Birthed from Compassion: Becoming Who We Are

A Reflection Guide to Help Shape our Day …

Poetry Music Questions to Consider …

Saturday, September 19, 2020Weber Center, Adrian, Michigan

1

THE FLOW OF OUR REFLECTIONS

GATHERING PRAYER: You hold us, Loving Jesus, in tender compassion,that touching we may heal, teaching, we may learn, loving, we may lose alland find everything we need. Beyond the tears and sorrows, beneath the pain and confusion, hidden deep within Your Eyes, and in Your Voice and in Your Smile, we find the Compassionate One who calls us and we are home again. Hold us today in your gentle compassionate embrace, dear God. AMEN.

Opening movement: from contemplation to compassionBehold your God, beholding you: Be held by your God in tender mercy.

Compassion is in our DNA – the very seed of God in us.Together we will seek to clear our heart's clutter

and help this seed within us grow, so we can reclaim more of who we truly are

and be in the world what the world most needs.

2

Mantra: Wisdom, compassion, love, understanding... Come be in my heart, Holy One, Come.

Grow me into more, God …

O God, Who out of nothing brought everything that is.Out of what I am, bring more of what I desire, but haven’t dared. Help me to empty out the clutter that keeps me from loving large, from making room in me to hold others as You hold us all.Direct my passion and my compassion to creating life where there is death; to putting flesh of action on my bared-bone intentions; to lighting fires against the midnight of indifference; to throwing bridges of care across the canyons of loneliness; so I can look on all creation, together with you and behold … call it good; made one in You as we all grow into You, The Compassionate Lover of us all. AMEN (adapted from Ted Loder)

Open to the Gift of LOVE --- Carving out space …

3

Quieting Meditation: A Spiritual Practice of UnCluttering

Etty Hillesum : “So let this be the aim of meditation: to turn one’s innermost being into a vast, empty plain, with none of that treacherous undergrowth to impede the view. So that something of “God” can enter you, and something of “Love” too. Not the kind of love deluxe that you revel in deliciously for half an hour, taking pride in how sublime you can feel, but the love you can apply to small, everyday things.”

John of the Cross –Great simplifier – God is intent on unleashing on the human person the gift of God’s very self. If one is seeking God, one can be absolutely sure that it is because God is already seeking her – this shift asks a revision of our perception of our role in the relationship. (“I want to be with you”, God says: – “I’ve been waiting for you to come,” My response.) Make space for God in order to receive – prayer is not an achievement but an availability. “God will take up in us as much room as we give over+” John of the Cross.

As John of the Cross learned, When GOD comes in … all that God loves comes in as well.,

An Assignment: I Need You to SURVIVEI need you, you need me. We’re all a part of God's body. Stand with me; Agree with me. We're all a part of God's body

[Chorus]It is his will, that every need be supplied You are important to me; I need you to surviveYou are important to me, I need you to survive[Chorus]I pray for you, you pray for me

4

I love you, I need you to surviveI won't harm you with words from my mouthI love you, I need you to survive [Chorus]I pray for you, you pray for meI love you, I need you to survive (hold somebody’s hand and tell them, come on ya’ll)I won't harm you with words from my mouthI love you, I need you to survive (Chorus)I pray for you, you pray for meI love you, I need you to survive I won't harm you with words from my mouth I love you, I need you to survive

I and YOU (Heschel)

Transmissions flow from your heart to Mine …My nerves are clustered with Yours.Your dreams have met with mine.Are we not one in the bodies of millions?

Often I glimpse myself in everyone’s form,Hear my own speech – a distant quiet voice – in people’s weeping, as if under millions of masks My face would lie hidden.

I live in Me and in you.From your lips goes a word from Me to Me.From your eyes drips a tear – its source in Me.

When a need pains You, alarm me.When You miss a human beingTear open my door!You live in Yourself; You live in me.

