYMN (All)
Click here to hear it:
Click here to see the score: Wallace.1.O Golden Doors Now Open Wide – Full Score
O GOLDEN DOORS NOW OPEN WIDE
(The mystic Eucharistic pilgrimage)
O golden doors now open wide
Revealing myst’ry’s grace,
The grace beyond the imaged word,
Beyond all time and space.
The doors swing open every time The Offering
We leave the realm of things
To enter silent emptiness
And touch what leaving brings.
With Eucharistic thankfulness The Great Thanksgiving
We join the cosmic song
Of atoms and of starlit skies;
The space where we belong.
We move into the mystic space The Fraction
Within the Cross of pain
To find each cross becomes a seed
Which bears life-giving grain.
As bread of life becomes our feast The Feasting
Grief’s wine is turned to praise
And death and resurrection’s ways
Form templates for our days
Human Being:
In the mystic dream the fragments came together,
The parts became a whole
And the heart birthed another song,
A song of oneness,
A song of unity with all that is.
CHANT (Choir)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.2.We Come From The Cosmos – Full Score
WE COME FROM THE COSMOS
We come from the Cosmos that birthed our Earth.
Each part of that process still nurtures Earth.
Our home is this planet that we call Earth,
For Earth is God the Presence adorned in cosmic flesh,
The shadow of the mystery who is both host and guest.
We form but one family who share one flesh.
There is but one Nature who forms our flesh.
We are but one person of spirit / flesh,
For Earth is God the Presence adorned in Nature’s flesh,
The shadow of the mystery who is both host and guest.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it sung: Click here to hear it played: Audio Player
Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium (which may be followed by Gong and/or Flute)
( Gong )
THE STORYppt. 3
Human Being:
So I asked the Universe, “How can I become one with you?”
Universe:
If you desire to be at one with me, O human being, you must first listen to my story, for my story is your story.
In the beginning was the mystery,
the oneness, the emptiness,
the nothingness
birthing the rhythmic
energy in all its forms;
spirals, circles, waves, explosions.
And the energy was in process,
the process of the ever-moving, ever-constant One,
the All in All.
Suddenly, energy gave birth to matter
and the song of the Universe was heard,
nova and supernova,
planet and asteroid,
sun and moon,
darkness of space,
sounds of the silence.
RESPONSE (Cantor and Choir )
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.4.Responses 4a & 4b – Full Score
Solo or Reader
O Universe,
Choir or All
You are filled with the cosmic praise of God.ppt. 4
Universe:
And matter evolved into life,
life in the sea,
on land,
in the air.
The song of the web of life was heard,
bacteria and virus,
algae and fungi,
fern and moss,
flower and tree,
bird and insect,
fish and mammal.
RESPONSE (Cantor and Choir)
Click here to hear it: Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Click here to see the score: Wallace.4.Responses 4a & 4b – Full Score
Solo
O web of life
Choir or All
You are filled with the living praise of God.
Universe:
Then after eons of time, the voice of human beings
was heard –
sounds of birth,
joy,
pain,
wonder,
death;
the song of parent and child,
man and woman,
young and old,
unborn and dying,
the ancestors and those yet to come.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
AWARENESSppt. 5
Universe:
You are children of God, stardust in your eyes, the earth standing tall.
All:
We are creators and dreamers, movers and shakers,
mystics and pilgrims,
God’s image, the Inner Christ, is within us.
What a wondrous sight we are!
Universe:
But you are also predators, manipulators, unfettered consumers,
more misguided than evil; not knowing or doing
what is best for yourselves, unaware that what you do to other people
and all other forms of life you do to yourselves.
What a sorry sight you can be when you imagine that life lies in the grasping, the hurting, the trampling,
rather than in the sharing of co-operative nurture.
l:
We confess that we are destroyers and manipulators,
unfettered consumers,
predators and avengers,
self-centered ones who imagine that we are
superior to all other forms of life
and even to the Universe itself.
Our hearts are filled with guilt and shame.
Universe:
The way forward, O human beings,
does not lie in wallowing in guilt and shame,
but in transforming your mind and your actions
through the divine within you.
Deep within you is your I AM,
your true self, that of God,
the BREAD that feeds your hungry spirit’s quest,
the VINE of green and growth.
Deep within you is your I AM,
your true self, that of God,
which nurtures life with gentle SHEPHERD care,
the DOOR to love and peace.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.6.Deep Within Us – Full Score
Deep within us is our I AM,
Our true self, that of God,
Which brings us LIGHT and LIBERATES our lives
From hatred, guilt and fear.
Deep within us is our I AM,
Our true self, that of God,
The WAY of God, the WISDOM and the TRUTH,
The SONG, the DANCE, the JOY.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
FORGIVENESS ppt. 6
Human Being:
But how shall I forgive myself, how shall I forgive others
and how shall I be open to receiving forgiveness?
Universe:
Forgiveness is a movement, not a moment,
a process, not a product,
a river that slowly but surely greens the most arid desert sands.
Forgiveness is your most precious gift,
the most Christ-like blessing you can share.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.7.Forgiveness – Full Score
Forgiveness is our most precious gift,
the most Christ-like blessing we can share.
Universe (A and B):
(A) Remember your past hurts,
(B) And surround them with love.
(A) Bring to mind your enemies,
(B) And surround them with love.
(A) Listen to your oppressors’ stories,
(B) And surround them with love.
(A) Discover that your oppressors also live in your own heart,
(B) And surround them with love.
(A) Find the insecurity behind your anger,
(B) And surround it with love.
(A) Redress past wrongs
(B) Through the power of transforming love.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.7.Forgiveness – Full Score
Forgiveness is our most precious gift,
the most Christ-like blessing we can share.
Universe:
At the heart of forgiveness is letting go,
letting go of resentment and revenge,
of hatred and of feeling a victim.
In the letting go, you shall find life,
for deeper than the striving is the flowing,
deeper than the searching is the knowing,
and deeper than the grieving is the mystery
in which darkness and light are one.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.8.In the Letting Go – Full Score
In the letting go we find life,
for deeper than the striving is the flowing,
deeper than the searching is the knowing
and deeper than the grieving is the mystery
in which darkness and light are one.
Universe:
May the thoughts that shaped the Christ
be the thoughts that take flesh in you.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
WISDOM ppt. 7
Human Being:
Where shall I find wisdom, O Universe?
Universe:
Listen to nature, listen to the sacred writings, listen to the prophets, listen to the Christ.
Reader (Paraphrase of Daniel 4:10-37)
In the Hebrew scriptures a frightened King Nebuchadnezzar turns to Daniel, Master of the Magicians, for an explanation of his dream.
