Wesley Quiet Space 16 January 2022
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. He was with God in the beginning, Through Him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1: 1-5
In a world of fault lines and fractures,
we stand in a place where opposites come together.
awaiting the birth of what is to come.
If you are doubting, welcome.
If you are healing, welcome
If you are angry at injustice, welcome.
We await a new genesis,
one more beginning in a series of starts,
trailing backwards in time to the very first day.
If you are afraid, welcome.
If you are joyful, welcome.
If you are longing to belong, welcome.
God’s generous rhythm of life, death, resurrection,
moving in and through all things,
the very breath and source of the cosmos itself.
Our pathways converge and continue,
each one of us a catalyst for loving action.
We, a community of saints.
Conspire.
Breathe with us. Center for Action and Contemplation
Space for Reflection
Oh the Love of my lord is the essence
of all that I love here on earth.
All the beauty I see, He has given to me
and His giving is as gentle as silence
Every day, every hour, every moment
Has been blessed by the strength of His love
At the turn of each tide he is there at my side
And His touch is gentle as silence.
There’ve been times when I’ve strayed from His presence
And I’ve walked other paths, other ways
But I have called on His name in the dark of my shame
And his mercy was gentle as silence Estelle White
Space for Reflection
The outer Life and the Inward Sanctuary - Howard Thurman
Often it is very hard for me to realise that I am one. The outer life seems utterly outer. It seems a part of a separate order. It is made up of things I do , of my relationships of one kind or other with work, play, job, people and things. The standard by which the outer is judged tends to be an artificial standard, made up of that which is convenient, practical, expedient. The outer seems public, it seems ever to be an external net of physical relationships.
The inward sanctuary is my sanctuary. It is the place where I keep my trust with all my meanings and my values. It is the quiet place where the ultimate issues of my life are determined. What I know of myself, my meaning; what I know of God, His meaning; all this and much more, is made clear in my secret place. It often, seems strangely incongruous to bring into my secret place the rasping, gritty noises of my outer life. Again, this may be for me an alibi. For I know that in the searching light of my inward sanctuary all the faults, limitations and bad things of my outer life stand clearly revealed for what they are.
I determine to live the outer life in the inward sanctuary. The outer life must find its meaning, the source of its strength in the inward sanctuary. As this is done, the gulf between outer and inner will narrow and my life will be increasingly whole and of one piece in God. What I do in the outer will be blessed by the holiness of the inner sanctuary, for indeed it shall all be one.
Space for Reflection
I feel your presence in the night
The fragrance of God and man
I breathe in your stillness
And in the middle of the night
Both flesh and spirit live
Live deeply
Live to the brim
Reach across time and space
And touch eternity
And I long for all to be drawn and held together by this invisible God
Whose love burns in the darkness with the life of the Son
And whose blessing touches us as softly as the rustle of the
night wind and rain in the trees
How strange that when we are most abandoned we are
drawn into Gethsemane
‘Stay awake with me.’
How miraculously you wait for us just beyond our fear. Richard Carter
Space for Reflection
Holding fast by letting go by Richard Carter
The less longing, the more presence
The less we hang on the door, the more it opens for us
The less we demand, the more we see the beauty of the gift
The less we expect, the more the joy of the surprise
The more selfless, the more self
Clamorous need shuts us off from the needed
‘It is our clinging that is our death.’
The less we cling, the more we embrace
The less we fear, the more we love
All joy reminds us
It is not a possession that leads us onwards
Our love is a taste of things to come
Go lightly
Go simply
Find the beauty of balance
A breathing out
A breathing in
A shared breath
A letting go so that we may be held forever.
Space for Reflection
Blessing
Go forth into the world in peace;
be of good courage;
hold fast that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil;
strengthen the faint hearted;
support the weak;
help the afflicted;
honour everyone;
love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Then to close we share the Grace together
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God, and
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit
Be with us all, now and always Amen