Sacred Life Sunday - Being in the World

"We are God's hands"

On Wednesday the kids and I will be attending a candleight vigil, arranged by MoveOn.org, hosted by someone in our community, to protest the ongoing war in Iraq. Wednesday marks the five year anniversary.

I have been listening to Christina Baldwin's CD set Lifelines. It's a wonderful set from a wise and infinitely accessible woman and it is opening up new paths before me. One of the many things she talks about is being in the world; more importantly she talks about ways to avoid the overwhelm that comes from the immense difficulties in the world.

My journal these last few days has focused on the wide world, framing my life in the context of what is happening in the wider world. I have tried to heal the broken heart that I suffered when last I got involved and was let down. I know that something has to change and that something is how I relate to the events in the world, regardless of the outcome, regardless of whether or not it turns out as I have prayed.

That change has to keep me in the wider world in spite of disappointments and frustrations. If I am truly meant to bring spiritual practices to people in their ordinary everyday lives then this is a path I must learn to walk. I have to learn to walk it so that, if nothing else I can bring back the experience of walking it to others so that maybe, just maybe, they struggle less.

And so Wednesday the kids and I will go and light candles and see what comes of it, not just in the wider world but in the much wider world of my soul.

How do you hold the space out in the wider world?

"Hands" by Jewel

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we're all OK
And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these
I won't be made uselessI won't be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear

My hands are small, I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken

Poverty stole your golden shoes
It didn't steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn't ever after
We'll fight, not out of spite
For someone must stand up for what's right
'Cause where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
I am never broken

In the end only kindness matters
In the end only kindness matters
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken
We are never broken

We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's mind
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's heart
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's eyes
We are God's hands
We are God's hands