The Body of Christ
Holds every name
Represents Eternity
Before out very eyes
If you could dissect it
Somewhere
Hidden away
In a tiny molecule
Or perhaps an ephemeral electron
You would see yourself
And feel with absolute certainty
That He had touched you
He had held you
He had loved you
Just as you are
Right now
And you would know
That this
Is True
Poem by Linda Crowhurst from Love Returned
This song was written from Mary Magdalene’s perspective and animated to show the love and compassion between her and the Lord. It was recorded over 20 years ago before severe illness completely devastated us.
Willing Us Into Life
It is perhaps too easy
to think of
the sheer weight of
pain and grief
weighting you down
upon the cross
until
you died
But no -
I think you chose
death.
You took it in
upon itself
You absorbed it
You went into it
so completely
that it could not
possibly hold you
No -
because you held it
and all of us
and willed us into Life.
When things are not as we planned, Lord
Help us put our Faith in You,
That we might see a Higher Vision
And Not Despair
But hold on to hope
And Trust in Your Presence
Here with us.
Amen
May this prayer too bless your day. With special thanks to Felicity for sharing this with us.
Another of Felicity’s daily prayers as inspired by “I AM WITH YOU”
We are as one
I feel our unity
I am a part of You
You are my completion
I ask to be close to You my whole life
Thank you that you have drawn me to You
Please help me to do Your will each day
As I wait upon You I picture You reaching out to me
In times of temptation I say to You “Only You Lord”
I am deeply grateful that I am Your partner in bringing in Your Kingdom of light
Thank You that you can never fail me
I know that because of Your presence there is nothing to fear
In our oneness,
in Your love, I am healed, completed, whole
Our oneness is my healing
We are delighted to share this wonderful prayer from a very dear friend of ours. May it bless you as it has blessed us.
Felicity’s daily prayer inspired by “I AM WITH YOU”, words from Jesus Christ as given to John Woolley.
I place You above everything else in my life
I thrill at the thought of You
Praying is my highest activity
You are the most precious being in my life
I am grateful for the way You answer my prayers
I am so blessed by the way You create miracles in me and others
I worship You
In humility I bow down before your infinite wisdom, almighty power, endless love and merciful forgiveness.
I ask you for the gift of childlike faith, so that I am in awe of you
I expect full healing from you because you are almighty
Whatever I have lost through illness, you are all I need to feel joyful, satisfied and calm
You are my greatest joy in life
Knowing that I have you with me outweighs everything else
I am utterly dependent on you for my healing and for my joy, not on my fluctuating moods or even on your revelations to me. As I rely on you, miracles are happening within me.
I commit this day to following the way you have shown me. I trust that you will make clear to me what is your way in every detail of my day.
For more information on the I Am With You Foundation see:
I am with You as You are with me.
I know this to be true.
Even when I can do nothing,
still You are here with me.
Even when I can think nothing,
still You are here with me.
Even when I can feel nothing, still You are here with me.
Thus I am strengthened and renewed in Faith.
I feel your love filtering through to touch me.
I know that you will hear me,
even if I cannot call out.
For that is the blessing of Oneness,
held as we all are,
in the very centre of the Heart of Love,
united with God forever.
Rough Wood
Here we share a song recorded many many years ago, put to animation to illustrate it, called Rough Wood. We hope it blesses your day and sets the scene for a prayerful Holy Week..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LtHxAA7lXe8
Introduction to Holy Week
I have now lived in the most intense ongoing physical pain for almost 3 decades, indescribable unhelpable, untreatable, unremitting, total,
extreme, over all my body, inside and out. My daily existence is a physical nightmare where nothing is predictable and nothing can be
planned or relied upon to function properly. It is the Cross and only the Cross that I can relate to in this extreme place of poverty and
screaming agony.
Those who truly suffer, have no real choice except to accept God or despair. .Jesus suffering was absolute and profound. It was His choice to take that terrible path; a dreadful choice, made for Love's greater purpose, yet in its making, He was given the spiritual strength to bear it and more than that, to bear us with him in our own suffering, a gift given by God himself and His choice empowered Him to love and create a space in His Heart, in which He could hold us all, in our ultimate pain and death, to bring us with him to Eternal Life. There is no greater gift.
We who are in intense suffering, whether in mind, body, emotion, spirit or any combination, look to God, knowing He will see us and give us His strenth, His Love, His Mercy.
We will post meditations in the form of poetry, on the Passion of Christ, when able, through this Holy Week.
I Gave My Son For You
I gave my son for you
I cried those tears of pain with him
I held him gently in my arms
I loved him back to life
For I am the one who loves
I love you all
I love you always
For I am the one who loves
in spite of all the pain
Someone said the other night on the radio that it is not the politicians that make a difference. No, it is the poets, writers and artists, to which I think I would add those of us on the edge too, the suffering, the isolated, the ignored, the forgotten.