After reflecting in silence, Daniel answered “Your Majesty, you are that tree of which you dreamt, a tree so strong and tall that it touched the sky and could be seen from the ends of the earth.
Your stature and power have grown as great as that tree.
But as the tree was cut down so will your arrogance suffer the same fate.
For seven years you will dwell with the wild animals.
For seven years you will think like an animal and not as a human being.
You will feed on grass like the oxen and be drenched by dew from the Heavens.
If all this leads you to come to your senses, to acknowledge that all power comes from God, to promote justice for the poor and show compassion for the oppressed, you will live for many years with a mind which is at peace.”
The events of the King’s life unfolded just as had been predicted in the dream.
At the end of his time with the creatures, King Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
“I looked up to Heaven and my sanity returned. I gave praise and honor to the God who is always faithful, whose ways are always just and who has the power to humble all who are arrogant.”
Universe:
Children of Earth, reflect on these words and discern their meaning for today.
Reader:
The prophet Micah summarizes the Hebrew tradition and a contemporary hymn writer expands the text. (Micah 6/8).
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.9.What Does Our God – Full Score
WHAT DOES OUR GOD REQUIRE OF US?
(Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation)
What does our God require of us
But to do justly,
Love mercy
And humbly walk with God.
What does the Earth require of us
But to share oneness,
Give nurture
And reverence all of life.
What do the people seek with us
But to gain justice,
Share caring
And be at one with Earth.
Come let us sing the song of God
As we seek justice,
Find stillness
And treasure Earth with God.
Universe:
Reflect on these words and discern their meaning for today.
ppt. 8
Reader:
A contemporary prophet says this about liberation:
“Not only do the poor scream, but also the water, the animals, the forests, the soils: that is, the Earth as a living super- organism.
They scream because they are continuously attacked.
They scream because their autonomy and intrinsic value are not recognized.
They scream because they are threatened with extinction.
Every day around ten species of living beings disappear as a result of human aggressiveness in the contemporary industrial process”.
“The same logic subjugates nations, preys upon ecosystems and enfeebles the planet Earth. The Earth, with its impoverished sons and daughters, needs liberation. We all live oppressed under a paradigm of civilization that has exiled us from the community of life, which is related to violence against Nature and which makes us lose the reverence for the sacredness and majesty of the Universe. We have forgotten that we are only a link in the immense current of life and that we are co-responsible for the common destiny of humankind and Earth.”
“We have reached the crossroads at which we should decide on the future we want. Our mission is to celebrate the greatness of creation and connect it again to the core where it came from and to which it will go, with care, lightness, joy, reverence and love.”
(Leonardo Boff, from an article on Liberation Theology page 22 Resurgence, No 215 November/ December 2002) www.resurgence.org
Universe:
Reflect on these words and discern their meaning for today.
Reader:
A paraphrase of the words of Jesus in the Beatitudes. (Matthew 5:3-10) ppt. 9
(A) HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.10.How Happy Are Those – Full Score
HOW HAPPY ARE THOSE
How happy are those who have learnt to let go;
They shall discover the Christ within. (i)
How healthy are those who express all their grief;
Their tears shall heal all their pain and loss. (ii)
How joyful are those with a reverence for life;
The Earth shall rejoice in their presence. (iii)
How caring are those who are focused on God;
Their hearts shall be filled with compassion. (iv)
How peaceful are those who forgive others’ wrongs;
Anger and hatred will die away. (v)
How holy are those who know all things are one;
For them God’s wonder is everywhere. (vi)
How Christ-like are workers for justice and peace;
Their lives shall be lived with great passion. (vii)
What healing can come when rejection and pain
Are viewed with God’s gift of awareness. (viii)
(or B) CHANT OR RESPONSIVE READING (Choir or All )
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.10a.How Liberated are those
How liberated are those who have | learnt to let | go;
They shall experience the | mys – | t’ry of | God.
How strong are those who are not afraid to | admit their | weaknesses;
Their | tears shall | heal their | grief.
How beautiful are those who | reverence | life;
The | Earth ‘ shall re – | joice in ‘ their | presence.
How satisfied are those who | long to serve | God;
For | God shall | be their ‘ de – | light.
How happy are those who are willing to for | give _ | others;
They shall find re – | lease from | guilt and | fear.
How enlightened are those who know | oneness with | all things;
They shall see | God _ | ev‘ry – | where.
How inspiring are those who work for | justice and | peace;
They shall | live as | children of | God.
What an opportunity there is for those who suffer in the | cause of | right;
Their rejection can become a | doorway to | new _ | life.
Universe:
Reflect on these words and discern their meaning for today.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
(Gong)
DISCERNMENT ppt. 10
Human Being:
How can I see and hear Oneness?
Universe:
Look in nature’s mirror;
In the unfolding fern
discern both spiral shell and galaxy.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.11.Each Is Reflected – Full Score
Choir or All (sung)
Each is reflected in the other
And all belong together.
Universe:
In the clouds see the frothing surf and the snow clad mountains,
in the rivers’ tributaries discover the veins of the leaf and
the patterned streams in your own flesh.
Choir or All (sung)
Each is reflected in the other
And all belong together.
Universe:
Hear the moaning surf as the cries of humanity,
and the song of the bird as the people’s praise.
Choir or All (sung)
Each is reflected in the other
And all belong together.
Universe:
And when you look at other people, see yourself in them
and them in you, for deep within you
Choir or All (sung)
Each is reflected in the other
And all belong together.
Human Being:
What song then shall I sing?
Universe:
Sing of the rocks, the breeze, the atoms, the trees.
Sing also of yourself as part of nature’s web.
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.12.Come let us think – Full Score
COME LET US THINK LIKE MOUNTAIN ROCKS
Come let us think like mountain rocks,
Come breathe the song of scented breeze,
Come join the atoms’ quantum dance,
Come weep with all the fallen trees.
O let us pulse like surging waves,
Or flow as clear and running streams,
Explore the throbbing heart of Earth
And dream the plants’ and creatures’ dreams.
When liveliness evades our grasp,
When love grows weak and fears grow strong,
We still can feel the pulse of breath
And join once more in Nature’s song.
With joyful zest we raise God’s psalm,
The muse of past and present now,
The chant of fire that births new life,The song of soil and root and bough.
Life’s many forms unite as one;
This earth is filled with sacredness;
All praise exalts the Cosmic God
Who dwells in mystic holiness.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Audio Player Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
PRAYER ppt. 11
Human Being:
How shall I pray?
