Readings week of August 3rd.

Readings from last week's Daily Contemplative Pauses

*All previous readings & reflections can be found here*

Monday, August 3rd with Joy

Reading: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment. The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. — Mark 12:29-30

One possible interpretation of this verse, from the Aramaic (The Peshitta, found at dukhrana.com) is:

Cherish the holy One with all your inner wisdom, with your whole life and being, with all your tending and caring, and with all your substance and integrity, and power of the Divine Indwelling. The second is this: From this gathered love, kindle and encourage and inspire your neighbor, as though they are your own life.

Chant: We are held in love, we are one in love — Joy Andrews Hayter

Tuesday, August 4th with LeMel

Reading: A blessing based on prayers written by Arnold Kenseth in, Sabbaths, Sacraments, and Seasons.

Holy One, may we be blessed to take such large words as peace, freedom, understanding, and the siblinghood of all humankind, and translate them into our daily lives in a language that gives them meaning - in: families, music, our daily work, falling in love, laughing at our own mistakes, and just being human beings. And we give thanks for the small places of peace already here: the child at play, hands honestly at work, the quiet family, love in the eyes of friends, forgiveness in the words of those who differ from us, and the ones who listen. We give thanks for all who bring tidings of peace: the singer, the doctor, the teacher, the dreamer, and all who, in trust, build up the waste places and turn the ashes of mourning into garlands of joy. May we be so blessed as to notice these small and many blessings that are already here, and may we participate in their further growth. Amen

Chant:

May we translate into our being

And so into this tender world

All your good fruits, Oh Holy One

And so may blessings flourish

— LeMel's Youtube and Substack (for daily readings and chants)

Wednesday, August 5th with Tom

Reading: What to do when nothing to do?!

There are these small, quiet moments in a day when nothing is actually wrong. And yet, the mind often scrambles to fill the space — opening apps, checking messages, gaming, solving problems that don’t exist, hunting for something to fix or figure out. We reach for distractions almost automatically, as if stillness itself is a problem that needs managing.

But what if nothing is wrong?

What if there’s truly nothing to do, nothing to improve, nothing to know?

Imagine developing a relationship with “nothing.” Getting intimate with those pauses where the mind naturally settles, where life is simply happening without our interference. Many of us have an almost allergic reaction to “nothing” – to ease — as if calm, spaciousness, or quiet is somehow suspicious.

Still, what would it be like to rest in stillness when nothing is wrong?

This isn’t an invitation to deny the conditions of the world — there’s plenty happening that deserves our care and attention, and these times are undeniably challenging. But even in a hard world, our inner landscape is not constantly in crisis. Over 24 hours, there are countless micro-moments when life is not demanding anything from us.

I invite you to savor those moments.

Take a breath.

Relax your grip.

Soften into stillness, the simple presence of nothing being wrong.

If you let yourself enjoy that, even for a breath or two, it may become a resource — a place of preference — one you can return to even when things do go wrong. — Ruth King

Chant: Inner Life of Being — Darlene Franz

Thursday, August 6th with LeMel

Reading: When I first went to a monastery, the Great Silence between evening meal and breakfast seemed unbearable. Later, during a ten-day silent meditation retreat, I was convinced that the other retreatants—also silent—were all angry, or somehow mad at me. I could not rely on my wit, charm, or intellect to engage them. For the first few days I resented the silence. Now, after years of practice, I seek out silences, I delight in them. They seem sweet, safe, a Sabbath, a genuine sanctuary in time.

— Wayne Muller, Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives

Chant:

Silence, sweet and safe

Create in me true sanctuary

— LeMel's Youtube and Substack (for daily readings and chants)

Friday, August 7th with Catherine

Reading: Letting Go

Meditation: The Art of Letting Go — Keith Kristich

Meditation—whether Centering Prayer or another practice—isn't about adding something new to ourselves. 

Rather, we're removing the layers that hide our true nature. These layers—our ego identifications, incessant thought patterns, and defensive postures—begin to soften and fall away. 

What is revealed in the unraveling?

·       An identity rooted in being rather than doing

·       A consciousness that recognizes we are reflections of the divine image

·       A heart that finds peace in simplicity rather than in complex understanding or the constant need to "get it right"

Thomas Keating reminds us, "The spiritual journey is a process of dismantling the monumental illusion that God is distant or absent." Through regular practice, we realize that what we've sought was already present, dwelling within as our deepest reality.

Our practice - Consent, Surrender

[Life, Love, Loss, God…]

…like Blake

in his engraving shop,

works with the fierceness

of acid on metal.

‘Melting apparent

surfaces away

and displaying the infinite

which was hid’.

— David Whyte

Chant: Sink into the taproot of your heart  — Heather Ruce

Saturday, August 8th with Tom

Reading: Many lightworkers are shifting roles right now.

Becoming a Frequency Holder

You're no longer meant to be the bridge builder. You're here to be the frequency holder. When you were the bridge builder, your mission was to meet people where they were. You moved between dimensions, dipped into denser timelines, and entered emotional landscapes that weren't yours just to help others find their way back to light. You felt everything.

You mirrored the higher path, step by step, from inside the mess. You were the energetic bridge between lower and higher consciousness. And it was exhausting. But that was your role then. Now, your mission has changed. You're not here to bridge anymore. You're here to hold. To anchor. To become the living transmission of the frequency itself.

You're being asked to stop explaining yourself. To stop lowering your vibration to translate your light. You're being guided to protect your peace. Not as avoidance, but as alignment. Because your peace is the new bridge. Your embodiment. And the right people will feel it. They won't need you to rescue them. They'll rise to meet you. — Anonymous Excerpt

Chant: Surrender to the beauty, become a mighty kindness  — Elizabeth Combs

Sunday, August 9th with Tom

Reading: Peace Is This Moment Without Judgment

Do you think peace requires an end to war?

Or tigers eating only vegetables?

Does peace require an absence from

your boss, your spouse, yourself?...

Do you think peace will come some other place than here?

Some other time than Now?

In some other heart than yours? 

Peace is this moment without judgment.

That is all. This moment in the Heart-space

where everything that is is welcome.

Peace is this moment without thinking

that it should be some other way,

that you should feel some other thing,

that your life should unfold according to your plans. 

Peace is this moment without judgment,

this moment in the Heart-space where

everything that is is welcome.

 — Dorothy Hunt

Chant: Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place.

— Rumi, set to the melody of the chant: Everywhere you turn, is the face of God

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