5

Presentation on Compassion as God in us – our genetic code – the DNA of our Becoming -- Letting in a little more of God, of LOVE: Who Is This God whose life longs to grow in us? You in me and me in You

Walter Brueggeman - no more important task in world today than to say some-thing about the God in whom we live – the One in whose image we claim to be made. We do, indeed, reflect some image of God – the kind of God we believe in shapes everything we say and become … God’s greatest passion is compassion. May we be found worthy to be its wellspring. We pray to know ourselves held in the Compassionate Heart of our Triune God.

Birthed from God’s Rechem (womb love)

RECHEM

“I am a God of mercy and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness… (Exodus 34)

NOTES …

6

Compassion become visible in the Face of Jesus

In Jesus’s action and his message, we see who God is and what compassion looks like … poured out love for all – no exceptions, no exclusions – holding nothing back …

Two hearts in gospel of Luke are described as “rechem” – bearing the heart of God and Jesus

Luke 15 and Luke 10Learning from the Heart of the Samaritan: “Both a priest and a Levite came upon a man, who had fallen victim to a robber, abandoned by the side of the road. When they saw him, both wondered: “If I try to help that poor man, what will happen to me?” when a Samaritan going down the same road saw the man left by the side of the road, he

7

wondered: “If I do not help this poor man, what will happen to him?” (Martin Luther King, Jr

And Jesus said: “Go and Do Likewise.”GAZING as Eastern Prayer with new insights to offer us in the West ….

Reflection and Sharing: To live into the pattern of Jesus … putting on his heart and mind is the work of a lifetime.

What experiences invite you now to let go, to trust, to give yourself away in love – no exceptions, no withholding?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Presentation 2: Finding the “Rechem” Heart of Self-giving Love in Others

From Aaron Fies, Anthony Ray Hinton, John Lewis, to my Dad

8

and your _______

REFLECTION QUESTION: How have you kindled the “Compassion of God” within you?

CONSIDER:

Have you ever kept silent, despite the urge to defend yourself when you were unfairly treated?

Have you ever forgiven another although you gained nothing by it and your forgiveness was accepted as quite natural and expected?

Have you ever held back the biting remark after someone hurt, insulted or overlooked you?

Have you ever made a sacrifice without receiving any thanks or acknowledgement, without even feeling an inward satisfaction?

Have you ever decided to do a thing simply for the sake of a greater good, knowing that you must bear sole responsibility for your decision without being able to explain it to anyone?

Have you ever tried to act purely for the sake of love, the love of God, when no warmth or good feeling sustained you, when your act seemed a leap in the dark, simply non-sensical?

Have you ever tried to be good to someone without expecting a trace of gratitude and without the comfortable feeling of having been “unselfish”?

Reflective Reading ONE: (Karl Rahner)

“From time to time, there seems to occur in every human life, no matter whose, moments in which sober everyday love … suddenly finds itself standing before the choice either of being cautiously cowardly --- denying itself, and not daring to risk itself – or in a foolhardy trustworthiness, seemingly absurd (and yet wonder of wonders there it is!) of taking a risk, of risking our freedom and our free subject without looking back, of risking really loving in the proper sense of the word. There is no longer any ground to tap into in advance, to see if it is solid or not; then freedom dares more than is granted it by a calculating rationality. It risks itself and its own subject (its very person) and plunges into the unfathomable, unbounded dwelling place of God, who can ultimately be experienced only in this bottomless, headlong plunge.

To be sure this blind leap is ultimately occasioned, made possible and snatched up by what we call God’s grace, which alone grants (us) the freedom

9

to take such an unconditional leap.” (Rahner, Love of God and Love of Neighbor).

This is ever xo often our invitation to make compassion visible – by our choice to give ourselves away, to lose ourselves for the sake of another.

Why the World Needs us to Be Who We Are

The Message of Gungor: Will We Be Who We Always Say We Are?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

10

Presentation Three: Practicing Compassionate Communication :: Learning to Speak and Listen with Hearts of Compassion ~~ our small gift to help transform the world

What We Desire: To listen and speak from “the heart,” where God and I are One. What we practice: the spiritual practice of compassionate communication – giving and receiving love

This is our life’s work: To give and receive compassion as we listen and speak to others from the heart -- daily for the life of the world.