Universe:
To pray is to be aware of being connected with the mystery,
with the Universe,
with all that lives and moves,
and with the depths of your own being.
But first you must learn to be silent for it is between your thoughts
and beyond your ever turning mind that paradise can dwell.
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.13.Between Our Thoughts – Full Score
BETWEEN OUR THOUGHTS
Between our thoughts there lives a space
Where paradise can dwell;
Beyond our ever-turning mind,
Beyond our strangest hell.
There in the quietude of love
The ways of silence reign;
The shackles of division break
And we are one again.
With gentleness we take control
Of all that we distort,
Until the mind that was in Christ *
Imbues our every thought.
O God of all that brings us peace,
Your silence is our rest.
Beyond our words the stillness comes
And makes our mind its guest.
* Ref: Philippians 2:5
ppt. 12
Universe:
Prayer is being alone with the presence that links you with everything.
CHANT (Choir or Solo)
Click here to hear it: Audio Player Click here to see the score: Wallace.14.No-One Can Share – Full Score
NO-ONE CAN SHARE MY INNER SPACE.
No one can share my inner space;
There I am alone, yet not alone;
For you are there, O God,
Deeper than my thinking,
Deeper than my feeling,
You are there, you are there, O God,
Ever-present mystery.
No one can share my inner space;
There I am alone, yet not alone;
For you are there, my friends,
Found within my thinking,
Dwelling in my dreaming,
You are there, you are there, my friends,
Ever-present mystery.
No one can share my inner space;
There I am alone, yet not alone;
For family trees live on,
Live in tribal memory,
Live as genes great spiral,
You are here, both as trunk and branch,
Ever-present mystery.
No one can share my inner space;
There I am alone, yet not alone;
For we are part of Earth,
Sharing in one network,
Woven as one fabric,
We are strands of the web of life,
Ever-present mystery.
Universe:
Here is a way to live the prayer of Jesus. ppt. 13
CHANT (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.15.O God of Sky and God of Earth – Full Score
O GOD OF SKY AND GOD OF EARTH
(A reflection on the Lord’s prayer)
O God of sky and God of Earth,
We honor your presence
Within us and beyond.
As we eat may we share your gifts
Of hope and compassion
With all the life of Earth.
Give us, O God, forgiving hearts
Affirming each other
With humor and with grace.
May we grow beyond narrow needs
To join in the spreading
Of just and loving peace.
You greet us here and everywhere,
In moments of oneness
And spaces of delight.
To all this we now say “Amen”,
Your song is our anthem,
Your dance our cosmic joy.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
THE WAY OF ONENESS ppt. 14
Human Being:
How can I walk the Way of oneness?
Universe:
The Way is the way of the ocean,
the way of the mountain,
the way of the river,
the way of the Earth itself;
the ocean of letting go,
the mountain of thanksgiving,
the river of process
and the fullness of earthed blessing.
( Gong )
THE OCEAN OF LETTING GO ppt. 15
(The Offering)
Universe (A):
But to walk the Way you must first let go.
Universe (B):
In the letting go you shall find life,
For deeper than the striving is the flowing,
Deeper than the searching is the knowing
and deeper than the grieving is the mystery
in which darkness and light are one.
Universe (A):
Letting go is offering and offering is co-operative enterprise.
HYMN (All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.16.With God We Shape – Full Score
WITH GOD WE SHAPE COMPASSION’S ROBE
With God we shape compassion’s robe;
We spin life’s golden thread.
We guard the pulse of nature’s flow,
We bake the pilgrim bread.
Our weaving forms life’s sacred cloth;
Our threads are soft but strong.
Our nurture’s warmth is holiness,
Our bread is life and song.
Come plait with joy love’s braided cord;
Come spin new dreams with thread.
Come live within God’s birthing space,
Come be as Christ, the bread.
( Gong )
THE MOUNTAIN OF THANKSGIVING ppt. 16
Human Being:
What is the wisdom of the mountain?
Universe (A):
The way of the mountain of thanksgiving is a path of a remembering
a binding together of all the parts of the story.
Universe (B):
Remember your journey from stardust to earth-dust.
Universe (A):
Remember your mother/father God
through whom and in whom you have energy and mass,
form and being.
Universe (B):
Remember that all things of earth are holy.
RESPONSE (Choir)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.17.All Things of Earth – Full Score
All things on Earth are holy,
All things are one in you.
This earth is filled with your beauty, God,
Charged with your love.
Universe (A):
And the way of the mountain is also remembering
your human joys and sorrows as found in the life,
death and continuing presence of Jesus the Christ.
Universe (B):
Remember the Inner Christ, God within you,
transforming your weaknesses and liberating your divine
potential until you become
sign of God,
presence of God,
co-worker with God.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.18.We are sign of God – Full Score
We are sign of God, presence of God, co-workers with God.
Universe:
Thanksgiving is remembering to live with hope. ppt. 17
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Audio Player Click here to see the score: Wallace.19.All Will Be Well – Full Score
ALL WILL BE WELL
A hymn based on the words of Julian of Norwich
“All will be well and all manner of thing(s) shall be well”
All will be well, all things shall be well!
This is the peace of the deep blue dream,
This is the light of divinity,
This is the flow of love’s healing stream.
All will be well, all things shall be well!
Deeper than pain lies buried delight,
Deeper than grief dwell life’s joyful songs,
All of our wounds can nurture new light.
Now is the time to dance heaven’s dance,
Time to discern eternity’s face,
Moment of knowing beyond all sight,
Day of God’s smile and tender embrace.
Universe:
Thanksgiving is giving glory to God.
RESPONSES (Choir and Solo)
Choir
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.20.Glory to you O God – Full Score
Glory to you, O God;
In the midst of suffering and death
We find hope;
Through the gift of new life we share your wholeness
And beyond all our endings we encounter
The mystery of your love.
Solo
Click here to see the score: Wallace.20a.May We Know Your Mystery – Full Score
May we know your mystery, O Universe, all the days of our life.
Choir
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.21.To You, Creative and Empowering God – Full Score
To you, creative and empowering God,
Be all glory and praise,
Here and everywhere,
Now and forever, Amen.
THE RIVER OF PROCESS / THE BREAKING AND POURINGppt. 18
Human Being:
What is the way of the River?
Universe (A):
It is the way of process;
of breaking and flowing,
of life from death,
of joy from sorrow,
of creation from destruction.
Universe (B):
It is the way soil comes from stone,
seed from shell,
rain from cloud,
symbols from words,
spirit from images,
and pilgrim food from broken bread.
