Readings week of June 15th.
- Linda Lueng
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
Readings from last week's Daily Contemplative Pauses
*All previous readings & reflections can be found here*
Monday, June 15th
Reading: “What does the reflecting pool reflect when we look into its still waters? Does it reveal a people at peace within themselves or does it show a society broken and conflicted? Do we like what we see or is it a vision from which we turn away? These are questions to reflect upon. May Spirit give us the gift to see ourselves as we really are, not as the image we are told we want to be.” — Steven Charleston
Chant: Deep Peace — The Oriental Orthodox Order in the West
Tuesday, June 16th
Reading: “And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over fields. And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief."
— Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Chant: The earth is full, full of your [wonder/joy/grief], the earth is full, full of you, your [wonder/joy/grief] fills the whole earth — Darlene Franz
Wednesday, June 17th with Catherine
Reading: Allow
There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in -
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes.
— Danna Faulds, from “Go In and In: Poems from the Heart of Yoga”
Chant:
At the still point of the turning world
There you will know as you are known
Thursday, June 18th
Chant: Come be with me, all you who carry heavy burdens, I will give you rest, I will give you rest — Colleen Thomas
Friday, June 19th (Juneteenth) with LeMel
Reading: Bishop Desmond Tutu: "My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours," and, “All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others."
MLK: “Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy… Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children…
And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back…
No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream…
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together…
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last…”
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered on Aug. 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
Chant:
I will be free at last
When the truth of Essence
Shines bright through all I see
Saturday, June 20th
Reading: “When you don't require anything from the world, and nothing from God-when you don't desire anything, when you don't strive for anything, when you don't expect anything, the divine will enter you, unmasked and unexpected." — Nisargadatta
Chant: Do not give your heart, do not give your heart, do not give your heart, to that which does not satisfy your heart — Susan Latimer
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