“We rise in the east to start our journey of a day, carrying in memory our yesterdays. May we be fully present to this day’s offerings and to what is manna enough for today.
This landscape we journey on, what does it hold for us? It is more than mere scenery. It holds the presence and beauty of its creator. It holds you and me. Great Spirit, may our eyes hold its wonder.”
~Robert Brinkley
Every week during our worship we offer our gratitude for the circle in which we sit and the one that encircles us creating our sacred place of worship. During this time people settle in, leaving what has happened before, all they’ve left undone or is nagging them, and allow their bodies to be present in a sabbath place. As ancients and indigenous people have done for thousands of years, we honor the directions that hold us and give form to our comings and goings. It is a time to allow our heartbeat and our breath to settle and be in a calm and peaceful place if only for any hour. Even if the music is fast and upbeat, the container that surrounds us spells safety. In this circle everyone is welcome. Everyone’s prayers can be spoken here. Everyone’s vulnerabilities and pain can be shared. Everyone’s joy can be celebrated. All this is pure gift.
Most Sundays words are spoken as we make the circuit around the room. Most are written by one of our liturgy planners to invite people into the theme of the day. The words above are just such words. These particular ones were so rich, so deep, that many of us asked for a copy so we might spend more time with them. I have had them hanging on my office door so I might stop and reconnect with them as I come and go during a busy day.
Many days I am carrying the memory of countless yesterdays as I go about the present moment. Some of these yesterdays can nag at me…..things I have left undone….acts of which I am ashamed…..regrets overflowing…..hurts I may have caused. All that baggage can weigh on any good beginning to any new day.
On days when my baggage seems more heavy than I can carry, it is good to be assured of the food, the manna, that is sufficient for my wilderness journey. Manna like the fresh smell of a summer morning……mist rising from the river…..the unsolicited smile of a stranger…..sweet music floating from the radio or the even sweeter song of the red winged blackbird outside my window…..the uplifted face of the big, black dog. All this and more to feed me for this day. Tomorrow will have another feast altogether. But the gift of this food is for this day.
What does the landscape of your day hold out to you? This more-than-scenery landscape that offers glimpses of Creation and therefore Creator calls out to us if we have ears to hear. The streets we travel paints a message of possibility if we have eyes to see. The people we encounter hold out promise if we have a heart to embrace them.
The circle of this day calls to us…..sunrise to sunset. We make the circle round this day, east, south, north, west. Great Spirit, may our eyes hold its wonder. May this day be one more act of worship.
