There are days when this reminder is important. The thought that all of the Earth is praying stirs in awareness of how much humanity needs compassionate care.

We are all connected to one another and to this fragile earth.

May we continue to find ways to let this connection support and encourage us.

I am an Episcopal priest, retired and grateful for the opportunity to host this sacred space - a chapel of sorts. This is a gathering place for all people and traditions to offer prayers of concern and celebration.

It is an honor to welcome you.

Saturday Prayers - As night’s darkness moves toward dawn’s first light, you are invited to leave your prayer requests here in the comments.

Pray- with a single word.

Pray- with a single name.

Pray- with explanation or none.

No format, just an invitation to share

I will pray with you, and I know others who will join us in doing the same. As you read each prayer, please support one another by using the ‘like’ option so all may know we are praying with them.

The peace of the morning stillness,

peace of new beginnings,

the peace of heaven’s kiss,

to welcome us to this day.

John Philip Newell

I am an Episcopal priest, retired and grateful for the opportunity to host this sacred space - a chapel of sorts. This is a gathering place for all people and traditions to offer prayers of concern and celebration.

It is an honor to welcome you.

Saturday Prayers - As night’s darkness moves toward dawn’s first light, you are invited to leave your prayer requests here in the comments.

Pray- with a single word.

Pray- with a single name.

Pray- with explanation or none.

No format, just an invitation to share

I will pray with you, and I know others who will join us in doing the same. As you read each prayer, please support one another by using the ‘like’ option so all may know we are praying with them.

For the last 18/20 months, I have stayed aware of the changing tides in our government. The waves have felt high and dangerous. I have kept wanting to say, “I don't believe this!” Yet everything in me knows that these changes are believable.

This week, the lid blew off. The Department of Justice released a memo questioning whether states are required to provide home and community-based services. (https://www.npr.org/2026/06/20/nx-s1-5865100/doj-memo-trump-disability-civil-rights-institutionalization)These services have kept disabled Americans out of institutions for over 30 years.

I am a disabled American. I was born in the late 50s, when most disabled children were sent to institutions. My parents made the decision to keep me at home for most of my childhood, but even I faced boarding school (a special boarding school for disabled children) when my family began to grow, and they were unable to pay for the assistance that could have helped keep me at home.

Many of us are very concerned as we begin to see history repeat itself. I will probably have more to say about this, but I want to share this video by Gaelynn Lea.

I am privileged to serve as Gaelynn’s assistant. Having worked with her for 4 years, I know her to be a passionate advocate and a committed community builder.

Please take the time to watch this video and share it within your circles. As she says… disabled people are in need of allies… will you be one?

Thank you,

Now the summer will bring more hours and more opportunities for creative activities as the roads lie before you.

Many of us have memories of singing as we rode with our families on our story-filled summer vacations. I share with you a great example of the fun that can be had as these memories are created… Happy Summer!!

I am an Episcopal priest, retired and grateful for the opportunity to host this sacred space - a chapel of sorts. This is a gathering place for all people and traditions to offer prayers of concern and celebration.

It is an honor to welcome you.

Saturday Prayers - As night’s darkness moves toward dawn’s first light, you are invited to leave your prayer requests here in the comments.

Pray- with a single word.

Pray- with a single name.

Pray- with explanation or none.

No format, just an invitation to share

I will pray with you, and I know others who will join us in doing the same. As you read each prayer, please support one another by using the ‘like’ option so all may know we are praying with them.

It is this way with wonder: it takes a bit of patience, and it takes putting yourself in the right place at the right time. It requires that we be curious enough to forgo our small distractions in order to find the world.

AIMEE NEZHUKUMATATHIL

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning is a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
[S]he may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
— Rumi

Shared by Diana Butler Bass - 3rd Sunday after Pentecost (Sara laughed)

Look, and look again.

This world is not just a little thrill for the eyes. It’s more than bones. It’s more than the delicate wrist with its personal pulse. It’s more than the beating of the single heart. It’s praising. It’s giving until the giving feels like receiving.

You have a life — just imagine that!

You have this day, and maybe another, and maybe still another

Mary Oliver, To Begin With, the Sweet Grass

From MindfulBalance

I am an Episcopal priest, retired and grateful for the opportunity to host this sacred space - a chapel of sorts. This is a gathering place for all people and traditions to offer prayers of concern and celebration.

It is an honor to welcome you.

Saturday Prayers - As night’s darkness moves toward dawn’s first light, you are invited to leave your prayer requests here in the comments.

Pray- with a single word.

Pray- with a single name.

Pray- with explanation or none.

No format, just an invitation to share

I will pray with you, and I know others who will join us in doing the same. As you read each prayer, please support one another by using the ‘like’ option so all may know we are praying with them.

The moon in her poetry is rarely just the moon. She sees only enough to keep moving. Often, wisdom lies not in seeing the destination but in taking the next step. Darkness can be part of the journey (Karl Duffy - Mindfulbalance)

From darkness
into a darker path
I must make my way;
Faintly shine from afar,
moon on the mountain’s edge.

