There are miles behind you
And many more ahead
As you journey on toward wholeness
May all that is good and true guide your way
May the joy of love lighten every step
And the miracle that is life be ever in your sight
Live boldly and fully
True to yourself and all that you hold dear
Go in peace
Go in truth
Go in love
You are needed
This is your invitation into the great messy wonder that is life
It is your invitation to connection with all beings
It is your invitation to have your heart broken, opened, and filled
It is your invitation to live fully amid pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow
You are needed
Heed the call
May you till life’s fertile fields though hidden boulders may block your way or break your plough
May you be sowers of love
May you be sowers of compassion
Care for your seedlings
keep them free of the envy and fear that would devour their tender young leaves
Protect them from the invasive weeds of mistrust and envy
Nurture them with the sweet rain of honesty and forgiveness
May the harvest be of peace
May it be abundant
And may it be shared throughout creation
Our lives lie not in the dream that is yesterday
Not in the vision that is tomorrow
But in the fullness of the moment that is now.
May you awaken to all that surrounds you.
Life calls to you and invites your embrace.
May your answer be yes, yes, and yes.
Let us be mindful of aiming
Though you will often miss the mark
May you ever aim for what is good, what is loving, and what is just
And when your efforts fall far from the target as they will
May you forgive yourself and others and begin again in love
May this be a place of aiming
Deep within you
There is a place of peace
A place of wisdom,
A place of love.
May this sacred centre be your guide
May it be you strength for the journey
May it fill you with hope when all seems hopeless
And may it lead you to know the sacredness in all.
“What we are worshipping, we are becoming”
May you worship love, that you may be loving
May you worship peace, that you may be peaceful
May you worship life, that its energy may flow exuberantly forth from you
And may you worship the ground of being, that you may be deeply rooted in the fertile loam of all that is sacred.
When winter’s winds howl around you, may you find safety
When spring’s warmth touches you, may you emerge full of life.
When you are in bud, may love surround you and ease you into bloom
And when the season of blooming is over, may you find refuge in the sacred oneness of all things.
May your way be eased by love and lightened by gladness
May you find yourself called to your best and truest self
And may your heart respond to the call with the passion of youth and the wisdom of age – discovering the “why” of your existence
And bringing joy and meaning to all of your days
Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance […] and harmony. So wrote the Trappist monk Thomas Merton.
May your way be lit by the flame of passion, focused by reason’s refining lens
May you find joy in reaching out to others, and freely accept comfort and support for yourself
May your good works for the world be anchored by a deep spirituality that places you in contact with life’s deeper oneness
And may you have wings to fly and roots to keep you firmly grounded in your own true being.
And practice, practice, practice.
So may it be with you.
Amen and blessed be.
As our time of worship comes to a close
Let us draw up the satisfactions and the disappointments of our lives
The strengths and wounds that we each carry with us
You may be a father. You are certainly the child of a father.
Whoever you are,
May you find these fatherly words offered to you throughout your days:
I care about you
I am proud of you
I love you
And, may you offer them generously to others
So may it be with you.
May you partake heartily of life’s rich feast
savouring the sweetness of love
the salt of wisdom
and the sour of disappointment.
The meal is incomplete without all of its flavours.
May you be joined by dining companions whose presence is to you a delight and a comfort.
And above all, may you ever find someone to feed.
No matter what you may have done
No matter what may have been done to you
Deep within you, obscured by veils of hurt and shame
lies a blessed light that can never be extinguished
May the warmth and love of community and the strength of faith
Bring you healing and restoration
May your sacred light shine forth
To light your way, and that of your fellow travellers
This life – the life you are living this very day – is truly sacred.
You carry within you a part of what is needed to build a world of love, peace, and justice.
May you recognise the holiness within you
May you recognise the holiness in one another
Let us join fully in the work of healing the world.
Our time of worship is nearly ended now
Soon, we will leave this sacred space and go our separate ways
– returning to the distractions, joys, and struggles of our daily lives
As we go, may the fabric of this community continue to enfold us
Its support and compassion comfort us in our pain
Its diversity fuel our growing and our deepening
Its joy open our senses to the beauty around us
Its passion for justice strengthen our resolve to serve
And its love surround us and hold us until we meet again
Peace, Peace, Peace
May there be peace in our hearts
In our homes, between neighbours, and among nations
May there be peace in our world.*
And may we always remember
That anyone of us can be a hero for peace
Reach deep inside and touch the strength within
Your courage and your love can change the world
*after Lao-Tse
Go in peace
Open to the great potential that surrounds us
An abundance that may be entered through generosity
Ask not others to take the first step
Don’t wait
But let it begin with you, here, now
When shadows loom in your days and in your heart
Do not despair
What has been defiled may be restored
What has been made profane may be reconsecrated
What has been broken down may once again be raised up
The sacred connection can be obscured, but never dissolved
Go in peace
Go in love
Go with the faith that wholeness is ever within reach.