We are changing the world, the environment of all life, every minute by the energy we release … what we breathe out and take in …

How this works: How to become the compassion of God in our world …

A. Compassionate Speaking:

Four components: (expressing who we are honestly)1. Observation – notice “happenings” without judgment,

“I never saw a lazy man … I saw one who sat around all day…”

Krishnamurti – (Indian philosopher) highest intelligence is found in one who can observe, without making judgments.

2. Feelings – Being in touch with the feelings arising within meN.B: Happening is stimulus not cause of feelings

Three stages of emotional development

a. Emotional slavery – I am responsible for the feelings of othersb. Obnoxious stage: I feel angry – won’t be responsible for her problemc. Emotional liberation – take responsibility for our intentions and actions and want to respond to

others’ needs out of compassion – not anger, guilt, fear …

11

3.. Needs – Naming the needs from which those feelings arise

“I feel hurt when you don’t address me or ask me to do anything at meetings, because I would like us to work together as a team and I need to feel valued in this group.”

4. Request – Am I willing to request what I need?

“Because of my need to feel valued and contribute my gifts, I would be grateful if we could spend time learning about and then using effectively the unique gifts each of us brings to this group.”

In order to grow as compassionate communicators, we have only to practice, practice, practice.

Choices in responding to a negative situation:

1. Blame ourselves 2. Blame others3. Sense our own feelings and needs4. Sense the others’ feelings and needs

Examples: We are constantly giving and receiving from the heart. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a big deal. We are continuously giving of ourselves, our gifts and resources, whether it’s a word of encouragement to a staff worker, another community member … holding the elevator patiently for someone, telling a joke at the dinner table. Each of these moments contributes to the joy of life, making of us a reflection of the God of love, whose voice and hands and feet we are …

Obstacles that block compassionate speaking: giving and receiving from the heart Moralistic judgments

Making comparisons

Denial of responsibility (for my own intentions and feelings)

Making demands rather than expressing requests

A spirit of entitlement rather than seeing life/others as gift

I deserve it rather than I’m grateful for it.

Life-Alienating Language/Communication: Beware of the Four “D”sDiagnosis (judgments and comparisons ,,, )Denial of responsibilityDemandsDeserving language or attitude

12

Examples:

There are times also when we are aware of giving from some place other than the heart. (Our own needs sometimes interfere with our giving from the heart). Think of such a time and describe how you feel in recalling it without judging or analyzing yourself on this occasion. What would you like to have happened?

Most of us prefer to see ourselves as compassionate and generous people. We don’t want to notice those moments when our hearts close up and our needs block our giving love freely from our hearts. Yet, it is only by paying attention over and over (without judging) – to those times when we touch our limitations – that we grow our compassion and self-giving love. We can practice looking for these moments with a loving eye – the eye of God which is ever watching us in love.

Personal example: My mother’s great urging to call my sister … my own need for appreciation, awareness of my fatigue blocked my giving freely from the heart

Compassionate Communication ~~ PART TWO: Compassionate Listening

“Our listening creates sanctuary for the homeless parts within the other person” (Remen).

Same four components (receiving who the other is empathically) Presence: emptying our minds and listening with our whole person

Empathy’s power to heal

Connecting with oneself compassionatelyo The gift to be free – God’s dream for us and for allo Expressing anger and appreciation fully

Reflection Tools: What’s Going on in Your Head?

13

Thinking of what to say in response Thinking of a solution Thinking of why the other person is wrong Thinking about a similar thing that happened to you Thinking about what you have to do next Worrying about something in your own life, the 3000 things that may happen

Obstacles to Compassionate Listening: (Adapted from Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth)

Desiring, seeking, or demanding recognition for something you did• Being angry, upset, disgruntled, or ‘holding on’ if you don’t get it

Trying to get attention by talking about your problems, the story of your life, your experiences, your issues, your illnesses … etc.

Giving your opinion when nobody has asked for it and it makes no difference to the situation

Being more concerned with how the other person sees you than with the other person

Trying to make an impression on others through knowledge, status, physical strength, possessions, good looks, etc. For some, boasting of the OPPOSITE, e.g. a simple lifestyle, lack of possessions.