Izumi Shikibu, 976–1030 CE

(Thank you for a beautiful photo of this month’s Blue Moon, )

I am an Episcopal priest, retired and grateful for the opportunity to host this sacred space - a chapel of sorts. This is a gathering place for all people and traditions to offer prayers of concern and celebration.

It is an honor to welcome you.

Saturday Prayers - As night’s darkness moves toward dawn’s first light, you are invited to leave your prayer requests here in the comments.

Pray- with a single word.

Pray- with a single name.

Pray- with explanation or none.

No format, just an invitation to share

I will pray with you, and I know others who will join us in doing the same. As you read each prayer, please support one another by using the ‘like’ option so all may know we are praying with them.

Take refuge in your senses, open up

To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain

When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,

Taking time to open the well of color

That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone

Until its calmness can claim you.

Be excessively gentle with yourself.

John O’Donohue. From “For One Who is Exhausted.”

There are scary things happening in this world. Where fear is not real, it appears people are trying to create it. May we walk through these days assuring ourselves and those we meet, ‘all will be well’, living in faith, not fear.

Be not afraid
Angel words to humans
Fear not
Easier said than done
Let not your hearts be troubled
Divine words
There is so much to make us afraid
So many things that are just wrong and hard
So many broken places, people and hearts – so many sobbing…
My heart, your heart, Boston, Texas, Conn, Oklahoma, Ground Zero, the world, the world, the world…
Your heart, my soul
Your mind, my heart

Be not afraid
Fear not
Let not your hearts be troubled…
May God help us not to give into fear and or despair…
Encourage a friend today…
Encourage yourself
Fear not…

Mark Bozzuti-Jones: Blog- The Fullness

I am an Episcopal priest, retired and grateful for the opportunity to host this sacred space - a chapel of sorts. This is a gathering place for all people and traditions to offer prayers of concern and celebration.

It is an honor to welcome you.

Saturday Prayers - As night’s darkness moves toward dawn’s first light, you are invited to leave your prayer requests here in the comments.

Pray- with a single word.

Pray- with a single name.

Pray- with explanation or none.

No format, just an invitation to share

I will pray with you, and I know others who will join us in doing the same. As you read each prayer, please support one another by using the ‘like’ option so all may know we are praying with them.

Welfare-

a single word that carries so much meaning. Often understood to reflect a benevolent connection with all people – those in need and those in abundance, finding common ground. For decades, this word has been used in our country to describe structures set in place to assist those who are poor and those with unique needs so they might have the basics for living: food, shelter, medical care, and seek meaningful, productive lives.

Of recent, ‘welfare‘ has become a word filled with negative connotations. It has been used to posture opinion as our country, stirring suspicion and.

We risk so much when we turn our backs on one another. If we are not awake, society’s focus on the individual could wash our collective minds and hearts of the importance of caring for one another. How tragic and dangerous.

Helen Keller knew so well the importance of interdependence. Her independence was directly impacted by her community’s support and encouragement. Her life was an example of welfare’s good and brought encouragement for generations to come. The well-being of one person ripples beyond to all people.

Welfare – we must hold this word carefully as we help shape the future of our lives and our country. To allow its definition to be retooled for the sake of greed and prejudice is not an option. The welfare of all people depends on each of us. Not as individuals but as a community shaped by actions – actions that have an ultimate effect on all.

Carry this word to your time of quiet, in prayer and meditation. May its seed take root and give you the strength needed to live by example.

Welfare – a word of compassion and empowerment. May we speak this word carefully and with sincerity.

When you left us
I saw how the clouds parted,
rent curtains,
as you cleared earth’s
drossy smear,
and passed into a heaven
bright beyond
my wildest imagining.

Bereft, fearful, we
shut tight the door
against wolves’ howling
and waited for you
to keep your promise.

At first it was a whisper,
the sea-ward wind
prying loose our
weak walls,

but soon the song rose, until
its power overwhelmed us
with chords of faith,
and, afire at last,
we spoke!

Steven Federle

Soon the song rose…

Its melody attracted people from near and far. From the quiet fear of abandonment to a brave expression of faith – Pentecost arrived.

It is now the time to speak. What energy sweeps down to fill us this day!! The timing is perfect (as God’s timing seems to be). At this moment, in this ever-reaching community known as the world, we need inspiration to speak out. We receive inspiration to raise our voices to reveal injustice and raise our hands to support those in need.

Pentecost has arrived. Breathe deep that the spirit may fill you with everything needed to spread God’s good news.

I am an Episcopal priest, retired and grateful for the opportunity to host this sacred space - a chapel of sorts. This is a gathering place for all people and traditions to offer prayers of concern and celebration.

It is an honor to welcome you.

Saturday Prayers - As night’s darkness moves toward dawn’s first light, you are invited to leave your prayer requests here in the comments.

Pray- with a single word.

Pray- with a single name.

Pray- with explanation or none.

No format, just an invitation to share

I will pray with you, and I know others who will join us in doing the same. As you read each prayer, please support one another by using the ‘like’ option so all may know we are praying with them.