| |
Wednesday September 28, 2011
Welcome to our fifth anniversary edition!
Ellen Turnbull and I were wondering about a way to draw insight attention to this remarkable book of evolutionary prayers by Bruce Sanguin that he has published under the title, If Darwin Prayed. We also wanted to draw attention to the celebration of five years of this online newsletter, insight.
I suggested to Ellen that we send a copy of Bruce’s prayer collection to at least ten people who had, at some point in the last five years, made a written contribution to insight. We would take a chance that somewhere between the book’s covers would be at least one prayer that sparked a response in that writer. We would anticipate a spark of recognition, a moment of connection, as the writer found one prayer giving voice to something of the depth of their own relationship with sacred mystery and with divine presence. And we would invite them to write about that.
And so we did just that.
This edition of insight is a collection of the six reflections we received from the writers we contacted, along with the prayer they addressed.
From Tim Scorer
Here’s what I said to the writers in my letter:
“I don’t know how it is with you and prayer, but I can pretty much mark out my path of spiritual formation through prayer collections of one kind or another. It’s great how the right prayer writer emerges just as I feel the need for a fresh voice to accompany me in finding a few words for the almost inexpressible in that season of my living.
"And so it is with this collection we have sent you. I had the opportunity to collaborate with Bruce Sanguin in creating a small group study guide to accompany his book, Darwin, Divinity, and the Dance of the Cosmos. That experience shifted enough ‘stuff’ within me that I needed help to find a language for the holy terrain in which I then found myself. What a relief when If Darwin Prayed
appeared! It really was like coming to a gushing spring of water and experiencing deep refreshment.
"This is one of the prayers in Bruce’s book. Over the last few months I’ve read it aloud in some of the groups I’ve been facilitating as a kind of call to attentiveness in the session about to begin.
Travellers in Time
Let us gather now,
friends of Spirit – travellers in time –
to hear the story
of Love’s evolving narrative.
In this sacred space,
we release into the present,
laying aside all worries, plans, and complaints,
entering into the now
of Mystery’s eternal temple.
In this sacred space,
we honour our past,
retelling the great story of deep time
as Spirit’s unfolding tale,
giving thanks that a whole universe
is gathered up in the likes of us –
tradition’s promise.
In this sacred space,
we consent to the allurement
of an unrehearsed future,
from where the living Word
woos each one of us toward
our unique expression –
that is Spirit’s dream.
Amen.
"The prayer is so knowingly written that I can feel the human tension of recognition rising in people and then being released with a great sigh at these thirteen words: In this sacred space, we consent to the allurement of an unrehearsed future. I could say something about every line, but I just want to hint at what a writer might do in 200 words or so: take us to a prayer and make a personal connection. I know that’s asking a lot: the vulnerability of it; the deepest truths of our living.”
 
back to top 
From Jim Strathdee
Writer, musician, liturgist, and workshop leader in Sacramento, California
We turn aside to see
the beauty of each other,
the goodness of this life,
and the truth of sacred wisdom that knows:
Earth to be holy;
all creatures to be kin;
the universe to be One;
and Spirit to be a flaring presence,
for all who turn aside to see.
Amen.
Excerpt from “Turning Aside to See,” page 148 in If Darwin Prayed, by Bruce Sanguin
I live near a beautiful river that runs through a large 30-mile long protected parkway that is home to nature’s wild abundance: native trees and plants, deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, and thousands of water birds. Most every day I take a “prayer walk,” a trek that is part spiritual practice and part aerobics... Read more.
back to top
From Donna Sinclair
Author, spiritual companion, journalist, gardener, and social activist in North Bay, Ontario
We have managed to roll together
the tangled strands of our lives
and get ourselves here.
We take this soft and colourful ball of life –
the school knapsacks filled with anticipation,
the news from home,
the co-worker we can’t stand,
the friend that means the world to us,
the dreams that could come true if we just had time,
the failures that haunt our sleep,
the medical report we await,
the love received,
the healing laughter –
we take it all and entrust it as an offering to
the Cosmic Knitter,
who fashions – like an ancient granny –
from these ends of our lives,
a coat of many colours.
We place these woolly bits of our living
in the knitting bag
of this sacred liturgy,
listen for the eternal click and clack of needles,
and eagerly await the finishing touches of Spirit.
Amen.