Politicians serve to maintain the status quo.
Death is always close. Many have died additionally from Covid 19 in the last year and continue to suffer intensely. We hear of the long painful experience people endure and also how many people come through it. When the need is great for the healing Power of God, we place our confidence in His Light and promises. We trust in Him, in His Love and Mercy in all situations.
A prayer tor someone who is in great need of the healing Power of God.
Lord, come upon .............. and heal him/her now!
Lord, guide him/her with Your faithful Light!
Lord, comfort him/her in all he/she suffers!
Lord relieve the pain!
Lord save him/her from death and restore him/her
to full health!
This we pray with total sincerity and absolute trust in You Lord. Amen
Healing Love
We absolutely believe that love heals. A kind touch, a loving look, a warm message, all can lift our spirits an change the whole energy of the day.
How much more powerful then, must God’s Love be, when it graces our life?
There is no more powerful a place, no more wonderful an energy, than to place the person you care about in the Heart of Love, the total Love of the Holy Trinity.
This must be where miracles take place and all is healed, for there is no greater power of Love in the whole Universe.
Help us always to see with inner eyes of Love,
No matter what occurs, Lord,
Help us see that You are there too.
Amen
The Litany of the Heart of Love
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Surround us with Your love.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Pour out Your grace upon us.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Lead us to Mercy.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Bless our lives in unimagined ways.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Teach us the Word of God.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Guide us in the way of love.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Comfort us in our need.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Help us bear all suffering.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Fill us with hope.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Open our hearts with compassion
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Bring us to life.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Heal us now
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Bless us with miracles.
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Be with us as we pray
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
.......individual prayer request..........
Oh Heart of Love, oh Mighty Trinity
Surround us with Your love.
Amen
May Your Life be blessed by our love.
Amen
The Church
The church was lit
Against the night.
It shone through dark
With radiant light
And filled me
With a golden glow
And yet a sadness
Deep within
For I without,
Could not go in.
For illness keeps me
Far apart
Yet God remains
Within my heart.
I wrote this poem many years ago. It is even more true today, for others too, with the threat of Covid 19, keeping people away from gathering physically together. But truly this does not stop the Spirit of Love shining out and blessing the world. It calls us all to deeper relationship with God; personal, special, fuller still. It is a time of reflection and spiritual growth. Like Jesus in the desert, we too are called to silence and seeming physical aloneness, so that God can truly speak to us, without distraction, in our hearts. Then, like Jesus too, we can find meaning and discern the way forward to even more powerful ministry and truth. Amen
The Spirit brings healing on multiple levels; healing of mind, healing of body, healing of emotion, healing of spirit. And when the way ahead feels impossible, when hope is waining, the Spirit brings miracles unexpected, that can save us. The energy of Love, uplifts us, carries us forward and energises us, empowers us with confidence.
Praying in the Power of the Spirit, comforts, strengthens, renews and brings spiritual protection, especially when we pray the Our Father, the prayer of the Son to the Father, reflecting His own greatest need for protection for the path ahead: His Passion and death, which leads on to renewal, Resurrection and Life eternal. Let us always remember this incredibly powerful prayer, this gift that blesses us again and again each time we pray it. Amen
Although we trust and know that God is with us, still we sometimes struggle to feel Him here. The physical pain gets in the way of feeling His Presence, the stresses of the day can be overwhelming and seem huge. Our urgent need for action feels ignored. Often we are left feeling that we are continually waiting with little real change in our situation.
These are the times to look with inner spiritual eyes at our situation. Now is the time to look up to see His radiant shining face before you, loving you, caring, tending over you, being with you, weeping with you, but always tenderly with you.
It is at these times that it can help to reflect on the small things, not necessarily the big things, to see change and goodness in your life or feel it in action. Looking back we may then see real progress, even if it is only in small ways or seemingly insignificant ways to others, yet still it can make a big difference to us.
It is time to remember hope, to listen for the Word of God, to look for beauty, anything that reconnects you with truth and goodness. This then can bless your struggling moments and remind you that He is here and every moment of your life, is precious, just take a moment to remember that. Put down the burdens that you carry and give them to Him, so that you can see a clearer way through, you find you can cope with the uncopable, you can find light within you and without. Amen
God hears every prayer and every second of our life is precious to Him. Sometimes when things are difficult, it is hard to keep trusting or believing that He is hearing our cry; this is when great faith is needed.
We can hope and pray that He will keep us safe and bring us through the difficult moments of our lives. We know that God is with us in all we suffer. In Him then, we trust, totally.
And when the need is great, we need to ask in trust, for His help, expecting a powerful response!
When our need is absolute,
Your response is total, Lord.
For this we trust and thank you!
