It is quite amazing to celebrate our first anniversary this month! It has been quite a year of gathering, offering, participating, listening, learning, and growing together. I could make a list of all that this year has held, but I decided to write the poem below instead.
So take a deep breath, through your nose.. All the way to the bottom of your belly.
And when you’re there, take in a little more.
And then slowly, ever slowly, release the air out of your lungs, gently through your mouth.
Do this a few more times, and add these words as our collective breath prayer:
Inhale: Our first trip around the sun
Exhale: Thanks be to God
Now with that same intentional and paced rhythm,
Read The First Turning, closing with
May it be so.
The First Turning
Year One on reflection, was a seed taking hold
in soil tilled from service – a story foretold.
Not by our might, and not by our power
but by quiet Grace blooming across every hour.
Twelve months of listening, of holding the weary,
and finding the light in days often dreary.
With hands open wide and a spirit of peace,
we planted the seeds for the soul’s full release.
A season we walked, by sacred design,
where human compassion and Spirit align.
We step with intention, we rise for the good –
to love one another – on that we all stood.
To comfort the broken and welcome the stranger,
to offer some shelter from cold and from danger.
This first year has taught us that be-ing is grace,
a holy reflection on each sacred face.
We find, as we gather, each a vessel of hope.
conduits of light amidst shadows, we hopefully cope.
Though small are our numbers, the mission is vast,
rooted in spirit, a Love that will last.
For the path yet to walk, and the work yet to do,
we renew our devotion, we start out anew.
May the Spirit breathe through us, in all that we are,
to journey together, both near and afar.
So bless every effort, and guide every hand,
this tapestry still weaving from each precious strand.
