Prelude Melodia Africana I by Ludovico Einaudi
Opening Words by Andrew Pakula (adapted)
There is a place of peace,
A place of wisdom,
A place of love.
May this sacred centre be our guide,
May it be our strength for the journey,
May it fill us with hope when all seems hopeless,
And may it lead us to know the sacredness in all.
Chalice Lighting (you may wish to light a candle in your own home at this point). Words by Laura Dobson
We light our chalice in gratitude
for the grace of mystery,
for all the times we have stood
in awe and wonder
at the depths of our inner lives and
the beauty of our outer lives
made One.
Opening Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love,
Be with us as we gather for worship,
Each in our own place.
Help us to feel a sense of community,
Even though we are physically apart.
Help us to care for each other,
In this world in which Covid has not yet gone away,
And the clouds of war and climate change overshadow us.
May we keep in touch however we can,
And help each other,
However we may.
May we be grateful for the freedoms we have
and respect the wishes of others.
May we hold in our hearts all those
Who are grieving, lost, alone,
Suffering in any way,
Amen
Reading from Benedictine spirituality: the first vow: stability Blogpost by Lynne Baab, 12 February 2016 (adapted)
The first vow laid out in Benedict’s Rule is stability. To a monk or sister, it means being committed to stay in this particular monastic house with these particular people. It means being willing to look for God here in the constancy of this place in this rhythm of life, rather than seeking God in ever-changing places and varied routines.
In Beyond the Walls: Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Life, Paul Wilkes calls stability a “sense of where you are,” and he believes that our disjointed lives and fragmented society present ample evidence that we desperately need to embrace stability. “What was needed, Benedict taught, was maddeningly simple. It was a commitment to trust in God’s goodness – that he was indeed there, in that very place; and that holiness, happiness, and human fulfilment were to be found, not tomorrow or over the hill, but here – today.”
Wilkes argues that a sense of stability offers a resting place, but that we must not understand stability to mean that we can never change. Because life is a journey, there will always be transitions and changes. Stability, Wilkes believes, “is woven of the ability to stay put and yet never lose the explorer’s desire for new experiences. . . . Stability’s goal is that we might see the inner truth of who we are and where we are going. That we might be still long enough to be joined intimately to the God who dwells within. . . . It is difficult – no, it is impossible – to find and maintain that centre if our waking hours are a blur of mindless activity, without the presence and practice of stability in our lives.”
Alternative Lord’s Prayer
Spirit of Life and Love, here and everywhere,
May we be aware of your presence in our lives.
May our world be blessed.
May our daily needs be met,
And may our shortcomings be forgiven,
As we forgive those of others.
Give us the strength to resist wrong-doing,
The inspiration and guidance to do right,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We are your hands in the world; help us to grow.
May we have compassion for all living beings,
And receive whatever life brings,
With courage and trust.
Amen
Reading from Benedictine spirituality: the first vow: stability Blogpost by Lynne Baab, 12 February 2016 (adapted)
Stability, for those of us not living in the monastic rhythm of prayer services, can mean a commitment to daily, weekly or monthly prayer disciplines. A weekly Sabbath observance and attending church each week can be part of our expression of stability. Faithful demonstrations of family commitments are connected to stability. For the first thirty years of my adult life, I called or wrote my parents every week, and I now understand that rhythm to be part of the structure of stability that keeps me healthy. Faithfulness to our marriage vows, checking in regularly on our neighbours, and consistent attempts to affirm and listen to our co-workers can all be expressions of a commitment to stability, as we realize on a deep level that this is the field where God has planted us and called us to bear fruit.
Benedict calls us to listen as a part of the vow of stability. The Rule says, “Listen with the ears of your heart, for the Lord waits for us daily to translate into action, as we should, his holy teachings.” We need to listen to the scriptures in order to know God’s teaching. We need to listen to the Holy Spirit, to teach us how to apply God’s truth. We need to listen to our own lives, so we can understand the ways God is speaking to us in this day, in this place….
The Benedictine vow of stability can be affirming and encouraging as we enter into the second, third, fourth, fifth, or even sixth decade in the same marriage, the same job, the same church, or the same town. We need to be reminded of the significance in God’s eyes of continuity and faithfulness.
Prayer by Alex Brianson
O you who animate the universe
You who are mother and father to us all
You who give us the blessing of life
You who live inside us and without
May we learn to see You in creation
And may we find in this a comfort
And a celebration.
May we find a name for you that we can love –
A call sign to help us find You.
A mantra to mutter as we centre ourselves
And try once more to treat others as we would have ourselves be treated.
So may it be. Amen.
Reading The 3 Gunas of Nature (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas) by Timothy Burgin https://www.yogabasics.com/learn/the-3-gunas-of-nature/
Guna is a Sanskrit word which translates as “quality, peculiarity, attribute, or tendency.” In yoga and Ayurveda, a guna is a tattva or element of reality that can affect our psychological, emotional and energetic states.
