Chalice Lightings Week of April 27

Laura Thompson:

Across the distance, the light from within me shines, sending love to all Across the distance, your light is fuel that warms me and helps to keep my own light burning Together, we keep the flame of community burning bright ________________________________________________________________

By Carrie Newcomer

What is Heavy Turns to Spirit

What is heavy turns to spirit. What is hard and heavy cannot help In time to become Like a cup of ink poured out into the ocean. I do not doubt That for a time the ink darkens the water, displaces and obscures the light, leeches out its tendrils and stains what it touches.

But eventually The ink must break down into its smallest elements. The stain becomes only a faint shadow And barely noticeable to the outer eye.

This does not belittle the awful impact of a cup full of shadow. It is only to say, That in an ocean of goodness, In an expanse of health and light, A cup full of dark Can only prevail for so long Until it is overcome and transformed back into spirit, Back into it’s smallest elements Taken back into the whole And healed.

Do not despair while we still live In an ocean of light.

By Vance Bass

Every day brings struggle, every day brings joy.

Every day brings us the opportunity to ease the struggle of another, to be the joy in another’s life.

May this flame remind us to carry our light to each other and to the world.

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Isolation and the Seven Sins by Beth Weaver-Kreider

The first one is coughing, right?

Or. . .coughing without covering your mouth, or coughing into your hand instead of your elbow. Does sneezing belong here, too, or is it just a matter of degree: an uncovered cough goes ten feet while a sneeze blasts twenty-seven.

The second is touching your face. Don’t touch your face! Don’t scratch your nose! Don’t rub your eyes!

Then there’s forgetting to wash your hands, or not using soap, or not singing Happy Birthday twice through while you wash. I’m having a whole lot of birthdays lately.

Getting too close to people who don’t live in your house, that’s the fourth one— sidling up to strangers in stores, saying, “Is this the line?” while they edge away from you as politely as they dare.

Three more? Okay. Here’s one: Not wearing a mask in public. Don’t go to the bank unless you look you’re going to rob the bank. You’ve got to learn how to smile with your eyes.

Number six is definitely hoarding. Nobody needs that much toilet paper, hon.

And the seventh. Sloth? Is that one? I’m pretty sure I heard that one, but maybe that’s a deadly sin. Aren’t these deadly sins, too?

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By Gordon B McKeeman

“Let there be light!” Let it shine in dark places, in moments of pain, in times of grief,

in the darkness of hatred, violence, oppression, where there is discouragement and despair.

Wherever darkness is to be put to flight, “Let there be light!”

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Sometimes by Beth Weaver-Kreider

Sometimes when I say I am seeking the Beloved, it is your wise eyes I see, your expectant face, your eloquent and tender hands.

Sometimes when I listen for the humming of the stars, it’s your voice my ears remember, your quiet murmur, your trilling whistle, clear and bright.

Sometimes when I pause in the middle of the trail and catch the aroma of lilac or hyacinth sifting into the clearing, it’s your scent I’m sensing, and I am held in your arms as surely as if you were here.

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Talmud:

Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Walk humbly, now. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.