Bless you,
Our ancestors and trancestors,
Gender-bending angels, prophets, and saints
We remember you
To everyone who died in pain and indignity
We remember you
To everyone who died alone and unmourned
We remember you
To everyone who died in loving care
We remember you
To everyone who defied expectations
We remember you
To everyone who lived straddling borders and boundaries
We remember you
To everyone who led and nurtured others
We remember you
We remember how your lives echo through our own
We remember you into wholeness you couldn’t imagine
As your lives have made us more whole.
Peace, Amen, So May It Be.
16 November 2025
Love of All Loves
The Sum of all things in this universe
You are the holiness among us.
There is a magic in our midst
That wells up from between us
That seeps in from beyond us
Which we call to heart and mind today.
May we call forth this love, this magic, this holy wonder
To bless our lives and world today.
08 December 2024
Love of All Loves,
Life of All Life,
Fellowship of All Fellowship,
be here with us now.
We know you move among us.
We know that even when there are two of us,
there is a power between us.
A power to comfort. A power to heal. A power to just be together.
May this power guide us, now and always.
10 November 2024
In the middle of this hour, in the middle of our lives, we make time for restful, healing stillness. Please join me in this guided meditation.
Find a position for your body that is comfortable, stable. Rest your hands in your lap, at your sides, or however you can without straining. Straighten your back, but don’t strain. Close your eyes if that helps you find your center, to shut out a bright noisy world and welcome the peaceful dark.
Breathe in deep, down into the warm dark of your belly. Breathe out, long and slow. Breathe in deep, breathe out slow. As you breathe in, feel the dark wrapping around you, like a warm blanket. As you breathe out, surrender your pains and worries to the bright world.
Breathe in quiet darkness. Breathe out loud brightness.
Breathe in rest. Breathe out worry.
Breathe in deep, as deep as you can. Now breathe out in a big sigh. Notice how your body feels.
Open your eyes, if they are still closed. Come back slowly into the room.
It is good to be together.
22 December 2024
In the middle of this hour, in the middle of our lives, we long for comfort. We long for companionship. We long for rest to prepare us for the road ahead. But for now, come be with us in this gentle space.
Settle in, and notice how your body feels. Where is the tension?
Behind your eyes? In your clenched jaw?
Your hunched shoulders? Your chest? Your stomach?
Breathe in deep, with the love of the people around you.
Breathe out, until you can’t anymore.
Breathe out all the tension in your body. Let it go.
Breathe in again, deep,
breathe in the peace your body needs today.
In deep, out deep.
10 November 2024
Our meditation this morning focuses on the present moment, letting go of whatever plans we had. Let your attention rest on these words. We will follow them with a minute of silent thought, meditation, or prayer.
Breathe in, and out. Breathe in, as deeply, slowly as you can. Let your breath back out. Focus on your breaths. In, out.
Focus on the space in front of you. Pay attention to it. Be present with it.
Did you plan this moment? Did you mean it to happen, like this?
Let go of your plans as you breathe out.
What do you see? Look at the shape of something in front of you. How it catches light. How it casts shadow.
Let this moment come up to you. Let it fill this space. Let it fill your awareness.
What do you hear? Focus on it for a little while. Rest your attention on the sound of the world around you.
Notice how this moment surrounds you. Notice this world of moments.
What do you feel? Feel the texture of something against your skin. How your body moves across its surface.
Let this moment hold your awareness. Let it grasp you firmly, gently.
What do you smell? Breathe it in, notice it. Notice how it fills your nose. Draw it down all the way to the center of your body.
Let this moment fill you. Take in a little more of this moment with each breath.
And then, let this moment go. Let yourself move on to the next moment. Leave behind your plans to stay.
Breathe in, and out. Breathe in, and out. Come back to the center of this space.
13 June 2021
Plant your feet below you, or
place your hands in your lap,
straighten your back – or
whatever helps you compose yourself. Breathe in long, gentle, and deep. Breathe out, feel your body unwind as you release your breathe.
To whom have you promised yourself?
Who is sitting next to you, breathing out as you breathe in?
Whose glance did you catch with your own, on your way in this morning?
Whose glance did you avoid?
Feel your body – where is it relaxed, or tense? Breathe in, breathe out.
Who promised themselves to you?
Whose hello warmed you?
Whose hug welcomed you home?
Whose smile has uplifted your own? Or didn’t?
Who has given their light to you?
What faint beacon drew you here, for the first time? Did your own glow flicker?
Were you afraid?
Who was the first person you shared your light with? Who has stayed because of your light?
This journey, this light, is not yours to keep jammed shut in your breast pocket. Your light cannot be kept within you, lest you burn down, burn out. Though it can be tiring to hold your light on your own.
Here may we open up our light. You never need go by yourself. Our way is lit by the sharing of others, whose way is lit by our sharing. How filled with light our room is now! Though we each bring the flames of love to the world, we never do so on our own.
Our light is our own and borrowed and given, endlessly circling.
Leave the shadow of the conviction that you were made to be alone, that you are not made of promises.
Breathe in, and breathe out. Come back to the center of this space.
26 January 2020
I wrote this to accompany "Spilling the Light," by Julián Jamaica Soto, in Spilling the Light, (Boston, MA: Skinner House Books, 2019), 1.