All three gunas are always present in all beings and objects surrounding us but vary in their relative amounts. We humans have the unique ability to consciously alter the levels of the gunas in our bodies and minds. The gunas cannot be separated or removed in oneself but can be consciously acted upon to encourage their increase or decrease. A guna can be increased or decreased through the interaction and influence of external objects, lifestyle practices and thoughts.
Qualities of the three gunas
Tamas is a state of darkness, inertia, inactivity, and materiality. Tamas manifests from ignorance and deludes all beings from their spiritual truths. Other tamasic qualities are laziness, disgust, attachment, depression, helplessness, doubt, guilt, shame, boredom, addiction, hurt, sadness, apathy, confusion, grief, dependency, ignorance.
Rajas is a state of energy, action, change, and movement. The nature of rajas is of attraction, longing and attachment and rajas strongly binds us to the fruits of our work. Other rajasic qualities are anger, euphoria, anxiety, fear, irritation, worry, restlessness, stress, courage, rumination, determination, chaos.
Sattva is a state of harmony, balance, joy, and intelligence. Sattva is the guna that yogis achieve towards as it reduces rajas and tamas and thus makes liberation possible. Other sattvic qualities are delight, happiness, peace, wellness, freedom, love, compassion, equanimity, empathy, friendliness, focus, self-control, satisfaction, trust, fulfilment, calmness, bliss, cheerfulness, gratitude, fearlessness, selflessness.
Time of Stillness and Reflection words by Johanna Boeke (adapted)
Spirit of Life, we confess that too much of our lives
consist of responding to questions:
Whereto?…
Wherefrom?…
Why and how?
We yearn for times when the wheels of
hurry, hurry!
will temporarily stop
and no-one interrupts the quiet.
Spirit of silence,
shut the door of the busy world;
let peace surround us…
[silence]
Lead us to an open plain
so that our souls can expand –
one with the earth and the universe –
as far as the infinite horizon.
Only then shall the fertile field of our hearts
Receive the seeds of calmness.
Please, spirit of stillness, give us times of such solitude.
Amen
Musical Interlude: Melodia Africana III by Ludovico Einaudi
Address Stability
In today’s service, I’m approaching the quality of stability from two distinct directions: from the Benedictine and the Ayurvedic / Yogic disciplines. In our frenetic, out-of-balance lives, both have much to teach us.
First, the Benedictine quality of stability. As we saw in our first two readings, Benedictine monks and nuns take a vow of stability: the website of Mount Michael Abbey explains, “Benedictine monks vow stability to the community in which they choose to live. This vow helps the monk persevere in the search for God. The promise is that the monk will stay with the other members of the community for mutual support in searching. While an individual monk may at times become discouraged in his search for God, the vow of stability helps him see that others are searching as well and have a sense of the proper direction for that search.”
This kind of stability is rare in today’s world. Most of us do not live in the place where we were born, and will move into different communities many times during our lives. Yet I believe that when we find a nurturing community, a safe and sacred space in which we can explore what gives our lives truth and meaning, that is very precious. I hope that most Unitarian communities can provide this for their members.
Because it is much easier to find, and then maintain, some spiritual stability in community than alone. Even if we are members of a spiritual community like a Unitarian congregation, or any other faith tradition, it is still likely to be somewhere we only go once (or perhaps twice) a week. For the rest of the time, we are thrown back on our own resources and must find ways to nurture stability in our lives. Which is much more difficult to do alone than with the support of another (or others).
I have to admit that I am a little envious of those of my friends whose life partners are on the same spiritual path as they are – it must be wonderful to be able to meditate daily (for example) with someone else. It is easier to hold ourselves to account, if someone else is expecting us to show up. Which is why (in one sense) members of monastic communities have it easy. The very stability which restricts them to one community also provides that community. Being in community with spiritual friends is wonderful and spiritually enriching – which is why I used to come back from Summer School each year with my spiritual batteries recharged, feeling on top of the world.
Our modern lives can easily become unbalanced: it seems to be almost our default way of being to be always on the go, always chasing the next item on the To Do List, and never taking time out to reflect, to meditate, to spend time with the Divine. And that is what the Benedictine vow of stability enables.
It is somewhat ironic that, the more we love our jobs, the more we see them as a vocation rather than a job, the less time we seem to have just to do nothing. Do Nothing. Sit. Relax. Simply Be. But it is vitally important to *make* that time. Because if we simply carry on beavering away, not looking after ourselves, we will eventually burn out. And then wonder why…
Time for spiritual reflection, time out of our everyday lives, is such an important thing. It brings our lives back into balance, helps us to take a long, reflective look at the matters which are concerning us, and hopefully allows us to move back into our lives with lower stress levels.
