when night falls and the gates to the palace of death break open,
when night falls, I want to reach for the stars, full of luminosity,
wondering on what threshold of morning my soul will awaken.
When day breaks with its glory on my spirit,
when day breaks and the angel of light spreads her wings about me.
When day breaks I want to rise in the arms of the One who summons me,
waking in a dream of communion in the great house of Being.
With my last breath I want to sing my life’s praise,
the hymn of a soul given to amazement.
With my last breath I want to sing my heart’s song,
grateful and grace-full:
my spirit exulting in The Gift of my life.
With my last breath I want to sing
my life’s praise – the hymn of a soul
given to amazement!!!
Meditation
Nonetheless, every little bit helps, and avoiding an increase of a tenth of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to alleviate some suffering for many people. Yet what is important is something less quantitative: the need to realize that there are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural changes without personal changes.
Efforts by households to reduce pollution and waste, and to consume with prudence, are creating a new culture. The mere fact that personal, family and community habits are changing is contributing to greater concern about the unfulfilled responsibilities of the political sectors and indignation at the lack of interest shown by the powerful. Let us realize, then, that even though this does not immediately produce a notable effect from the quantitative standpoint, we are helping to bring about large processes of transformation rising from deep within society. (LD 70-71)
Prayer
We thank you, our Father, for the beauty that lies about us: this Earth, lovely in springtime, with its bursting buds and the riot of color in flowering gardens; the cool relief of the first heavy shower after a parched summer; the golden fruitfulness of autumn; and the bracing cold of the winter months.
We thank you for the symphony of sight and sound in nature – deep blue skies and green, grassy lawns; moonlit nights and the first flush of dawn; the chirp of the cricket, the sweet note of the robin; the droning hum of the bees, the excited welcoming bark of a loved pet dog.
We thank you for home and friends and family and the deep content of the fireside in beloved human companionship – with the crisp, sharp cold outside.
You have given us an exquisite setting and immense capacities. We pray that we might be increasingly worthy of this – that inspired by the unsurpassable beauty of your creation, we might strive to cultivate within ourselves a quiet and calm spirit — poise and dignity — the beauty of disciplined, orderly lives, the serenity born of devotion, the deep peace that comes only from perfect love, and of abiding faith in you. Amen.— Satyavati Chitambar Jordan