Oil enough for one day only, burned for eight
And the determined few overthrew powerful oppressors
These are wonders to inspire us and give hope
But the true miracle of Hanukkah was of the restoration of a polluted temple
The recovery of sacredness to the lives of a people.
When shadows loom in your days and in your heart
Do not despair
What has been defiled may be restored
What has been made profane may be reconsecrated
What has been broken down may once again be raised up
The sacred connection can be obscured, but never dissolved
Go in peace
Go in love
Go with the faith that wholeness is ever within reach.
Closing Words
As days gradually grow longer
and winter’s grip is eased
Hold firmly to what is gained from the dark
As you reach hopefully towards the light
Embrace light.
Embrace dark.
Embrace life.
Held in the love that unites us
Enter into the freedom of being
Where the sacred becomes visible
– and miracles abound
Live as though everything you do matters
As if it will make a difference
As if you can change lives
As if you can bring peace
As if you can bring justice
As if you can bring love
For truly, the future lies in our hands
And together, we can change the world
May you know fully and deeply the blessings of each of your heart’s seasons
The inward turning of Winter
Springtime’s lush renewal
The effortless, steady growth of summer
And autumn’s rich harvest
May your passage from season to season be blessed –
Eased by hands to hold, and by the light of love to guide you on
May you be held
With care
With compassion
And with love
May the warmth of this embrace
Awaken you to the sacred within
And to the greater unity of all things.
May you know fully and deeply the blessings of each of your heart’s seasons
The inward turning of Winter
Springtime’s lush renewal
The effortless, steady growth of summer
And autumn’s rich harvest
May your passage from season to season be blessed –
Eased by hands to hold, and by the light of love to guide you on
May you be held
With care
With compassion
And with love
May the warmth of this embrace
Awaken you to the sacred within
And to the greater unity of all things.
May our shared values bind us together in love and community
May our shared vision inspire us for the work of justice
And may that which we do not share – our differences – lead us deeper
Toward self-knowledge and growth
Toward a universal community
And toward the greater unity of the hidden wholeness
May the spirit of the eternal mother be with you and within you.
Making visible the connection between all things
Guiding your heart to greater love
And your arms to cradle the earth and its beings
May your eyes be opened to the truths beneath appearances
May your new vision lead you to know the oneness of all things
And may you walk with peace, confident of your place and purpose.
A fragment of the divine life that holds us all.
Be pilgrims of hope
Journeying toward your Jerusalem
The light of love in your eyes and the dream of peace upon your heart
Clasp the hands of your travelling companions
Ease their journey and your own
Laying before you a carpet of acceptance, compassion, and love
The Good Fridays of our lives come unbidden and unexpected
Bringing the winter of despair and the death of dreams and hope
Only love has the power to mend what has been broken
A love that brings healing to our wounds
A love that offers hope when we have none
A love that creates unity where there is conflict
A love that instills new life into lifeless brown husks
May this great love be in you, upon you, and among you
Now and through all of your days
Wisdom lies not ahead, a treasure trove with maps to guide us
It lies not behind, in ancient books and stories
Fragments of precious wisdom lie scattered haphazardly about us
Amid the triumphs and trials of life
And in the eyes of your neighbour
May you have the courage to seek
And may you know that you need not search alone.
Whether your inspiration comes from the wisdom of scripture
Your encounter with God
Or a truth that lies within
May you ever seek
And may you always find your way home
When life offers itself to us
With all its danger, excitement, and possibility
Yes. Let us answer yes.
Let us take the chance of opening our fragile hearts to life and love
It is only the risk of having our hearts broken
That makes it possible to be made whole
Don’t wait another minute
The world spins along with you or without you
It offers not certainty, but promise
Not safety, but a wealth of possibility
With beauty and pain, danger and love –
It calls to you
Grab hold
Take life
Let us go forth with gladness
For the everyday miracle of new life among us
For the growth of equality our world
Let us go forth with hope
That all people will know peace
And that justice will emerge in abundance like spring flowers
And let us go forth with courage
To endure what we must
And change what we can
Go forth now in peace
Go forth fully aware of the power within you,
Shrink not with false humility, but live fully into the strength that is yours
with the deep knowledge that together, we can make a better world.
If not us, then who?
