Minister's Post, Fri Jun 10

Dear Ones,

In our turquoise hymnal, Singing the Journey, hymn #1031 is "Filled with Loving Kindness." The first verse goes:

May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be well.
May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be well.
May I be peaceful and at ease. May I be whole.

For the second verse, replace "I" with "you." For the third verse replace "I" with "we."

The hymn is adapted from lovingkindness meditation practice. In this form as a UU hymn, it provides us a wonderful way to do a self-guided lovingkindness meditation practice. Simply take a few minutes some time in your day. It may work well to do this while sitting on the edge of your bed either first thing in the morning or last thing at night.

• Sit up straight.
• Lower your eyes to almost-but-not-quite closed.
• Be still and silent for a few moments.
• Then quietly sing the first verse.
• Be still and silent for another few moments.
• Then sing the second verse.

And so on for all the verses. For the second verse (the "you" verse), call to mind one specific person -- perhaps a difficult person in your life. For the last verse (the "we" verse), I suggest singing it twice. The first time through, every time you sing "we," bring to mind the people you personally know: friends, family, co-workers, fellow UU congregants. Then sing the "we" verse again, this time focusing on the most expansive sense of "we" -- namely, all beings everywhere.

If you'd find it helpful to have a recording to sing along with, you can find several to choose from on Youtube. (Go to Youtube.com and search for "Filled with Loving Kindness".)

Do this practice every day and it will slowly begin to change you.

May you be filled with lovingkindness; may you be well, peaceful, at ease, and whole,
-Meredith

Join a Journey Group: http://cucwp.org/journey-groups

I.C.Y.M.I. (In Case You Missed It)

The May 29 Service, "Remembering"



The Jun 5 Service, "Coming of Age, and a Little More Age" -- #1



Here it is, your...
MOMENT OF ZEN
#123: Fascinating

The course you travel as you roam about seeking earnestly for the path: that's the path. Suppose you look down to see this path you're on. If you do so while walking, you'll trip on something. If you stop to do so, you only see the ground around your feet: a spot, not a path. Better get back to looking for the path.

Case

At a private meeting Grouse said, "I'm not sure that I am dedicated enough to my practice."
Raven said, "Never mind about being dedicated."
Grouse said, "The truth is, I haven't the foggiest idea of what the practice really is."
"Me, either," Raven said, "but aren't you curious?"
Grouse said, "Fascinated."
Raven said, "There you go."

Verse

In a trackless forest,
making my way slowly through brush,
I came upon an unlikely hut,
and a woman in the doorway,
hoe in hand, watching my approach.
"Which way to the road?" I asked.
She studied me silently.
"Which," I started to ask again, louder.
"Just keep on," she interjected.
Before I could say, "Which direction?"
she stepped back and
closed the door.

Case adapted from Robert Aitken; introduction and verse by Meredith Garmon

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