Bringing about dissension through angry reaction against someone/ something

Taking things personally, feeling offended

Making yourself right and others wrong through futile mental or verbal complaining, gymnastics, explaining.

Wanting to be seen, or appear important

REFLECTWhich of these behaviors do I own?When have I/do I utilize them?How did they serve me in the past? Is it time to let them go?

14

Practice TIPS Once you have detected such a pattern, determine what it FEELS like to engage in it.

Practice letting it go when it surfaces. See what happens.

Choose to de-emphasize yourself and all ego manifestations. Choose to be transparent, empty, entering fully and consciously into every moment. (Hold your ego lightly – laugh gently that it still has you!)

Practice Silence

The Listening Process: Preparation for Listening to Another ~~The Challenge of Our Lives (adapted from Gene Knudson Hoffman, Leah Green, and Parker Palmer)

Four Step Process Become Conscious of the Present Moment Focus. Recognize Distractions. FOCUS!

Sweep Ego and Other Impediments Aside

Open to Spirit, The Still, Small Voice, Inner Wisdom

Wait, with curiosity, Unknowing -- Enter into Unknowing: Living in the MysteryPreparation “Learn to understand more by not understanding than by understanding”

(John of the Cross).Listening Tips…

Be alert for nonverbal cues from speaker. Cultivate stillness. Be sincere. Be open and curious. Focus on experience, not convictions. If you don’t know what to say, say NOTHING!!!! Be receptively silent

Listening in order to SEE more…

Consider the words of this song by Brandon Heath and/or the

15

reflection from 6 year old Alex who wrote to President Obama about little Omar

GIVE ME YOUR EYES (Brandon Heath)

Looked down from a broken sky, traced out by the city lightsMy world from a mile high, best seat in the house tonightTouched down on the cold black tar, hold on for the sudden stop,Breathe in the familiar shock of confusion and chaosAll those people going somewhere …Why have I never cared?

REFRAIN: Give me Your eyes for just one second Give me Your eyes so I can see everything that I keep missing. Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted,the ones that are far beyond my reach.Give me Your heart for the one's forgotten Give me Your eyes so I can see.

Step out on a busy street, see a girl and our eyes meetDoes her best to smile at me to hide what's underneathThere's a man just to her right, black suit and a bright red tie, too ashamed to tell his wife, he's out of work, he's buying time

All those people going somewhere …Why have I never cared?

REFRAIN:

I've been there a million timesA couple of million eyes just moving-- passed me byI swear I never thought that I was wrong

Well, I want a second glance; So give me a second chance to see the way You see the people all alone

Group Listening Process: in 3 Rounds -- 2 minutes

Solitary Reflection Silence One person shares reflection. Silence

Group Listening Process: Round 2 Silence One person shares reflection. Silence

16

Each listener may ask clarifying questions of the speaker Silence

Group Listening Process: Round 3 Silence One person shares reflection. Silence Each listener is free to offer an observation of what they heard.

• Ask yourself: “What inner wisdom did I hear? Silence

That Moon Language (Hafiz, 14th century Sufi)Admit something: Everyone you see, you say to them, “Love me.” Of course you do not say this outloud: Otherwise, someone would call the cops. Still though think about this, This great pull in us to connect.Why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye--That is always saying with that sweet moon language, what every other eye in this world is dying to hear.

Closing Prayer: As our day of reflection ends, O Heart of Love, we raise our thoughts to you as the sun lights up the afternoon sky.

We pray at a time when our world and church so need compassionate people to bless, make whole and holy this broken earth and it divided people. We pray to be, with your help, some of those compassionate connections – helping to make our world one again.

As fire draws all to itself, draw us to you and one another in prayer. Make what is in our heart this afternoon -- our fears, our hopes, our joys, our pain, make of them a prayer. May we rest this day in your peace and rise with each new day to shine with your love.

17

Into your loving hands, we entrust our spirits, our lives and our work -- all that we love and hold in your tender Heart today and all days. Amen.

