West Hill Podcast

Long before the night is over,
long before th pain is gone,
long before we see our future,
long before we share our song.

Long before we make it better,
long before we sign a deal,
long before we stand together,
long before our wounds can heal.

Long before our children suffered,
long before our nations cried,
long before the fires dwindled,
long before the spirit died …

Ours was the world and all that’s in it,
ours was the song that rose on high,
ours was the hope that fueled the spirit,
ours is the truth that cannot hide.

Amen

Distant horizons wait silently,
the terrain between us mixed
with beauty’s constant company.
And at our feet,
a profusion of animated miracles,
alive in the soil we press our toes upon.
As our eyes consume the world around us,
it is hard not to stand
in constant, mesmerized amazement.
So, too, as we set our gaze
upon the inner seascape of our”selves”,
are we at risk of being moored in the stillness of awe,
captivated by the wonder of how we are made,
what we think, feel, dream, and why we do.
But the horizons of the deep are not
so passive as their exterior counterparts.
They raise us up on the crests of our being
or plunge us to our depths,
as we, who ride these restless waves,
cling fervently to the truths that lie within.
As those who swim and sink and swim again,
we pray,
Amen

As we gather to celebrate,
we place at the centre of our hearts,
those things we hold in common,
that call us to a higher, nobler purpose
than we might find
were we alone.
In this place,
grounded in this pursuit,
we share experience and wisdom,
develop relationships,
fold ourselves into the tension of love.
May we know in our time together this day,
through music, word, silence, and song,
the blessing and challenge community places before us
and within these two things,
might we live into wholeness
both the gifts we have to offer
and the gifts we have received.
In light, we pray,
Amen.

No road takes us to a sure place.
If we have been there before,
what we remember if it may have changed,
people moved away, buildings altered.
What we remember
holds us in the moment of time
we last experienced the reality of this place.
But even should the walls remain in place,
the trees around be strong and yet as broad,
the people unchanged from when we last arrived – the places of our hearts know new terrain
and we, who carry it within us, will see with different eyes.
May we be open to what our eyes tell us of our lives
not just of places well-known and loved,
But of new land, new discoveries, new places of the heart.
This we pray, as those who walk a common road,
Amen

With a deep sense of awe, reverence, and joy,
we acknowledge the wonder of life
in all its dimension.
Touched by that wonder,
we explore it both deep within
and far beyond ourselves,
linked, as we are,
with the beauty of all that is.
As we explore our interconnectedness,
may we find goodness being lived out,
kindness offered,
and truth revealed
both in each other’s needs
and in each other’s eyes.
May that truth bind us as one,
and call us beyond what we know
into the full experience of what we are.
As light into light,
we pray,
Amen.

We work, sweat,
put our shoulders to the talk
and our bodies respond.
Slowly at first,
grudgingly,
they ease into the movement,
warming up as the challenge unfolds
until we believe
we were designed for this very motion,
perfectly balanced to achieve its perfection.
Until that next day
when muscles cry out in lament –
strained, bruised, stretched in unfamiliar ways – and we, who stood upon the victor’s podium
mere hours before,
bend in stiffened distress,
brought low by our realities,
As we feel the results of our labours
lingering messages deep, close to our bones
may we remember, too,
the joy of service,
and the surge of strength that lifted us to offer it,
And may we,
A complexity fo interwoven dreams,
celebrate the gifts poured out
to make us so.
As light into light, we pray,
Amen.

Twisting inside us,
doubt is a deconstructionist.
It presses past the solid foundations
upon which we have built
our faith, our relationships,
our understanding of the world,
our image of ourselves.
Against its power,
none nor any thing
is sacred.
We feel its pull – here in this gathering,
and all those sacred places of our lives
where we would choose to build a trust – we feel its pull.
Magnetically drawn,
we seek our own truths
and, should we find ourselves
amidst doubt’s razed ruins,
the remnants of what was,
we seek the strength to build of that
the truths and loves that yet may be.
As those who build the world to be,
we pray, Amen.

Are we led to the truth of who we are or is it something that unfolds within us?

Are we bound to come to know it or might it elude us through the whole of our lives?

If found, are we able to turn our backs, ignore the penetrating light it spills upon our every moment or must we grapple with the realities it lays bare?

We do not know.

Yet we are compelled to seek life’s meaning. Some look outwards – the stars, the natural world, and their own place in it lending them a sense of place. Some look inwards – states of consciousness opening in meditative repose, spilling into the greatness of wonder.

Some look and look and ever look.

As we step into the moments that are ours, might we be aware of the deep mysteries within and beyond us.

May we be captivated by the drama of the holy – the great unfolding of what life might become and we its current players.

And as we give ourselves to these passing moments, might we imbue them with our own holy touch that we leave them as sparkling dust, memories of beauty to light a future day.

As those who dream, and dream, and dream,

We pray,

Amen

In the play between light and dark,
too often the dark will overcome
and we stumble, fall, slide into caverns,
lose the sense of who we are
and curl up, afraid and lost.
Moments, hours, days are stolen
from the universe of our existence
as we struggle in the confines
of the dark.
Yet come this moment
a streak of light so bold
‘twould sear the retina of our cave
crease whatever stones
we place before it
and bid us forth.
And we, uncrumpling, sore, stiff,
unused to freedom,
venture forth,
returned,
and home again
as through a darkness come,
we pray.
Amen

No matter the rules,
we all, from time to time,
got to take a good hard look
at what the heck we’re doing
and why.
How’d we get here?

What caused us to do that last thing we just done?
Were it the way our mammas taught us?
Was that it?
And is that good enough any more?
Did she tell us straight?
Or should we rethink a thing or two
this side of the day after tomorrow?
Goodness knows
there’s enough
just following after what came before
to do us all in if we don’t look where we’re going
from time to time.
So heads up today!
Eyes sharp!
We’re taking a look at what it is we do
and all the “just becauses”
are going to have to give up
their “whys and wherefores”
because we’re the people
who got to know
and today’s the day
we got to know it!
Amen