Dear Friends,
Good to be back with you & Saturday Reflections. We hope these last weeks have been good ones for most of you, though I am sure amongst us there will be some sadness & distress. Today’s blessing comes from Sacred Pathways & is called ‘Deep Peace’ May those of us who have had difficult summers be specially blessed with that Deep Peace.
The attachments are around the theme of freedom or lack of it. Physical freedom or restraint, also a sense of personal freedom which I hope many of you experienced over the holidays, freedom from some of our worries, from some responsibility that sometimes weighs us down – freedom comes in many different guises.
Love to you all
Caged Bird
A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
MAYA ANGELOU
God, freedom for the oppressed;
Christ our liberator,
from deep within our prisons
we cry to you, hear our lament.
Take note of our protest,
for we are held captive.
Break the circle of death
that keeps us wounded.
Come down to the darkness
of this Hell.
We are alone, gagged, hungry.
But despite the chains
Of this captivity,
Life still throbs
and we keep on living.
From Lines for Freedom & Peace. Lima
Lord, you offer freedom to all people. We pray for those in prison. Break the bonds of fear and isolation that exist. Support with your love prisoners and their families and friends, prison staff and all who care. Heal those who have been wounded by the actions of others, especially the victims of crime. Help us to forgive one another, to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly together with Christ in
his strength and in his Spirit, now and every day. Help those of us who are not imprisoned physically to appreciate our freedom & to break through any restraints of our own making. Amen
No boundary
is real
as I stand
on the edge
of the world
reaching out.
It is sky
and I
am full
of the pull
of gravity
holding me
secure in the sun
and yet free.
Always
there is space
if I let go
of time
and let be
what is
in me.
In the earth
where I’ve trod
is God,
a heart’s throb
pulsing life.
No boundary
is real
says the tree
to me.
Pamela Hayes
Spirit of Freedom
Inside each of us
there awaits a wonder
full
spirit of freedom
she waits
to dance
in the rooms
of our heart
that are closed
dark & cluttered.
Joyce Rupp