Universe (A):
It is also the way of outpouring;
spilt blood,
smashed atoms,
exploding stars,
dying trees,
wilting flowers,
devoured animals,
human flesh dissolved into the elements
and wine poured as sign of death and destruction
gathered up within the flow of the endless river of life.ppt. 19
HYMN (Choir)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.22.Taste and See – Full Score
TASTE AND SEE
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Take the bread, the Body of Jesus,
Break the bread, the flesh of the world;
Taste and see the wonder of life.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Take the wine, the life-blood of Jesus,
Pour the wine, the pain of the world;
Taste and see the wonder of life.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Walk the earth with bare-footed reverence,
Smell the soil, the rain and the sea;
Feed your heart with wonder-filled life.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Hear the sound of children’s bright laughter,
Cries of pain and tears of the poor;
Then let silence nurture your heart.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Through each form, each texture and color,
Line and hue, the light and the shade;
Taste and see the wonder of life.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Drink the wine of love’s costly service,
Celebrate Life’s Eucharist now;
Taste and share Christ’s Body and Blood.
(Gong )
THE EARTHED BLESSING ppt. 20
Human Being:
Lastly, O Universe, what is the truth of blessing?
Universe (A):
The Earth itself is a blessing
and you are part of Earth;
the atoms and cells of your body,
the thoughts of your mind,
the passions of your heart,
the wisdom of your gut,
Universe (B):
All are blessings you can share.
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.23.To God The Process – Full Score
TO GOD THE PROCESS
Gloria! Gloria!
To God the process, God the life,
To God compassion’s spring,
To God the boundless way of love,
To God in everything.
To God the inner Christ of faith,
To God the wine and bread,
To God the sacred energy,
The fabric and the thread.
To you, O God, we sing our praise,
We join the cosmic song.
We walk the path that Jesus walked,
We turn our thoughts from wrong,
For you delight in each of us
And we delight in you;
With hearts on fire, we live your praise,
In all we think and do.
Universe:
May your life be a spirited life and your spirit love. ppt. 21
Choir or All
Amen, Amen, Amen, O God,
To you be endless praise.
Shalom, Shalom, Shalom, O God,
Our hearts to you we raise,
For you empower and you fulfill
Our latent energy;
The Universe within our lives
Shall dance your liturgy.
Gloria! (repeat last measure of first line of hymn)
( Gong )
Music and Text Copyrights
Unless otherwise specified all Texts and original Melodies are Copyright to
Author/composer: William Livingstone Wallace.
Musical settings and accompaniments are Copyright to the named Arrangers
Other musical items are either (a) in the public domain, or (b) copyright permission has been obtained.
Note that Selah Publishing Co Inc retains the copyright for the following:
All things of Earth.
All will be well.(Text only)
Between our thoughts.(Text only)
Deep within me.
We come from the Cosmos.(Music only)
What does our God require of us?
With God we shape compassion’s robe.(Text only)
MP3 Audio Files
O Golden Doors Now Open Wide: Wallace Woodley
We come from the Cosmos: Wallace Woodley
Response “Sanctum, sanctum”: A Methodist Conference Choir
Response “Sanctum, sanctum”: Wallace Woodley
Response: “O Universe” Jillian Bartram
Response “O Web of Life” Jillian Bartram
Deep Within Us: Moragh Brooksbank
Response “Forgiveness” Jillian Bartram
In the Letting Go: Moragh Brooksbank
What does our God require of us? Napier Anglican Cathedral Choir
How Happy Are Those: Wallace Woodley
Response “Each is reflected”: Wallace Woodley
Come let us think like mountain rocks: Anne Lamont
Between Our Thoughts: Anne Lamont
No-one can share my inner space: Jillian Bartram
O God of sky and God of Earth: Wallace Woodley.
With God we shape compassion’s robe: Anne Lamont
All Things of Earth: Moragh Brooksbank
Response “We are Sign of God”: Wallace Woodley
All Will Be Well: Anne Lamont
Response “Glory to You, O God”: Wallace Woodley
Response “To You, creative and empowering God”: A Methodist Conference Choir
Taste and See: Napier Anglican Cathedral Choir
To God the Process: Napier Anglican Cathedral Choir
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Soulful Travel
Soulful Travel Kits - Pick Yours Up! by Jim Burklo
This past Sunday in worship we handed out Soulful Travel Kits to everyone who came. If you haven’t gotten yours yet, we have plenty more – they are in the Sanctuary. Here’s the idea: if you travel somewhere this summer or not (travel is a metaphor), you get a small container to bring back some water, suggestions for traveling with spirit in mind, and some suggestions for recording your journey through a variety of mediums. At the end of the summer, we will share those experiences with each other, and bring together the waters of the world in worship. (Ed. Some congregations use the “waters of the world” for their baptism celebrations.)
Each week this summer, SPINN will feature a reflection on pilgrimage and traveling soulfully.
Here’s the first reflection, from “The Art of Pilgrimage” by Phil Cousineau:
Pilgrimage is the kind of journeying that marks…[the]move from mindless to mindful, soulless to soulful travel. The difference may be subtle or dramatic; by definition it is lifechanging. It means being alert to the times when all that’s needed is a trip to a remote place to simply lose yourself, and to the times when what’s needed is a journey to a sacred place, in all its glorisome and fearsome masks, to find yourself. Since the earliest human perception, the nettlesome question has been: How do we travel more fruitfully, more wisely, more soulfully? How can we mobilize the imagination and enliven the heart so that we might, on our special journeys, “see everywhere in the world the inevitable expression of the concept of infinity” in the words of Louis Pasteur; or notice, along with Thoreau, “the divine energy everywhere”? Or recall with Evan Connell the advice to medieval travelers: Pass by that which you do not love. (pp. xxiii-xxiv)
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Events and Updates
The Cosmic Christ as Us: Overcoming Evil, Recovering the Sacred by Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox discusses how the Cosmic Christ can overcome evil, based on his new book Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh on May 4th in Westlake Village, CA.
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The Cosmic Christ as Us: Overcoming Evil, Recovering the Sacred by Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox discusses how the Cosmic Christ can overcome evil, based on the new publication of his book Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh. Fox defines compassion as creativity put to the service of justice, and argues that we can achieve compassion for both humanity and the environment as we recognize the interconnectedness of all things.
Start:
May 4, 2016 07:00 PM
End:
May 4, 2016 09:00 PM
Location:
Center for Spiritual Living Westlake Village
880 Hampshire Road, Suites V & W
Westlake Village CA
Website:
http://cslwestlake.org/
View all upcoming events here!