Amen
When all seems lost, He will can lift us into the golden light of His Love and restore Hope. When all seems difficult, His light prevails. Be not afraid He tells us. Feel His love overflowing towards us, then we can walk ahead with confidence.
He delights in us. He watches over us. He leads us and guides us. He protects us. His way always leads to Love. His love is immeasurable and He celebrates each victory with us. He shares in our joy He holds us in our sorrow and comforts us in our hurt.
What friendship, what involvement, what caring He shows us, then,
Therefore let us give praise to the Lord for all His goodness and His Love, we can give thanks that He restores us to right seeing, He blesses all in His name. Amen.
Thank you.
As It Was Before
The best we can hope for
It seems
Is a stillness of moment,
When the ravaging of disease ceases to capture, momentarily,
all available attention
And an inner peace
Surely not of the world,
Can triumph
And the blessing of love
Can be felt,
Amongst and amidst the torment.
This illness never leaves
Despite our best hopes
And yet...
And yet, we still hope and pray
Despite outward appearance
And inner destruction
That miracles will bless our lives
So that one day
We might walk free of it
And be together
In an absolute harmony
On every level
As it was before
So may it be again.
As we continue on our journey through Lent, let us seek silence to better hear the Word of God speaking to our hearts. Spending even a few moments contemplating on silence can lift our spirits and bring new wisdom to the fore.
Let us not forget that the peace that silence can brings is a blessing. In silence we find the tunes of the angels dancing in our souls and the messages of God, the Word alive and aloud and very, very present in the apparent emptiness of life, yet to be created. This is the exciting joy of Revelation, bringing new things into being, greater than we can think or imagine sometimes. For all creation emanates from this profound silence, where all is full and yet to be revealed.
Silence
Silence is the fullness of God! The word is complete within the silence. All creativity exists here. This is where the unuttered becomes known. It is where what is not yet become, is revealed and arises.
It is good to praise God, especially when things are tough. Praise lifts us up into good energy; into brighter energy that can bless and transform, where a new vision is possible, where Hope endures.
By focusing on God, rather than fear or difficulty, we are uplifted by His Radiance, which can bless us and help us stand firm, no matter what the circumstances, for we remember then that He is with us and He will give us strength.
Praising God shifts our focus away from fear and despair to Hope and Love. When we put our trust in material things we will never be totally certain of them, the physical world is transient by nature, but we can always Trust in God. He will always Love us.
Knowing this we can hold onto Him with Faith and that in turn gives us Courage in all that we face.
Praise indeed to God, for He can help us in any circumstance. Praise God's Holy and precious name, which lifts us into His Light, Truth, Hope and the Safety of knowing Him. This is why we can stand firm and have confidence in Him.
We can call upon God's Holy Name, knowing that He will hear us and answer us and help us in our struggles. How tall we can then stand, when we know God is with us? Tall indeed!
Let us always remember God's Holy Name and rejoice in His Loving Presence, Let us always be confident in Him then and sing His Praises, gladly. Amen.
How wonderful it is to know that we are beautiful.
Can we allow this into ourselves and truly believe it, though? For though it is the truth, life pulls us down, circumstances and interactions don’t necessarily make us feel that. At these times it can help to remember that God has made each one of us beautiful and He wants us to know this. We may not always feel beautiful, so how important it is to be reminded of this truth.
Acceptance may be more difficult if we receive a lot of negating messages from the world. This is why we need to develop our relationship with God, for He helps lift our hearts and minds into a greater reality, based on Love, Joy, and Beauty, which is infinite and immeasurable.
God then reveals the depths of His Love for us; He helps us to know how beautiful we truly are, for that is how He made us to be. If we have lost touch with this knowledge, He can help us find ourselves once more. This is the joy of relationship with God. We are lifted into the energy of Love and there we can find healing and restoration.
Let us pray to see and know our own beauty and that of each other. Let us give thanks for God’s Love that restores truth. May our Joy be complete in Him. Amen
In lifting others up to the Love of God, all things feel possible - all love is given back. Prayer then is two-way; we too are blessed by our compassion and love for others. We too are held in His Grace, in that connection with Divine Love. In praying, we are touched by His Love. In holding others in His Love, we too are held.
There is such love then and intimacy in prayer, which is pure relationship with God. No wonder we are asked to ‘pray without ceasing’. For this is where miracles happen and joy is complete.
And so we ask for miracles, no matter how bleak things seem, in faith that we shall receive them in abundance.
We pray for healing
We ask in hope
We beg for a miracle,
Knowing You provide.
We trust You will hear and answer
Amen
Amen
Amen
Lord, we ask for miracles,
Knowing miracles will be sent.
Lord, we ask for Your healing Power
To come upon us mightily,
Trusting it is so!
Amen
This is a beautiful, peaceful contemplation accompanied by Greg on guitar. May it bless and uplift you. “His Love is like the morning…..” ...