ADDITIONAL

MUSIC and

POETRY18

Compassion Hymn

There is an everlasting kindnessYou lavished on usWhen the Radiance of heaven Came to rescue the lost;You called the sheep without a shepherdTo leave their distressFor your streams of forgivenessAnd the shade of Your rest.

And with compassion for the hurting,You reached out Your handAs the lame ran to meet You

19

And the dead breathed again;You saw behind the eyes of sorrowAnd shared in our tears,Heard the sigh of the weary,Let the children draw near.

CHORUS What boundless love,What fathomless graceYou have shown us, O God of compassion!Each day we liveAn offering of praiseAs we show to the world Your compassion.

We stood beneath the cross of CalvaryAnd gazed on Your faceAt the thorns of oppressionAnd the wounds of disgrace,For surely You have borne our sufferingAnd carried our griefAs You pardoned the scofferAnd showed grace to the thief.

How beautiful the feet that carryThis gospel of peaceTo the fields of injusticeAnd the valleys of need—To be a voice of hope and healing,To answer the criesOf the hungry and helplessWith the mercy of Christ. ”

— WORDS AND MUSIC BY KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY & STUART TOWNEND COPYRIGHT © 2008 THANKYOU MUSIC

What is Essential to Me?

Do I believe that compassion is my essential character?

That Will Make All the Difference

The Way It Is

20

 

There’s a thread you follow. It goes amongthings that change.  But it doesn’t change.

People wonder about what you are pursuing.You have to explain about the thread.

But it is hard for others to see.While you hold it you can’t get lost.Tragedies happen; people get hurtor die; and you suffer and get old.

Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.You don’t ever let go of the thread.

~ William Stafford ~  

1. What if the threat of your very being is truly Compassion? How might this anchor you to move forward?

2. What do you do to stay connected to the thread? To stay anchored?

Reflective Listening Practice:

We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For Hopi Elders

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.And there are things to be considered:Where are you living?What are you doing?What are your relationships?

21

Are you in right relation?

Where is your water?Know your garden.It is time to speak your Truth.This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now, very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for. --The Elders Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation

Compassion requires the courage to give ourselves away.

Notice ~~ an elder who has guided you toward Compassion?

ways you have guided outhers?

Feeling or value evoked ~~

Change needed ~~

Turning to One Another

Margaret Wheatley,

There is no power greater than a community discovering what it cares about.

22

Ask “What’s possible?” not “what’s wrong?” Keep asking.

Notice what you are about.Assume that many others share your dreams.

Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.Talk to people you know.Talk to people you don’t know.Talk to people you never talk to.

Be intrigued by the differences you hear.Expect to be surprised.Treasure curiosity more than certainty.

Invite in everybody who cares to work on what’s possible.Acknowledge that everyone is an expert about something.Know that creative solutions come from new connections.

Remember you don’t fear people whose story you know.Real listening always brings people closer together.

Trust that meaningful conversations can change your world.

Rely on human goodness. Stay together.

Conversation on “Just Listening” … A Story to Remember and Ponder

23

An old Cherokee grandfather is talking to his grandson who has come to him with

anger at a friend who has done him wrong. The grandfather tells him a story:

“I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much

from me, with no sorrow for what they have done. But hate wears you down

and does not hurt our enemy. It is like taking poison yourself and then

wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many

times. It is as if there are two wolves living inside of me. One is good and

does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take

offense when no offense is intended. He will only be in conflict when it is right

to be so and in the right way. But, the other wolf – ah, he is full of anger.

The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone all the

time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great.

It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. Sometimes it is hard to

live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my

spirit.

The boy looks intently into his grandfather’s eyes and asks: “But, grandfather

which wolf will win this battle in your heart?” The grandfather smiles and

quietly says: ”The one I feed.” The Wolves Within, a Cherokee

Legend

To commit ourselves to a non-violent way of life, to the practice of compassion for all, we must begin in our own hearts.

“To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. Frenzy destroys our inner capacity for peace.”

Thomas Merton

24

Silence and the gift of contemplation are the bedrock for becoming he people of compassion we are created to be.

