Tags
breathe, chant, mantra, pause, present moment, relax, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Many times during the past week, the members of our assembly have been invited to take a short pause, sometimes as brief as two minutes, to gather ourselves and breathe into the present moment. The silence at those times is deep and palpable. Occasionally, as an additional prompt to renewed consciousness, we conclude the silence with a chant that has a become a beloved mantra for us during these days and, I trust, for the days going forward.
Sacred is our call. Awesome indeed the entrustment. Tending the Holy. Tending the Holy.
Yesterday we reached the mid-point of our time here in St. Louis. Our reward for work well done is an entire day to pause and relax and become tourists, regrouping for the second half of our work. So I’m off to meet my sisters from New York and Hawai’i, likely meeting up somewhere in the city others from Japan and Minnesota, California and Peru! And in our “play” we will, of course, be tending the Holy all day long.
Some years ago in a Wisdom School with Cynthia Bourgeault, we learned a chant that was quite instructive for me. We sang: Listen, listen, wait in silence listening for the One from whom all mercy flows.” It was a very quieting verse and, sung over and over, had a mesmerizing effect, bringing us to stillness as we began our periods of Centering Prayer. I found those words again this morning in a translation of Psalm 130, verse 6, where the psalm was subtitled “The Call for Healing.” Even without the music, the words of that verse themselves could lead one to feel the healing presence of God, the One from whom all mercy flows. I was grateful for the additional commentary on the psalm, however, which emphasized the possibility contained in those words. See if you don’t agree.
There’s a line in the Psalm response of today’s lectionary that got me singing – internally, of course, since I haven’t been awake long enough to trust my outer voice! What I heard inside my head was Darlene Franz’s chant, a call and response that says Seek my face in all things. Your face, O Lord, I will seek. (cf. PS 27, vs. 10) Although it’s usually annoying to have a tune running just below the surface one’s mind for days, I think I would welcome this one since it reminds me where I should be putting my attention. I was encouraged by that train of thought when I read Alan Cohen’s ‘daily word’ in which he offered the following paragraph.
My first waking thought this morning was a line from a Navajo prayer that became a chant and then a walking circle meditation long ago. It expresses how I wish to leave Stonington, Maine and move through days to come that may not be easy. I intend to remember it every day as my determination to be positive and helpful, respectful and willing for whatever is called for in my living.
