Meditation and Prayer

With the diverse beliefs to be found in our congregation, meditation and prayer mean different things to different people. Nonetheless, most find this a time to focus on that which they hold to be most important in life, whether they call it love, God, humanity, life itself or something else entirely - and even if they prefer to use no labels whatsoever.

A few examples of prayers that have been used in our services follow. All were composed by our minister, Andrew Pakula.

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We come once again to this place

A place made sacred by our intentions and our care

And by the sharing of lives, of stories, of hopes and of dreams

Let us take a moment now to be calmly aware

To notice the sounds of this place

The gentle breathing of other bodies and our own

Notice the sounds beyond this place

Life continues buzzing on even as we deliberately pause

Notice the space itself

The way it looks and the way it feels

Everything here was created by loving hands

And touched through use and in appreciation by many more

Every inch of this place is alive with echoes of the sights and sounds and being of this worshiping community

Spirit of life and love, God of many names

The pieces of our lives can be so easily scattered

Through hurt and betrayal

Through busyness and striving

Through the demands that take us away from our true nature

In the peace of this place

And surrounded by its blessings

May we be reminded of our essential wholeness

Of our most authentic natures

May we recall that we are much more than the momentary needs that blow us this way and that

More than our responses to the demands of our daily lives

May we begin to draw together what has been dispersed

And return again to our selves

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Imagine…

The tender green grass

The clear blue sky

The warmth of sunlight on your back

The rustling of leaves at each step

The loving touch of a friend

The cool breeze on your face

The kitten’s mew

The baby’s impossibly soft skin

Forgiveness

Peace

Love

Life

For these gifts and so many others, we are grateful

The world that surrounds us is too wonderful to be earned

Too spectacular to be created

Too insistent to be ignored

Come thou fount of every blessing

Let us find our truth

Let us embrace life whole

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Let us pause now in a moment of awareness

In the embrace of this congregation

In the presence of those with whom we share so much

And amid the echoes of those who came before us

In this place, made sacred by our intentions

The joys and sorrows of individual lives are shared

Offerings of gladness and pain are made and received

And in so doing we enter the edges of the realities of one another’s lives

A communion of hearts and minds touching upon all that is holy

For this giving and receiving

For the trust that holds us

For the joy that lights our way

For the growth that arises of pain

For the love that unites us

And for the sacred light within each heart

Let us give thanks this day

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We come together today to celebrate

To experience and offer gratitude for the earth’s bounty

To reconnect with the natural cycles of the land

To bring to mind once again the beauty of the world and all of life’s gifts

To touch a sense of awe and wonder at the unearned joys we have received

Spirit of life and source of love

Let us feel and know in our bones the wild generosity of existence

Let us sense in each nurturing taste of the earth’s fruits, the life that dances among stars

Let us find more moments of awakening – where we may more fully appreciate the extravagant beauty of the earth and its living things

And when we suffer – fear or grief or pain our only companion

Let these wonders be a balm to our troubled souls

And reawaken us to joy

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As we come together today, sharing the joys and sorrows of our individual lives with one another –

We are aware of tragic occurrences around the globe

Our faith is tested by daily reports of cruelty, brutality, and oppression.

We wonder about the goodness and generosity of a universe that allows such things to come to pass

And question the nature of the human heart

Spirit of Life and source of love,

Let us not lose hope

Let us not lose faith in humanity and in the abundance of all creation

In the loving prayers of red-cloaked monks, we see our better nature

In their faces and hands, we sense the love that unites us

In the great ones guided by that love – Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Ghandi, Martin Luther King – we see what we can become

May we recommit to the common struggle of all beings

For justice, for peace, for love.

And may we be an instrument of that high calling

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In the midst of these – the joys and sorrows of life’s journey – we come together here in community and in worship

We come because we seek something elemental and life-sustaining

We come to be reminded of truths that are abide deep within us

To be reminded that all life is a glorious gift to be loved and embraced

That we are all part of one fabric of life

That what one does affects all

That compassion is its own reward

Spirit of life, source of love –

We are forgetful beings

Though possessed of a divine spark,

  we stray from what we know to be good and true

May we be recalled to our best and truest selves – to that sweet light within

Islington