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O GOLDEN DOORS NOW OPEN WIDE
(The mystic Eucharistic pilgrimage)
O golden doors now open wide
Revealing myst’ry’s grace,
The grace beyond the imaged word,
Beyond all time and space.
The doors swing open every time The Offering
We leave the realm of things
To enter silent emptiness
And touch what leaving brings.
With Eucharistic thankfulness The Great Thanksgiving
We join the cosmic song
Of atoms and of starlit skies;
The space where we belong.
We move into the mystic space The Fraction
Within the Cross of pain
To find each cross becomes a seed
Which bears life-giving grain.
As bread of life becomes our feast The Feasting
Grief’s wine is turned to praise
And death and resurrection’s ways
Form templates for our days
Human Being:
In the mystic dream the fragments came together,
The parts became a whole
And the heart birthed another song,
A song of oneness,
A song of unity with all that is.
CHANT (Choir)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.2.We Come From The Cosmos – Full Score
WE COME FROM THE COSMOS
We come from the Cosmos that birthed our Earth.
Each part of that process still nurtures Earth.
Our home is this planet that we call Earth,
For Earth is God the Presence adorned in cosmic flesh,
The shadow of the mystery who is both host and guest.
We form but one family who share one flesh.
There is but one Nature who forms our flesh.
We are but one person of spirit / flesh,
For Earth is God the Presence adorned in Nature’s flesh,
The shadow of the mystery who is both host and guest.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it sung: Click here to hear it played: Audio Player
Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium (which may be followed by Gong and/or Flute)
( Gong )
THE STORYppt. 3
Human Being:
So I asked the Universe, “How can I become one with you?”
Universe:
If you desire to be at one with me, O human being, you must first listen to my story, for my story is your story.
In the beginning was the mystery,
the oneness, the emptiness,
the nothingness
birthing the rhythmic
energy in all its forms;
spirals, circles, waves, explosions.
And the energy was in process,
the process of the ever-moving, ever-constant One,
the All in All.
Suddenly, energy gave birth to matter
and the song of the Universe was heard,
nova and supernova,
planet and asteroid,
sun and moon,
darkness of space,
sounds of the silence.
RESPONSE (Cantor and Choir )
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.4.Responses 4a & 4b – Full Score
Solo or Reader
O Universe,
Choir or All
You are filled with the cosmic praise of God.ppt. 4
Universe:
And matter evolved into life,
life in the sea,
on land,
in the air.
The song of the web of life was heard,
bacteria and virus,
algae and fungi,
fern and moss,
flower and tree,
bird and insect,
fish and mammal.
RESPONSE (Cantor and Choir)
Click here to hear it: Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Click here to see the score: Wallace.4.Responses 4a & 4b – Full Score
Solo
O web of life
Choir or All
You are filled with the living praise of God.
Universe:
Then after eons of time, the voice of human beings
was heard –
sounds of birth,
joy,
pain,
wonder,
death;
the song of parent and child,
man and woman,
young and old,
unborn and dying,
the ancestors and those yet to come.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
AWARENESSppt. 5
Universe:
You are children of God, stardust in your eyes, the earth standing tall.
All:
We are creators and dreamers, movers and shakers,
mystics and pilgrims,
God’s image, the Inner Christ, is within us.
What a wondrous sight we are!
Universe:
But you are also predators, manipulators, unfettered consumers,
more misguided than evil; not knowing or doing
what is best for yourselves, unaware that what you do to other people
and all other forms of life you do to yourselves.
What a sorry sight you can be when you imagine that life lies in the grasping, the hurting, the trampling,
rather than in the sharing of co-operative nurture.
l:
We confess that we are destroyers and manipulators,
unfettered consumers,
predators and avengers,
self-centered ones who imagine that we are
superior to all other forms of life
and even to the Universe itself.
Our hearts are filled with guilt and shame.
Universe:
The way forward, O human beings,
does not lie in wallowing in guilt and shame,
but in transforming your mind and your actions
through the divine within you.
Deep within you is your I AM,
your true self, that of God,
the BREAD that feeds your hungry spirit’s quest,
the VINE of green and growth.
Deep within you is your I AM,
your true self, that of God,
which nurtures life with gentle SHEPHERD care,
the DOOR to love and peace.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.6.Deep Within Us – Full Score
Deep within us is our I AM,
Our true self, that of God,
Which brings us LIGHT and LIBERATES our lives
From hatred, guilt and fear.
Deep within us is our I AM,
Our true self, that of God,
The WAY of God, the WISDOM and the TRUTH,
The SONG, the DANCE, the JOY.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
FORGIVENESS ppt. 6
Human Being:
But how shall I forgive myself, how shall I forgive others
and how shall I be open to receiving forgiveness?
Universe:
Forgiveness is a movement, not a moment,
a process, not a product,
a river that slowly but surely greens the most arid desert sands.
Forgiveness is your most precious gift,
the most Christ-like blessing you can share.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.7.Forgiveness – Full Score
Forgiveness is our most precious gift,
the most Christ-like blessing we can share.
Universe (A and B):
(A) Remember your past hurts,
(B) And surround them with love.
(A) Bring to mind your enemies,
(B) And surround them with love.
(A) Listen to your oppressors’ stories,
(B) And surround them with love.
(A) Discover that your oppressors also live in your own heart,
(B) And surround them with love.
(A) Find the insecurity behind your anger,
(B) And surround it with love.
(A) Redress past wrongs
(B) Through the power of transforming love.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.7.Forgiveness – Full Score
Forgiveness is our most precious gift,
the most Christ-like blessing we can share.
Universe:
At the heart of forgiveness is letting go,
letting go of resentment and revenge,
of hatred and of feeling a victim.
In the letting go, you shall find life,
for deeper than the striving is the flowing,
deeper than the searching is the knowing,
and deeper than the grieving is the mystery
in which darkness and light are one.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.8.In the Letting Go – Full Score
In the letting go we find life,
for deeper than the striving is the flowing,
deeper than the searching is the knowing
and deeper than the grieving is the mystery
in which darkness and light are one.
Universe:
May the thoughts that shaped the Christ
be the thoughts that take flesh in you.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
WISDOM ppt. 7
Human Being:
Where shall I find wisdom, O Universe?
Universe:
Listen to nature, listen to the sacred writings, listen to the prophets, listen to the Christ.
Reader (Paraphrase of Daniel 4:10-37)
In the Hebrew scriptures a frightened King Nebuchadnezzar turns to Daniel, Master of the Magicians, for an explanation of his dream.
After reflecting in silence, Daniel answered “Your Majesty, you are that tree of which you dreamt, a tree so strong and tall that it touched the sky and could be seen from the ends of the earth.
