Look down, Lord, from your heavenly throne...

Look down, Lord, from your heavenly throne. Illuminate the darkness of this night with your celestial brightness, and from us, the children of light, banish for ever the deeds of darkness. God our judge and our teacher, let us not waste time when the day is done in guilt or self-reproach. Give us rather the courage to face whatever has been, accept forgiveness, and move on to something better. Amen. 

(from the New Zealand Prayer Book)

Have you ever rejoiced in the simple fact that you exist?

Have you ever rejoiced in the simple fact that you exist? 
Be....What does it mean to take time to just "be".....not to "be with" or "be for" or "let it be". Think about it, we exist in a habitable zone at JUST the right distance from the Sun, and have had JUST the right amount of time to evolve into intelligent beings (though levels of intelligence are sometimes in question with all the messes we get ourselves into as a planet....global warming, violence, world strife and poverty.) Just HOW lucky are we? Our Sun and our Earth are actually an unlikely pair for supporting life. As a habit, we take many things for granted, including our existence.We would like to think that they will always be there...or perhaps even worse, we go about our daily lives, more than slightly oblivious to the precious and fragile nature of our lives. It would be reassuring to know that our galaxy is full of clever creatures and others with technology and that we might hope for communication. In fact, we do hope. 

However, for the present time, we are all we know. 
Made in the likeness of a divine being, God, we exist. 
Let us give thanks!

What makes Earth such a perfect home? Well, here are some reasons. 
Take a moment and tell those you love that you love them. Take a moment to say thanks to God, to family, friends, teachers, mentors, pets, and yourself. Consider all that is and has been and will possibly be....and meditate upon the fact that you exist. Be kind to one another, even if you disagree. Be a good citizen. Be a good neighbor. Grant yourself permission to rejoice in the wonder of life itself, the joy in all of creation, and the joy in one another. 

We are temporary.
We are fragile.
We are here together on this Pale Blue Dot. 

If that isn't something to be happy about, I don't know what is! 

Consider Again that Pale Blue Dot...

Today, it strikes me that we would do well, as humans, to hear again Carl Sagan's message regarding the future of Humanity.

HERE is the a full video

"And our small planet at this moment, here we face a critical branch point in history, what we do with our world, right now, will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants, it is well within our power to destroy our civilization and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition or greed or stupidity we could plunge our world into a time of darkness deeper than the time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissance. But we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet."

                       

"Think of all that you know of the past, present, and future: people, places, things, memories, experiences...."

Now look at this stunning image from the Cassini spacecraft near Saturn showing our Earth from 898 million miles away. 
"You’re an interesting species. An interesting mix. You’re capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you’re not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other."

This image was taken on July 19, 2013 and used the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft. What a stunning view of Saturn's rings and Earth. Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

"All I’m asking is for you to just have the tiniest bit of vision. You know, to just sit back
for one minute and look at the big picture."

#AdventWord #BE - Ponderings for Monday, December 7, 2015

Today's #AdventWord is #BE

Have you ever rejoiced in the simple fact that you exist? 

What does it mean to take time to just "be".....not to "be with" or "be for" or "let it be". Think about it, we exist in a habitable zone at JUST the right distance from the Sun, and have had JUST the right amount of time to evolve into intelligent beings (though levels of intelligence are sometimes in question with all the messes we get ourselves into as a planet....global warming, violence, world strife and poverty.) Just HOW lucky are we? Our Sun and our Earth are actually an unlikely pair for supporting life. As a habit, we take many things for granted, including our existence.We would like to think that they will always be there...or perhaps even worse, we go about our daily lives, more than slightly oblivious to the precious and fragile nature of our lives. It would be reassuring to know that our galaxy is full of clever creatures and others with technology and that we might hope for communication. In fact, we do hope. 
However, for the present time, we are all we know. 
Made in the likeness of a divine being, God, we exist. 
Let us give thanks!

What makes Earth such a perfect home? Well, here are some reasons. 
Take a moment and tell those you love that you love them. Take a moment to say thanks to God, to family, friends, teachers, mentors, pets, and yourself. Consider all that God has blessed us with and meditate upon the fact that you exist. Be kind to one another, even if you disagree. Be a good citizen. Be a good neighbor. Grant yourself permission to rejoice in the wonder of life itself, the joy in all of creation, and the joy in one another. 

We are temporary.
We are fragile.
We are here together on this Pale Blue Dot. 

If that isn't something to be happy about, I don't know what is! 

AdventWord was created by SSJE (The Society of St. John the Evangelist) and is the Anglican Communion's Global Advent Calendar. I'm using it as a daily meditation, prayer, photo post, and a way to connect in spirit to millions during this season of light and hope. You can join me in creating your own. Just take a picture and post it with the day's AdventWord tags! Click HERE for their website and for their daily AdventWords.
#SSJE

Earth and aurora from the ISS

Dear Fellow Citizens of the United States, Please don't forget where we came from. "Give me your huddled masses..."

Dear Fellow Citizens of the United States,
Please don't forget where we came from. 
That would be....pretty much everywhere. I realize for some it will mean swallowing a gigantic fear of the assumed - that our being a haven for Syrian (and other) refugees will bite us back in the end, BUT, I believe that welcoming them, well, it's the right thing to do.
Yes, possibly there are some people mixed in with the refugees that are out to get Americans, but I have noticed that there seems to be plenty of U.S. on U.S. crime and hate these days. 
I just read that 26 governors have stated that they do not want Syrian refugees and that they will refuse them. I don't know what will end up happening, but I ask you: 
"What if the tide were turned?" "What if it were you?" in the shoes of a refugee, seeking asylum? Putting matters of religion and culture aside for a moment, we are humans on one planet. None of us are better than our neighbor.....and that's exactly what we all are: NEIGHBORS.
I have this crazy idea that the world is better overall if we are accepting of each other, regardless of background and station. I also think that we have forgotten some of our own roots. There doesn't seem to be any perfect solution for finding the right balance of humanitarianism and security, but I wonder if pre-judgement and assumption, heck, even keeping religion out of it - whether or not things will be OK in the end.
                        

The New Colossus

~ Emma Lazarus (1883)

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name 

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand 

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command 

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. 

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she 

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Earth from the ISS by Astronaut Andre Kuipers