Silent Sunday
A Temple in Time
In this silent Sunday we will explore our relationship with time, and what it means to build a temple in time.
Opening music:
Lyrics:
In this moment I welcome Thee
Ever giving Thyself to me
Introduction Talk:
Quiet Prayer
I invite you to rest in the vastness of the present moment, held in the I Am presence of God, in a time of quiet prayer (you can choose between a 10 minute and a 20 minute time of simple silence using the timers below). If you find your mind wandering, gently let go of your thoughts and return to being present, through awareness of your breath or your sacred word.
Listen to the following music as an ending to the time of prayer:
Lyrics:
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
I give myself to you, Beloved, the self that I thought I was
I give myself to you, Beloved, the self that was false and lost
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Who is it moves in me, Beloved, whose hands, and feet are these?
Who is it moves in me, Beloved, whose heart beats, who breathes?
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Every breath is yours, Beloved, every breath is yours
Sacred Reading:
Read the following readings through twice or three times, with an attitude of open receptivity. Allow a few minutes of silence between the readings. Listen for any words that call out to you, or that draw you into the sacredness of silence that is deeper than your usual knowing:
Reading 1: Psalm 27:1-6
The Infinite Presence is my light and expanse, who should I fear?
The Infinite Presence is the strength of my life, what shall I dread?
When forces come close, seeming to devour me,
When narrowness threatens, and opposition attacks,
All that is menacing stumbles and falls.
Even as an army of mistrust besieges me
My heart does not fear.
Even as thoughts and desires rise up against me
I still have trust.
One thing I ask of the Infinite, one thing I seek,
To dwell in the Presence all the days of my life.
To awaken to the beauty of each moment
as I pass through this world.
The Infinite shelters me as I encounter difficulty and pain.
The Infinite holds me close in deep and hidden places.
And lifts me high upon a rock.
Now I can see through to what is true.
And I will offer my gifts of thanks
And I will sing and make music to the Eternal.
~ Translation by Rabbi Yael Levy
Reading 2: Extracts from The Summer Day
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
~ by Mary Oliver
Reading 3: Matthew 6:34
So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time. (Living Bible)
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. (The Message paraphrase)
For Further Reflection:
Below are the quotes from the talk and some additional quotes for you to take this theme further.
Mirabai Starr:
On Shabbat we build a temple in time and take refuge there.
Hebrews 4:7
Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, …as was said: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’
James Finley:
In the foundations of the heart, God is present in our simple presence to life. The great risk of all spirituality is that it so easily becomes a surrogate for being present to life.
Meister Eckhart:
We sink eternally from letting go to letting go into the One.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel:
Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal
Henri Nouwen:
Each moment is like a seed that carries within itself the possibility of becoming the moment of change. . . . We no longer need to run from present time in search of the place where we think life is really happening. We begin to have a truer vision of the world and of our lives in relationship to time and eternity. We begin to glimpse something of eternity in time. At this point boredom falls away and the joyful and painful moments of our lives take on new and profound meaning. It is then that we know that for us time is becoming transparent. The contemplative life, therefore, is not a life that offers a few good moments between the many bad ones, but a life that transforms all our time into a window through which the invisible world becomes visible.
If you really want to seek Me,
the only place you will find me is—
NOW
in this moment, in this breath,
for I am the Breath that breathes through all breath.
Cease your restless searching.
You are already home.
~ Kabir
Ending Prayer:
Beloved our God, remind us to return to Your presence
and here taste the eternal, timeless, everlasting love
with which you invite us to let go
of our time-bound anxieties, fears, preoccupations, and worries.
Teach us your ways and give us the courage to follow them.
May we move with the life-giving fountain of possibility and creative presence
that springs forth from You, our Source and Beloved.
May our lives be for healing,
May our lives be for peace,
Amen
(Based on a prayer by Henri Nouwen)
Ending music:
Lyrics:
You and me alone in God's garden,
We're not alone any more
You and me alone in God's hotel,
We're not alone any more
The trees bow down to shade you,
The mighty greets the small
As from the cloudless calm of sky
A thousand raindrops fall
You and me alone in God's garden...
The sound of leaves enfold you
The wind has softly died
Around your head is shining
Your self most sanctified
You and me alone in God's garden...
The timeless home is waiting
The key waits in your hand
The real beyond imagining
The purest of all lands
You and me alone in God's garden...
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Sharon's book that was previously called "Contemplative Living" has been republished by AnamChara Books under the title "Deeper: Finding the Depth Dimension Beneath the Surface of Life". The Kindle version is available from Amazon, and the hard copy version can be ordered from loot.co.za or Takealot, or from your local bookshop through Ingram Distribution.