Your stature and power have grown as great as that tree.
But as the tree was cut down so will your arrogance suffer the same fate.
For seven years you will dwell with the wild animals.
For seven years you will think like an animal and not as a human being.
You will feed on grass like the oxen and be drenched by dew from the Heavens.
If all this leads you to come to your senses, to acknowledge that all power comes from God, to promote justice for the poor and show compassion for the oppressed, you will live for many years with a mind which is at peace.”
The events of the King’s life unfolded just as had been predicted in the dream.
At the end of his time with the creatures, King Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed,
“I looked up to Heaven and my sanity returned. I gave praise and honor to the God who is always faithful, whose ways are always just and who has the power to humble all who are arrogant.”
Universe:
Children of Earth, reflect on these words and discern their meaning for today.
Reader:
The prophet Micah summarizes the Hebrew tradition and a contemporary hymn writer expands the text. (Micah 6/8).
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.9.What Does Our God – Full Score
WHAT DOES OUR GOD REQUIRE OF US?
(Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation)
What does our God require of us
But to do justly,
Love mercy
And humbly walk with God.
What does the Earth require of us
But to share oneness,
Give nurture
And reverence all of life.
What do the people seek with us
But to gain justice,
Share caring
And be at one with Earth.
Come let us sing the song of God
As we seek justice,
Find stillness
And treasure Earth with God.
Universe:
Reflect on these words and discern their meaning for today.
ppt. 8
Reader:
A contemporary prophet says this about liberation:
“Not only do the poor scream, but also the water, the animals, the forests, the soils: that is, the Earth as a living super- organism.
They scream because they are continuously attacked.
They scream because their autonomy and intrinsic value are not recognized.
They scream because they are threatened with extinction.
Every day around ten species of living beings disappear as a result of human aggressiveness in the contemporary industrial process”.
“The same logic subjugates nations, preys upon ecosystems and enfeebles the planet Earth. The Earth, with its impoverished sons and daughters, needs liberation. We all live oppressed under a paradigm of civilization that has exiled us from the community of life, which is related to violence against Nature and which makes us lose the reverence for the sacredness and majesty of the Universe. We have forgotten that we are only a link in the immense current of life and that we are co-responsible for the common destiny of humankind and Earth.”
“We have reached the crossroads at which we should decide on the future we want. Our mission is to celebrate the greatness of creation and connect it again to the core where it came from and to which it will go, with care, lightness, joy, reverence and love.”
(Leonardo Boff, from an article on Liberation Theology page 22 Resurgence, No 215 November/ December 2002) www.resurgence.org
Universe:
Reflect on these words and discern their meaning for today.
Reader:
A paraphrase of the words of Jesus in the Beatitudes. (Matthew 5:3-10) ppt. 9
(A) HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.10.How Happy Are Those – Full Score
HOW HAPPY ARE THOSE
How happy are those who have learnt to let go;
They shall discover the Christ within. (i)
How healthy are those who express all their grief;
Their tears shall heal all their pain and loss. (ii)
How joyful are those with a reverence for life;
The Earth shall rejoice in their presence. (iii)
How caring are those who are focused on God;
Their hearts shall be filled with compassion. (iv)
How peaceful are those who forgive others’ wrongs;
Anger and hatred will die away. (v)
How holy are those who know all things are one;
For them God’s wonder is everywhere. (vi)
How Christ-like are workers for justice and peace;
Their lives shall be lived with great passion. (vii)
What healing can come when rejection and pain
Are viewed with God’s gift of awareness. (viii)
(or B) CHANT OR RESPONSIVE READING (Choir or All )
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.10a.How Liberated are those
How liberated are those who have | learnt to let | go;
They shall experience the | mys – | t’ry of | God.
How strong are those who are not afraid to | admit their | weaknesses;
Their | tears shall | heal their | grief.
How beautiful are those who | reverence | life;
The | Earth ‘ shall re – | joice in ‘ their | presence.
How satisfied are those who | long to serve | God;
For | God shall | be their ‘ de – | light.
How happy are those who are willing to for | give _ | others;
They shall find re – | lease from | guilt and | fear.
How enlightened are those who know | oneness with | all things;
They shall see | God _ | ev‘ry – | where.
How inspiring are those who work for | justice and | peace;
They shall | live as | children of | God.
What an opportunity there is for those who suffer in the | cause of | right;
Their rejection can become a | doorway to | new _ | life.
Universe:
Reflect on these words and discern their meaning for today.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
(Gong)
DISCERNMENT ppt. 10
Human Being:
How can I see and hear Oneness?
Universe:
Look in nature’s mirror;
In the unfolding fern
discern both spiral shell and galaxy.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.11.Each Is Reflected – Full Score
Choir or All (sung)
Each is reflected in the other
And all belong together.
Universe:
In the clouds see the frothing surf and the snow clad mountains,
in the rivers’ tributaries discover the veins of the leaf and
the patterned streams in your own flesh.
Choir or All (sung)
Each is reflected in the other
And all belong together.
Universe:
Hear the moaning surf as the cries of humanity,
and the song of the bird as the people’s praise.
Choir or All (sung)
Each is reflected in the other
And all belong together.
Universe:
And when you look at other people, see yourself in them
and them in you, for deep within you
Choir or All (sung)
Each is reflected in the other
And all belong together.
Human Being:
What song then shall I sing?
Universe:
Sing of the rocks, the breeze, the atoms, the trees.
Sing also of yourself as part of nature’s web.
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.12.Come let us think – Full Score
COME LET US THINK LIKE MOUNTAIN ROCKS
Come let us think like mountain rocks,
Come breathe the song of scented breeze,
Come join the atoms’ quantum dance,
Come weep with all the fallen trees.
O let us pulse like surging waves,
Or flow as clear and running streams,
Explore the throbbing heart of Earth
And dream the plants’ and creatures’ dreams.
When liveliness evades our grasp,
When love grows weak and fears grow strong,
We still can feel the pulse of breath
And join once more in Nature’s song.
With joyful zest we raise God’s psalm,
The muse of past and present now,
The chant of fire that births new life,The song of soil and root and bough.
Life’s many forms unite as one;
This earth is filled with sacredness;
All praise exalts the Cosmic God
Who dwells in mystic holiness.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Audio Player Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
PRAYER ppt. 11
Human Being:
How shall I pray?
Universe:
To pray is to be aware of being connected with the mystery,
with the Universe,
with all that lives and moves,
and with the depths of your own being.
But first you must learn to be silent for it is between your thoughts
and beyond your ever turning mind that paradise can dwell.