Go forth emboldened by the knowledge that you are loved
Go forth with the comfort that you have a hand to hold
Go forth amid the wisdom of the ages
Go forth in faith
Go in peace
Free of the frenzy of unnecessary haste
Free of the fear and worry that blind us to the sacred
Free of the anger that keeps us apart
May you find your truest self
And return to the home of your soul
With each step, each action, and every word –
We recreate all of existence
May our feet be swift
Our actions be skillful
And our words be gentle
As we fashion a world of love
Go in peace
Free of the frenzy of unnecessary haste
Free of the fear and worry that blind us to the sacred
Free of the anger that keeps us apart
May you find your truest self
And return to the home of your soul
Let us go forth with gladness
For the everyday miracle of life
For the growth of equality our world
Let us go forth with hope
That all people will know peace
And that justice will emerge in abundance like spring flowers
And let us go forth with courage
To endure what we must
And change what we can
Though the darkness grows
Go guided by the light of wisdom
Though cold winds chill us to the bone
Go surrounded by the warmth of love
Though you let go of many things
May you always have a hand to hold
Go in peace
Go with your senses open to the splendour of creation
Enter into a world of wonder and awe
A world of beauty and goodness
Hold fast to what is good and true
And be filled with light and love
There are miles behind you
And many more ahead
As you journey on toward wholeness
May all that is good and true guide your way
May the joy of love lighten every step
And the miracle that is life be ever in your sight
May you till life’s fertile fields though hidden boulders may block your way or break your plough
May you be sowers of love
May you be sowers of compassion
Care for your seedlings
keep them free of the envy and fear that would devour their tender young leaves
Protect them from the invasive weeds of mistrust and envy
Nurture them with the sweet rain of honesty and forgiveness
May the harvest be of peace
May it be abundant
And may it be shared throughout creation
If here, we have found peace
If here, we have found meaning
If here, we have found compassion
If here, we have found love
We have a choice to make
We can leave these treasures here like bars of gold in a vault, securely held until we need them again, safe from the world and its demands
Or we can carry them with us, risk it all, spread it freely
And know that once shared, it will come back to us and to all beings one thousand times over
And that this will change us and it will change the world
Go in peace
Go with your senses open to the splendour of creation
Enter into a world of wonder and awe
A world of beauty and goodness
Hold fast to what is good and true
And be filled with light and love
Let us go now with minds unclouded by suspicion
Open to possibility
Aware of our biases and our wisdom.
Let us go forth with hearts that are open
To the truths of others
To the goodness within
And to the love that unites and holds us all
Let us go forth from this place as people captured by a vision
Propelled by commitment and drawn forward by faith.
Release your grip on the comfortable ways that no longer serve you
We journey not alone
Grasp the hand of your fellow traveller
And let us lead one another onward.
Let us go forth to learn our craft well
And practice it with care
Let us be weavers of the web of life
Let us go forth together
Whether you are new here
Or grew up in this church,
this congregation is yours, equally
Let us journey together through our changes
Fortified by commitment
Joined in the unity of love
Hand in hand, onward toward wholeness and peace
May you find yourself amid the endless procession of beings
Whose words and deeds
Gently, lovingly, and almost imperceptibly, guide all life
Toward a future of peace, justice, and love
We hold in our hands the threads of meaning
Their brilliant colours –
the red of anger, blue of sorrow, and love’s deep gold
ready to combine in rich and dazzling array
the whole, far greater than its individual components
May we be prepared to join our own strands with those of others
To give and to receive openly
And to be filled with faith
That the fabric we create together
Though we can not know its final design
Can enfold all beings
And bring love, justice, and peace to our world
Go forth now with confidence
Go forth fully aware of the power within,
Shrink not with false humility, but live into the strength that is yours
with the deep knowledge that together, we can make a better world.
If not us, who?
If not now, when?
Victor Hugo tells us “People do not lack strength, they lack will.”
Today, as our worship draws to an end
May you feel the power within you
Enlivened and focused by your sense of purpose
May you join fully in the journey of life
May you go forth from this place with the rhythm of life beating in your very bones
Waltz among all the joys and sorrows that come your way
Fox-trot between the truths of birth and death
Rhumba your way along the path of the spirit
The precision of the steps is not important
nor whether you dance accompanied or alone
It matters only that you join the dance.
As we prepare to part, let us each be ready to look again
To look beneath the surface of our lives
Beneath the rough exteriors we encounter
For the beauty and love within
And may this change us
May our circles grow brighter to include the friend, the neighbor, the stranger you thought was beyond inclusion
Bring light. Bring life. Bring love.
