Compline at the still time

This is designed for worship as the winter solstice nears. It is creation-oriented. Although the need and desire to turn from death to life are articulated, it is not oriented about atonement. It is not Native American because I am not; but it clearly draws on indigenous perspectives. If I did this right, a sense of the sacred permeates it, but it is not cast in god-language. The language is not explicitly Christian yet the one who composed it wrote it with a strong sense of the God we know in Christ: Source, Savior, Sanctifier. I know whom I address in prayer and the Holy One is known by many names.

COLLECTING

At the turning of the year
At the wheeling of the stars
At the ending of the day
We pause in silence

[silence]

In the quiet time
In the fallow time
In the resting time
We rest in silence

[silence]

For the dark hour
For the still hour
For the changing hour
We seek silence

[silence]

Candles and lamps may now be lit

CONNECTING

In the dying time
We seek to let die in us
Our illusions and false judgments
Our bitterness and resentment
Our anger and our indifference
Our failures but not the learnings from them
Our pain but not the compassion gained from it
Our bondage to the past but not our memory of it

In the still time
We harvest what the year has brought us
We yearn to gather our scattered selves
To re-knit the fabric of our lives
To meet ourselves anew

In the dark time
We learn once more to cherish the light
To share the warmth
To keep alive the hearth fire
To nourish the divine spark
To know our own heart

In the silent time
We yield the illusion of control
We cease from our action
We let go
We learn to wait
To listen

[silence]

SELF OFFERING

From the rising of the sun to its going down
May our voices praise the Maker of all things

In the birthing and the dying
In the growing and the withering
May our lives be in harmony
May our words be filled with grace
May our thoughts be filled with understanding
May our hearts be filled with compassion

In the sameness and the changing
May our eyes behold truth amid deceit
May our ears perceive the song amid noise
May our feet pursue the path of beauty
May our hands be strong to do what is right

In the turning
May we turn from despair to hope
May we turn from sorrow to joy
May we turn from harm to healing
May we turn from death to life
May we turn to connectedness
May we turn to kindness
May we turn to one another
May we turn to ourselves
May we turn to the Light
That shines forever amid the dark

INTERCEDING

Let us name, silently or aloud, that for which we give thanks this day


Let us name, silently or aloud, those we hold before God this day


Let us hold ourselves in the silence, in the turning, in the darkness and the light


THANKSGIVING FOR THE SEVEN DIRECTIONS

For the birthing and beginning
We give thanks

For the growing and the fruiting
We give thanks

For the gathering and the yielding
We give thanks

For the ending and the stillness
We give thanks

For the vastness of the heavens
We give thanks

For the grounding of the earth
We give thanks

For the deep and inward place
We give thanks

[silence]

GOING FORTH

Into the darkness
We go now in hope

Into the stillness
We go now in peace

Into the turning
We go now in joy

Into the world
We go now in love

[Those who freaked over holy smudging can now run amok over this. Solidarity, Padre! Lila waste yelo. Mitakuye oyasin.]

Art by DeKooning

--the BB