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.13.Between Our Thoughts – Full Score
BETWEEN OUR THOUGHTS
Between our thoughts there lives a space
Where paradise can dwell;
Beyond our ever-turning mind,
Beyond our strangest hell.
There in the quietude of love
The ways of silence reign;
The shackles of division break
And we are one again.
With gentleness we take control
Of all that we distort,
Until the mind that was in Christ *
Imbues our every thought.
O God of all that brings us peace,
Your silence is our rest.
Beyond our words the stillness comes
And makes our mind its guest.
* Ref: Philippians 2:5
ppt. 12
Universe:
Prayer is being alone with the presence that links you with everything.
CHANT (Choir or Solo)
Click here to hear it: Audio Player Click here to see the score: Wallace.14.No-One Can Share – Full Score
NO-ONE CAN SHARE MY INNER SPACE.
No one can share my inner space;
There I am alone, yet not alone;
For you are there, O God,
Deeper than my thinking,
Deeper than my feeling,
You are there, you are there, O God,
Ever-present mystery.
No one can share my inner space;
There I am alone, yet not alone;
For you are there, my friends,
Found within my thinking,
Dwelling in my dreaming,
You are there, you are there, my friends,
Ever-present mystery.
No one can share my inner space;
There I am alone, yet not alone;
For family trees live on,
Live in tribal memory,
Live as genes great spiral,
You are here, both as trunk and branch,
Ever-present mystery.
No one can share my inner space;
There I am alone, yet not alone;
For we are part of Earth,
Sharing in one network,
Woven as one fabric,
We are strands of the web of life,
Ever-present mystery.
Universe:
Here is a way to live the prayer of Jesus. ppt. 13
CHANT (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.15.O God of Sky and God of Earth – Full Score
O GOD OF SKY AND GOD OF EARTH
(A reflection on the Lord’s prayer)
O God of sky and God of Earth,
We honor your presence
Within us and beyond.
As we eat may we share your gifts
Of hope and compassion
With all the life of Earth.
Give us, O God, forgiving hearts
Affirming each other
With humor and with grace.
May we grow beyond narrow needs
To join in the spreading
Of just and loving peace.
You greet us here and everywhere,
In moments of oneness
And spaces of delight.
To all this we now say “Amen”,
Your song is our anthem,
Your dance our cosmic joy.
REFRAIN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.3.Sanctum Response – Full Score
Sanctum, Sanctum, Sanctum, Magnum Mysterium.
( Gong )
THE WAY OF ONENESS ppt. 14
Human Being:
How can I walk the Way of oneness?
Universe:
The Way is the way of the ocean,
the way of the mountain,
the way of the river,
the way of the Earth itself;
the ocean of letting go,
the mountain of thanksgiving,
the river of process
and the fullness of earthed blessing.
( Gong )
THE OCEAN OF LETTING GO ppt. 15
(The Offering)
Universe (A):
But to walk the Way you must first let go.
Universe (B):
In the letting go you shall find life,
For deeper than the striving is the flowing,
Deeper than the searching is the knowing
and deeper than the grieving is the mystery
in which darkness and light are one.
Universe (A):
Letting go is offering and offering is co-operative enterprise.
HYMN (All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.16.With God We Shape – Full Score
WITH GOD WE SHAPE COMPASSION’S ROBE
With God we shape compassion’s robe;
We spin life’s golden thread.
We guard the pulse of nature’s flow,
We bake the pilgrim bread.
Our weaving forms life’s sacred cloth;
Our threads are soft but strong.
Our nurture’s warmth is holiness,
Our bread is life and song.
Come plait with joy love’s braided cord;
Come spin new dreams with thread.
Come live within God’s birthing space,
Come be as Christ, the bread.
( Gong )
THE MOUNTAIN OF THANKSGIVING ppt. 16
Human Being:
What is the wisdom of the mountain?
Universe (A):
The way of the mountain of thanksgiving is a path of a remembering
a binding together of all the parts of the story.
Universe (B):
Remember your journey from stardust to earth-dust.
Universe (A):
Remember your mother/father God
through whom and in whom you have energy and mass,
form and being.
Universe (B):
Remember that all things of earth are holy.
RESPONSE (Choir)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.17.All Things of Earth – Full Score
All things on Earth are holy,
All things are one in you.
This earth is filled with your beauty, God,
Charged with your love.
Universe (A):
And the way of the mountain is also remembering
your human joys and sorrows as found in the life,
death and continuing presence of Jesus the Christ.
Universe (B):
Remember the Inner Christ, God within you,
transforming your weaknesses and liberating your divine
potential until you become
sign of God,
presence of God,
co-worker with God.
RESPONSE (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.18.We are sign of God – Full Score
We are sign of God, presence of God, co-workers with God.
Universe:
Thanksgiving is remembering to live with hope. ppt. 17
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Audio Player Click here to see the score: Wallace.19.All Will Be Well – Full Score
ALL WILL BE WELL
A hymn based on the words of Julian of Norwich
“All will be well and all manner of thing(s) shall be well”
All will be well, all things shall be well!
This is the peace of the deep blue dream,
This is the light of divinity,
This is the flow of love’s healing stream.
All will be well, all things shall be well!
Deeper than pain lies buried delight,
Deeper than grief dwell life’s joyful songs,
All of our wounds can nurture new light.
Now is the time to dance heaven’s dance,
Time to discern eternity’s face,
Moment of knowing beyond all sight,
Day of God’s smile and tender embrace.
Universe:
Thanksgiving is giving glory to God.
RESPONSES (Choir and Solo)
Choir
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.20.Glory to you O God – Full Score
Glory to you, O God;
In the midst of suffering and death
We find hope;
Through the gift of new life we share your wholeness
And beyond all our endings we encounter
The mystery of your love.
Solo
Click here to see the score: Wallace.20a.May We Know Your Mystery – Full Score
May we know your mystery, O Universe, all the days of our life.
Choir
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.21.To You, Creative and Empowering God – Full Score
To you, creative and empowering God,
Be all glory and praise,
Here and everywhere,
Now and forever, Amen.
THE RIVER OF PROCESS / THE BREAKING AND POURINGppt. 18
Human Being:
What is the way of the River?
Universe (A):
It is the way of process;
of breaking and flowing,
of life from death,
of joy from sorrow,
of creation from destruction.
Universe (B):
It is the way soil comes from stone,
seed from shell,
rain from cloud,
symbols from words,
spirit from images,
and pilgrim food from broken bread.
