The Change That Is Our Life

Spirit of Life, moving source of all we know,
Summer begins now to draw to a close:
the unrelenting heat has subsided,
a cool breeze sings in the trees,
and the smoke is giving way to blue sky.
Change is in the air.

Some change is catastrophic:
illness and divorce and death,
fire and war and storm.

Other change is ordinary
and yet no less enormous in our hearts:
children beginning kindergarten,
teens beginning high school,
young adults fledging the nest.

Even as parents give thanks
that their children are making these beginnings,
they also sob for the times that are ending,
for their fears of what their children may face,
and for the beauty of the whole that is unfolding.

This is what it means to be alive
on this small blue planet
orbiting an ordinary star
in a spiral galaxy
in this vast expanding universe:
Change is the one thing
of which we can be
absolutely certain.

Spirit of Life, Source of all change:
Help us know that
whatever change we are experiencing,
whether catastrophic or ordinary
or somewhere in between,
You are with us.
Your love and your presence
they comfort us.
You are the whole
of which we are the parts
and we can never fall outside
of Your love.

Blessed be.

Our Shared Life

Spirit of Life,
Great ocean of compassion
in which we live and move and have our being:

Here is a truth we know well:
there is suffering in life.
When we encounter suffering,
our own or that of others,
may we gather together
to bring one another comfort.
May we speak of our pain together
so none of us is alone.
May we learn from what we share.
May we make meaning from it.

And here is another truth we know well:
there is great beauty in life.
There is great joy.
When our cup is filled to the brim
with beauty and joy,
may we gather together in celebration.
May we sing songs of wonder and praise.
May we be thankful for our shared life.

Blessed be.