Opening Light Meditation
Picture the quality of a clear, warm sunlight in your mind’s eye…then imagine that same quality of sunlight as pinpoint of light in the middle of your body slowly expanding over the course of the next minute until it fills the body, surrounds the body, fills the room and extends beyond as far as you care to imagine.
The Sarum Prayer
God be in my head—and in my understanding
God be in my eyes—and in my looking
God be in my mouth—and in my speaking
God be in my heart—and in my thinking
God be at my end—and at my departing
Words of the Followers
1 Peter 1: 3–5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Reflection
It’s easy to focus on the question, “Did the resurrection of Jesus really happen?” when perhaps the more important question is, “What did the resurrection of Jesus mean?” To me the resurrection means that the scapegoating mob doesn’t get the last word, as it has so often in human history. It means that God gets the last word: that the oppressed (who are always punished unjustly, often for crimes they didn’t commit at all) are innocent, not guilty—and God stands with them. Which means that if we want to stand with God, we will stand with them too. And it means that history is moving in the direction of justice, the setting right of all wrongs, despite appearances in difficult times such as we are living through. It means what Julian of Norwich, the 14th Century mystic, who lived through a pandemic famously said: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
Prayer for Divine Perception
O Divine Wisdom, who dwells within the holy of holies, and whose light shines through all things created, fill our hearts, O blessed One, with the hope of a blessed future. Amen.
Prayer for Loved Ones
Take in and release a few deep breaths, as you name your loved ones, not seeking to change any of them with this form of prayer, but simply holding them in the light of God, for God’s blessing.
Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
Gratitude Practice
Allow yourself to feel gratitude, appreciation, or delight, for three things, small or big, whatever comes to mind.
Prayer of Praise
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Benediction
So have a blessed day: go in peace, wash your hands, love your neighbor—you are not alone!