I honestly believe that it doesn’t matter what form this “time out” takes, so long as we have the intention to step away completely from our mundane, everyday lives. For me, a walk in the woods is a vital part of my life. As I walk, I notice God’s creation all around me – the trees, the bushes and hedges, the wild flowers, the birds singing – so loud and present, but so difficult to spot. It reconnects me with the Divine, with God’s presence in my life. And I try to spend 10 to 20 minutes in my bedroom, in front of my shrine, each morning, with my prayer beads. Although sometimes, I find it difficult to motivate myself to do it every day, on my own.
I had not heard of the three gunas of yoga until Monday morning, when I was discussing this service with my spiritual director. As we heard in our third reading, Yogic practitioners believe that all three gunas are always present in all beings and objects surrounding us but vary in their relative amounts. … They cannot be separated or removed in oneself but can be consciously acted upon to encourage their increase or decrease. A guna can be increased or decreased through the interaction and influence of external objects, lifestyle practices and thoughts.”
He explained that all three gunas are necessary for a balanced and healthy spiritual life, but in varying proportions. Rajas is good for activation, transformation and motivation; tamas is its flip side; and sattva is the ideal, which people should aim for. As our reading said, it “is a state of harmony, balance, joy, and intelligence.” Nevertheless, he said that rajas too has its own part to play in our lives – it gives us energy and motivation, enabling us to commit to our goals. But sattva is the important one – he likened it to a pool of clear water, utterly still, crystal clear from top to bottom.
I did some poking around on the internet and discovered that two of the ways in which we can influence the balance of the three gunas in our lives is through meditation and yoga on the one hand, and through what we eat on the other. Ayurvedic practitioners believe that certain foods may be described as “Sattvic”, “Rajasic” or “Tamasic”. On another website, chrismillas.com, I discovered the following:
- That sattvic foods are pure and high in nutrients, are easy to digest, increase life-force energy and ultimately create health and well-being. Examples include whole grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, ghee, nuts, honey and herbal teas.
- That rajasic foods are spicy in taste, thus stimulating the mind and body. They are neutral in terms of purity and nutrition, and in their effects on life-force energy and well-being. Examples include onions, garlic, chillis, refined sugar, coffee, tea and tobacco. The website suggested that people “who engage in strenuous physical activities” should consume moderate quantities.
- That tamasic foods are heavy in taste, thus dulling the mind and body. They are impure and low in nutrients, hard to digest, decrease life-force energy and ultimately create sickness and disease. Examples include meat, fish, eggs, alcohol, non-vegetarian foods, and foods that are over-cooked, burned, fermented, fried, barbequed, over-processed and/or full of preservatives. Not surprisingly, the website recommends avoiding them.
Of course, most of this dietary advice is also in line with best Western practices (except, perhaps, the insistence on vegetarianism, although those of us who care about the future of the planet may choose to become vegetarian as a response to global warming). Nevertheless, reading that article made it crystal clear to me why I have been lacking in energy and feeling lurgy lately. I have been eating far too many tamasic foods, and not enough sattvic ones. So there may be something in it.
The other thing that my spiritual director talked about was the importance of grounding ourselves through meditative practices, such as centring prayer, meditation, or mindfully walking in nature. Such practices will increase our sattvic guna, and bring us back into balance with our spiritual selves.
Again, it doesn’t matter *which* spiritual practice we choose, so long as we are able to find one (or a combination of several) that nourishes us. I personally am nourished through a particular combination of spiritual and creative practices, which I try to do at the beginning of each day. On an ideal day, I will sit for ten minutes, go for a walk, journal, then do some creative writing. By the time I’m through, I am in balance and feeling right with the world. I know from experience that if I lose the habit of any of them for a couple of weeks (which, if I am honest, happens only too easily) I am more wound-up, more easily irritated, less relaxed, less able to give of myself to others.
Human beings are complex, and what nourishes one might be anathema to another. We are physical beings, which means we need to look after our bodies and nourish them carefully, but also spiritual beings, which means we need to nourish our souls too. For you, spiritual balance or stability might be gained through attending worship on a Sunday, or a Heart and Soul session or meditation group or yoga class during the week, or walking a labyrinth, reading a spiritual or theological book and doing some quiet lectio divina. Or journalling. Or praying. Like I said, it doesn’t really matter, so long as we commit to doing whatever it is regularly, preferably each day.
Our souls will love us for it.
Closing Words
Spirit of Life and Love,
Our time together is drawing to a close.
May we learn to understand
what nourishes us, body and soul,
then follow that path faithfully.
May we share the love we feel,
May we look out for each other,
Sharing our joys and our sorrows,
And may we keep up our hearts,
Being grateful for the many blessings in our lives,
Now and in the days to come, Amen
Postlude Stella del Mattino by Ludovico Einaudi