The Great Gesture of LOVE: Seeing Ourselves in one another

When I Am among the TreesWhen I am among the trees,especially the willows and the honey locust,equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,they give off such hints of gladness.I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,in which I have goodness, and discernment,and never hurry through the worldbut walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves And call out, “Stay awhile.”The light flows from their branches.And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,“and you too have come into this world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light and to shine.” Mary Oliver

25

Reflection of Mary OliverWhat I loved in the beginning, I think, was mostly myself.Never mind that I had to, since somebody had to.That was many years ago.Since then I have gone out from my confinements,though with difficulty.

I mean the ones that thought to rule my heart.I cast them out. I put them on the mush pile.They will be nourishment somehow (everything is nourishment somehow or another.)

And I have become the child of the clouds, and of hope.I have become the friend of the enemy, whoever that is.I have become older and, cherishing what I have learned,I have become younger.

And what do I risk to tell you this, which is all I know?Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.

A Gesture of Love for the World

“I think of a gesture of love as anything we do that helps others discover or recover their humanity. Any act where we turn to one another. Open our hearts. Extend

ourselves. Listen. Any time we’re patient. Curious. Quiet. Engaged. Forgiving… We become more fully human through our generosity, when we extend to one another

rather than withdraw into ourselves.” Margaret Wheatley

26

The poetry of the Social Activist, Rabbi and Theology professor, Abraham Joshua Heschel, written at the age of 26!

What he saw, he lived!

People’s Eyes Wait

People’s eyes wait for melike candle wicks for a light.

Shamed brothers beg my help.Deceived sisters dream of consolation.

And I, with stubborn boldness, have promisedthat I will increase tenderness in this world ---

And it seems to me that I will, in timemove on through this earth

with the brightness of all the stars in my eyes.

I and YOU

Transmissions flow from your heart to Mine,Trading, twinning My pain with yours.

Am I not – you? Are you not – I?

My nerves are clustered with Yours.Your dreams have met with mine.

Are we not one in the bodies of millions?

Often I glimpse myself in everyone’s form,Hear my own speech – a distant quiet voice – in people’s weeping,

As if under millions of masks My face would lie hidden.

I live in Me and in you.From your lips goes a word from Me to Me.

From your eyes drips a tear – its source in Me.

When a need pains You, alarm me.When You miss a human being

Tear open my door!You live in Yourself; You live in me.

27

Intimate Hymn

I go about from word to word, from early until late,Dream in, dream out – out of myself and over towns

As if I were a person planet.

From my brave waiting, stone-like, there beams a timeless coming.

I feel a brightness, as though my tent were pitched among the stars.I want to walk through solitudes –

To help the world to feel.

All around there’s dynamite – destructive fire – in my sight …Let me reveal other light,

Discover faces everywhere!To God, at the ultimate weighing in,

Let my thirst outweigh my heaviness!

The generations’ longing calls out, always – “Who?”I know – it’s everyman! But a tear torments me

When I hear, people, trees, stones lament:

Everything demands of me: “Feel us.”Everyone begs of me: “See us.”

God, lend me Your eyes.

I’ve come to sow seeing in the world – to unveil God – Who has disguised Himself in the world –

And wait to give the first cry:It’s becoming light!

A Jotting that stirs in me …

28

To Live with the Heart of Jesus: to Grow into the Heart of God

I seek a heart that is attuned to listen to the sounds of human life-- the murmurings of pain and struggle, the babble of confusion and doubt, the whispering of yearnings, the ecstatic outburst of joy and delight.

I seek a heart with an interior vision that sees beyond the exterior –- To the peacefulness of a life well-spent, the prayerfulness of the quiet, the agony of the fearful, the loneliness of the complainer.

I seek a heart imbued with feeling that can penetrate closed walls— walls that shut out closeness, walls that prohibit friendship, walls that choke out life.I seek a heart that can open new avenues to life by recognition of others’ goodness, a freeing of their humanness, and an appreciation of God’s wonders at work in everyone and everywhere.

I seek a heart that is other-centered-- motivated by humility, empathy and love of my God, freely willing to be opened by life and to life, joyfully open to God ---

May we become the compassion of God in our time and place. This is our HOPE and our prayer, AMEN.

29

30