Daily Contemplative Pauses Readings
from last week
Monday, June 3rd with Joy
Reading: Live Without Thought of Dying by Catherine of Siena, translated by Daniel Ladinsky
We work so hard to fly and no matter what heights we reach
our wings get folded near a candle, at the end.
For nothing can enter God but Himself,
our souls are some glorious substance of the divine that no sentry wants to stop.
Live without thought of dying, for dying is not a truth.
We have swayed on the sky's limb together, many years there the same leaves grow.
But then they get that look in their eyes and bid farewell to what they disdained or cherished.
This life He gave the shell, the daily struggles we know,
sit quiet for a minute, dear,
feel the wind,
let Light touch you.
Live without thought of dying, for dying is not a truth.
Tuesday, June 4th with Heather
Chant: whether I live, whether I die, I am the Lord’s (by Alana Levandoski)
Wednesday, June 5th with Joy
Reading: "The love that God most high has for our soul is so great that it surpasses understanding.
No created being can comprehend how much, and how sweetly, and how tenderly our maker loves us.
Our in-born will is to have God, and the goodwill of God is to have us.
There is no end to our willing and longing until we know God in the fullness of joy. Then our desire is filled." — Julian of Norwich
Thursday, June 6th with Chris
Reading: "Make everything within you an ear, each atom of your being, and you will hear at every moment what the Source is whispering to you, just to you and for you, without any need for my words or anyone else's. You are — we are all — the beloved of the Beloved, and in every moment, in every event of your life, the Beloved is whispering to you exactly what you need to hear and know. Who can ever explain this miracle? It simply is. Listen and you will discover it every passing moment. Listen, and your whole life will become a conversation in thought and act between you and Him, directly, wordlessly, now and always.
It was to enjoy this conversation that you and I were created." — Jelaluddin Rumi
Chant: listen listen wait in silence listening to the one from whom all mercy flows
Friday, June 7th with Heather
Reading: "If you and I have no possibility of becoming saints (because they are rare), then it seems as if our prospects are limited to becoming useful human beings. That is true if we look at human destiny only in terms of the material and the spiritual field of action. When we begin to look at it in terms of “I” and the will, the whole position is transformed. Then great and small cease to count; everyone is capable of the act that makes real. In the Harmony of Creation, the small act is as significant as the big act. Out of many small acts, Reality, the purpose of the whole creation, is being forged. Every deed, every act that is in truth the unification of the spiritual and the material is real. Everyone is capable of the act. However small they may be, they are of infinite importance compared with the mere activity where the union of spirit and matter fails to be realized. I am not using the word “infinite” in a figurative way. Just as a solid is infinitely more massive than a surface; so is a real act infinitely more weighty than mere actualization.”— J.G.Bennett
Chant: Spirit of truth open my mind, soul of wisdom open my heart
Saturday, June 8th with Heather
Reading: "Somewhere in those depths of silence I came upon my first experiences of God as a loving presence that was always near, and prayer as a simple trust in that presence."
"It’s very, very simple. You sit, either in a chair or on a prayer stool or mat, and allow your heart to open toward that invisible but always present Origin of all that exists." — Cynthia Bourgeault, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening
Chant: open my heart
Sunday, June 9th with Heather
Reading: "Prayer is not a request for God’s favors. True, it has been used to obtain the satisfaction of personal desires. It has even been adopted to reinforce prejudices, justify violence, and create barriers between people and between countries. But genuine prayer is based on recognizing the Origin of all that exists, and opening ourselves to it. . . . In prayer we acknowledge God as the supreme source from which flows all strength, all goodness, all existence, acknowledging that we have our being, life itself from this supreme Power. One can then communicate with this Source, worship it, and ultimately place one’s very center in it. Piero Ferrucci, Ineffable Grace." — Cynthia Bourgeault, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening
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