Copy and paste into worship material
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now always -
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
(from Eliot's Little Gidding).
We always look ahead
It is in our nature
Humankind, it seeks guidance;
But guidance or not, it forges ahead.
We do not reject the past
And we have it imprinted in our minds;
It has made us what we are
But we cannot go back.
We cannot even stay still as in the past,
For to be creative
There is only one way:
To explore ahead,
To find new experiences,
To learn from out own mistakes,
And find such benefit from successes.
For this is the one way
And the only way
That we grow.
So go ahead!
Go West, young man,
Seek your future life, young woman;
For whatever age we are,
Going ahead is the young way:
The way to be fresh.
So go ahead.
Amen
There is a person like me
Who set out in the best direction.
I sought a path to be free
But failed to make the connexion.
There's no going home
Now we're on the road.
All paths lead to where we stand
That is in the present
Regardless of the routes we planned. Amen.
In a world so changing, with its puzzlements and power, its mystery and clarity, let us accept all that gladdens us with gratitude, and with fortitude that which brings us grief.
The world and its nature presents us with regularity and suprise, and we tune ourselves to these twin pillars of experience. Let us rejoice in these twin pillars of life through our festival of faith here today so to reflect, meditate and contemplate on our place in the world.
We look into ourselves to learn our path within the world, to feel the rhythms of the world, to separate evil from good and make ourselves good to others. And let us do that selflessly so that the world becomes a better place.
In nature we must move between pleasure, pain and indifference, but let us use our experiences as experiences and say Yes to life in all its variations.