"Knit One, Purl Two," page 109 in If Darwin Prayed, by Bruce Sanguin
I love colour and texture, and above all making things with my hands. But I can’t knit. God knows I’ve tried. Sadly, “the tangled strands” Bruce describes are all I ever produce... Read more.
back to top
From Paul Hawker
Pilgrim, mystic, author, and film maker in New Zealand
|
Presider:
|
When the sun shines,
and when the rain falls,
|
|
All:
|
we rejoice.
|
|
Presider:
|
When the money gods smile upon us,
and when the bottom falls out of the market,
|
|
All:
|
we rejoice.
|
|
Presider:
|
When family is the wind beneath our wings,
and when it is a hurricane of hurt,
|
|
All:
|
we rejoice.
|
|
Presider:
|
When we are strong in body and mind,
and when illness reveals our vulnerability,
|
|
All:
|
we rejoice.
|
|
Presider:
|
When the beauty of creation drops us to our knees in awe,
and when the injustice of humanity drops us to our knees in prayer,
|
|
All:
|
we rejoice.
|
|
Presider:
|
For we are in you,
and you are in us,
and there is a country of the soul
where the eternal joy of Being
sustains us on this rocky road of becoming.
|
|
All:
|
We rejoice and give thanks. Amen.
|
"Again, I Say Rejoice," page 119 in If Darwin Prayed, by Bruce Sanguin
Bruce’s prayer speaks to me of the yin and yang of life: the fullness, the nothingness; the experience of the whole that is mystery.
What is this gift of life?... Read more.
back to top
From Charlotte Jackson
Clinical and trauma counselor, couples counselor, author, and spiritual companion in Vancouver, British Columbia
O Holy One,
you have set us within a world of wonders,
an endless font of fascination.
We are fired into this world
with bottomless desire.
Forgive our fascinations,
which lead us away from the sacred
and toward the profane.
We are mesmerized by violence,
transfixed by displays of dominance,
and allured by the fetish of personal fortune.
Still you do not give up on us.
You are the persuasive pull of love,
and the insistent push
over the edge of yesterday’s truth.
You are the message of meaning –
and the promise of love
written into the stars and the life of this planet –
manifest in Jesus,
beckoning truth
and beacon of becoming.
We rest in holy longing.
Amen.
"Holy Longing," page 105 in If Darwin Prayed, by Bruce Sanguin
Holy Longing. This prayer speaks to my heart. It reminds me that at the core of our fascinations, beyond our pull to the petty and transient, a substantial “meal” exists beyond the “lollipops” of violence, domination, and petty fortunes... Read more.
back to top
From Robert V. Thompson
Author, prophetic speaker, congregational leader, heretic, provocateur, and mystic in Atlanta, Georgia
O Holy One,
ineffable and yet as near as now.
You are the nameless one,
though named by many traditions.
You are holy,
you are wholeness,
you are that mystery,
that magnificence
that no single tradition can contain.
Your beauty astounds,
your wisdom clarifies,
your abundance flows out
by many rivers
and returns to your ocean heart.
We honour each river –
veins of tradition,
arteries of life,
returning to your fathomless heart,
and back out again into the body of creation.
We are carried away,
trusting the flow
more than our names.
Amen.
"The Nameless Flow," page 139 in If Darwin Prayed, by Bruce Sanguin
I think I get this inter-spiritual truth. Every spiritual and religious tradition has its truths but at the core of every one there is a single heart beating. That heart of the matter is forgiveness, love, unity, and wholeness... Read more.
back to top
From Ralph Milton
Author, publisher, networker, and sage in Kelowna, British Columbia
Thanks for including me among those invited to respond to Bruce Sanguin’s book. I feel honoured. What I have is not a prayer or meditation, but a response.
Many years ago, when serving the churches of the Philippines, I learned that it was critical to learn the language – the specific dialect of a people – before I could talk to others about things that really matter. Especially about matters of the Spirit. Language or dialect are both vehicle and obstacle, and profoundly connected to the heart and soul of those who use them... Read more.
back to top
And in closing:
by Tim Scorer
Deep appreciation to the writers who chose to respond to the invitation. And words from the prayer with which we began:
May the living Word
woo each one of us toward
our unique expression –
that is Spirit’s dream.
Amen.
back to top
From Ellen Turnbull
Afterword from the editor
I’ve been going through the insight archive and re-reading some of the articles from the past five years. What an inspiring collection! Among other topics, there is a music issue, one focusing on embodied spirituality, an Advent couples journey, and of course the regular contributions from Tim Scorer, whose perspectives continue to encourage and nourish spiritual growth.
This issue, which celebrates insight’s fifth anniversary, is quite different from the first one (that came out under the name of CopperHouse Current). Like life and Earth, insight continues to transform, evolve, and move on, always with the intention of taking the best from the past – Christianity’s ancient wisdom – and being attentive to the movement of spirit in our day. Bruce Sanguin’s cosmological prayers are a natural fit with insight’s perspective of unity of spirit and creation.
I would like to offer deep gratitude to Tim Scorer for his contributions to each issue of insight. Tim is an astute and creative editor and writer. His experience and openness to what is emerging have enabled insight to maintain a finger on the pulse of a Christianity that is current and vital, and grounded in ancient truth. Thank you Tim for all you have done to nurture insight so well. Your careful and open-hearted leadership are much appreciated.
back to top
|