Universe (A):
It is also the way of outpouring;
spilt blood,
smashed atoms,
exploding stars,
dying trees,
wilting flowers,
devoured animals,
human flesh dissolved into the elements
and wine poured as sign of death and destruction
gathered up within the flow of the endless river of life.ppt. 19
HYMN (Choir)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.22.Taste and See – Full Score
TASTE AND SEE
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Take the bread, the Body of Jesus,
Break the bread, the flesh of the world;
Taste and see the wonder of life.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Take the wine, the life-blood of Jesus,
Pour the wine, the pain of the world;
Taste and see the wonder of life.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Walk the earth with bare-footed reverence,
Smell the soil, the rain and the sea;
Feed your heart with wonder-filled life.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Hear the sound of children’s bright laughter,
Cries of pain and tears of the poor;
Then let silence nurture your heart.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Through each form, each texture and color,
Line and hue, the light and the shade;
Taste and see the wonder of life.
Taste and see how gracious the Christ is,
Taste and see the wonder of life;
Drink the wine of love’s costly service,
Celebrate Life’s Eucharist now;
Taste and share Christ’s Body and Blood.
(Gong )
THE EARTHED BLESSING ppt. 20
Human Being:
Lastly, O Universe, what is the truth of blessing?
Universe (A):
The Earth itself is a blessing
and you are part of Earth;
the atoms and cells of your body,
the thoughts of your mind,
the passions of your heart,
the wisdom of your gut,
Universe (B):
All are blessings you can share.
HYMN (Choir or All)
Click here to hear it: Click here to see the score: Wallace.23.To God The Process – Full Score
TO GOD THE PROCESS
Gloria! Gloria!
To God the process, God the life,
To God compassion’s spring,
To God the boundless way of love,
To God in everything.
To God the inner Christ of faith,
To God the wine and bread,
To God the sacred energy,
The fabric and the thread.
To you, O God, we sing our praise,
We join the cosmic song.
We walk the path that Jesus walked,
We turn our thoughts from wrong,
For you delight in each of us
And we delight in you;
With hearts on fire, we live your praise,
In all we think and do.
Universe:
May your life be a spirited life and your spirit love. ppt. 21
Choir or All
Amen, Amen, Amen, O God,
To you be endless praise.
Shalom, Shalom, Shalom, O God,
Our hearts to you we raise,
For you empower and you fulfill
Our latent energy;
The Universe within our lives
Shall dance your liturgy.
Gloria! (repeat last measure of first line of hymn)
( Gong )
Music and Text Copyrights
Unless otherwise specified all Texts and original Melodies are Copyright to
Author/composer: William Livingstone Wallace.
Musical settings and accompaniments are Copyright to the named Arrangers
Other musical items are either (a) in the public domain, or (b) copyright permission has been obtained.
Note that Selah Publishing Co Inc retains the copyright for the following:
All things of Earth.
All will be well.(Text only)
Between our thoughts.(Text only)
Deep within me.
We come from the Cosmos.(Music only)
What does our God require of us?
With God we shape compassion’s robe.(Text only)
MP3 Audio Files
O Golden Doors Now Open Wide: Wallace Woodley
We come from the Cosmos: Wallace Woodley
Response “Sanctum, sanctum”: A Methodist Conference Choir
Response “Sanctum, sanctum”: Wallace Woodley
Response: “O Universe” Jillian Bartram
Response “O Web of Life” Jillian Bartram
Deep Within Us: Moragh Brooksbank
Response “Forgiveness” Jillian Bartram
In the Letting Go: Moragh Brooksbank
What does our God require of us? Napier Anglican Cathedral Choir
How Happy Are Those: Wallace Woodley
Response “Each is reflected”: Wallace Woodley
Come let us think like mountain rocks: Anne Lamont
Between Our Thoughts: Anne Lamont
No-one can share my inner space: Jillian Bartram
O God of sky and God of Earth: Wallace Woodley.
With God we shape compassion’s robe: Anne Lamont
All Things of Earth: Moragh Brooksbank
Response “We are Sign of God”: Wallace Woodley
All Will Be Well: Anne Lamont
Response “Glory to You, O God”: Wallace Woodley
Response “To You, creative and empowering God”: A Methodist Conference Choir
Taste and See: Napier Anglican Cathedral Choir
To God the Process: Napier Anglican Cathedral Choir
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Soulful Travel
Soulful Travel Kits - Pick Yours Up! by Jim Burklo
This past Sunday in worship we handed out Soulful Travel Kits to everyone who came. If you haven’t gotten yours yet, we have plenty more – they are in the Sanctuary. Here’s the idea: if you travel somewhere this summer or not (travel is a metaphor), you get a small container to bring back some water, suggestions for traveling with spirit in mind, and some suggestions for recording your journey through a variety of mediums. At the end of the summer, we will share those experiences with each other, and bring together the waters of the world in worship. (Ed. Some congregations use the “waters of the world” for their baptism celebrations.)
Each week this summer, SPINN will feature a reflection on pilgrimage and traveling soulfully.
Here’s the first reflection, from “The Art of Pilgrimage” by Phil Cousineau:
Pilgrimage is the kind of journeying that marks…[the]move from mindless to mindful, soulless to soulful travel. The difference may be subtle or dramatic; by definition it is lifechanging. It means being alert to the times when all that’s needed is a trip to a remote place to simply lose yourself, and to the times when what’s needed is a journey to a sacred place, in all its glorisome and fearsome masks, to find yourself. Since the earliest human perception, the nettlesome question has been: How do we travel more fruitfully, more wisely, more soulfully? How can we mobilize the imagination and enliven the heart so that we might, on our special journeys, “see everywhere in the world the inevitable expression of the concept of infinity” in the words of Louis Pasteur; or notice, along with Thoreau, “the divine energy everywhere”? Or recall with Evan Connell the advice to medieval travelers: Pass by that which you do not love. (pp. xxiii-xxiv)
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Events and Updates
The Cosmic Christ as Us: Overcoming Evil, Recovering the Sacred by Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox discusses how the Cosmic Christ can overcome evil, based on his new book Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh on May 4th in Westlake Village, CA.
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The Cosmic Christ as Us: Overcoming Evil, Recovering the Sacred by Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox discusses how the Cosmic Christ can overcome evil, based on the new publication of his book Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh. Fox defines compassion as creativity put to the service of justice, and argues that we can achieve compassion for both humanity and the environment as we recognize the interconnectedness of all things.
Start:
May 4, 2016 07:00 PM
End:
May 4, 2016 09:00 PM
Location:
Center for Spiritual Living Westlake Village
880 Hampshire Road, Suites V & W
Westlake Village CA
Website:
http://cslwestlake.org/
View all upcoming events here!
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